the Oasis

By Scott Morgan, Managing Editor
Fourth of July, 2026

Today, a fitting little break from the norm, to celebrate something worth celebrating.

Freedom and independence are usually used as interchangeable terms. They’re not the same. 

American colonists under British rule actually were already free. If they weren’t, they never would have been able to craft a revolution involving uniforms and congresses and large-scale military training.

What they weren’t was independent. They weren’t self-governed. 

The colonists’ zeal to change that reveals a divine paradox: That in order to become independent from the inherited rights of kings, from the heritage of families born to a concept of royalty, from the rule of chance and whim, the independent need to depend on each other.

That’s what changed the world. It wasn’t the freedom. It wasn’t the independence. It was us. The interdependence. The grand revolutionary idea that people are capable of governing ourselves. 

The creation of pluralistic democracy is what we hold in our hands today. As precious, as steeled, as fragile as it ever was.

We have today, July 4, 2026, the privilege of celebrating an improbably long-lived pluralistic democracy on a stunning anniversary. It deserves the fanfare. And it deserves your respect. Pay it by remembering that our existence relies on our plurality. Our diversity. Our interdependence. And our vigilance. 

The Fourth of July is a second New Year’s Day, but just for us. A chance to reflect on the families we have, the families we choose, and the families who choose us.  

Reflect accordingly. Enjoy proudly. And love broadly. 

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