My earliest memory of the 4th of July is sparklers with my grandparents in Muskogee, Oklahoma. I also liked those little black caps you could light and they would burn into long, meandering dark snakes. Firecrackers and bottle rockets came later.

While celebrating the 4th, I am finally coming toward the end of a brilliant biography of Alexander Hamilton. It reminded me that on the 4th of July, though we celebrate it with fireworks, food, and hillbilly redneck mania, it is a historical moment of self vs. self-less. It was independence from being led without representation to choosing our representatives. Our modern-day political system has its roots here on the 4th.

In talking with a subscriber recently, I mentioned I labor to stay on truth with whatever I write and convey. Certainly, there is opinion, but facts should inform our opinions more than emotion. Facts are what we trade in and prosper on, but it doesn’t mean descriptive and emotional language won’t compel us into the wrong decision. That’s most likely where the term politicking came from.

If we don’t have a bedrock of facts that we stand on, the loose use of language to interpret things for us can be dangerous. Labels such as liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican, Patriot, Boomer, Karen, and Snowflake are a regular part of our speech now, but it doesn’t make the labeling correct. It may even make us dumber.

Nothing is as simple-minded as using labels in replace of more mental heavy lifting. That’s why you ensure you have a variety of friends you interact with, read actual books and papers routinely, get an education that challenges your preconceived notions, and work to find the truth where most people are. It’s in the middle ground. The middle comprises most of the “We”.

The 4th is the perfect time to think of how fortunate we are to be Americans. Though people have criticized the Founding Fathers for not addressing certain issues such as slavery, there were larger issues at stake. Even though they didn’t get it all correct, they took a genuine risk. For those who took part in the Declaration, and who signed their names to the document, it was a selfless act. The risk of losing everything, including their heads, was real.

As a leader, you must know the difference between self and selfless acts and when labels get used loosely. It will help with your decision-making clarity, especially in an important election year. Who does the outcome benefit? What motivates certain decisions? If it’s money, be mindful. If it’s religious beliefs, be alert. Avoid any extremes. The question at the Revolution, even for a brief period, wasn’t “What’s in it for me?” it was, “What’s in it for us?”

And then they signed their names.

• Interested in knowing who’s bought and who’s buying? Make sure your decisions are based on some facts and logic, not just on what you feel.

• Jeff, can you make an endowment for the Washington Post before buying more toys?

• However, not all billionaires are the same. Remember, stand in the middle ground. It’s the highest spot.

• Before we leave the Declaration holiday, this is a great quick read on the life of a disabled Founding Father. Be mindful of the pain that people carry. It’ll make you a more conscientious leader.

Stories like this prove the labels wrong. This is an area that the Biden team has gotten right. Providing financial support to the public for initial expenses, such as solar panels, wind turbines, batteries, computer chips, or electric cars, creates equal opportunities and unlocks various possibilities, such as converting waste into a valuable resource. Models like this are everywhere and readily available if we choose to see and support them. These are investments in the next generation. Freedom comes with responsibility, and there’s no such right as the freedom to pollute.

What I would like to see more of with rural communities is a bit more expectation on corporations to go where towns need them. During the years of WWII, President Roosevelt asked big business to get on a war footing, to scrap their commercial plans. And they did it. Wall Street-style business instead of Main Street-level consideration has routed small-town America. There’s plenty more to be done, but it will take leadership and voters who see the bigger picture.

This is a powerful read.

We always make a lot of assumptions both to align with our ways of thinking and to characterize other types of thought. This one was honest and authentic about the struggle to believe in something when others around you see something completely different.

I may never completely comprehend what these Americans were thinking, and I have to use the label American loosely here. We are all allowed our disagreements under the law, and for our voices to be heard, but we are not allowed to incite or invite violence on fellow Americans or choose to not follow the law simply because we are passionate about our own beliefs. Remember the self vs. self-less.

Only a few years after the Revolution, President Washington and Alexander Hamilton found it shocking how quickly new Americans rebelled against whiskey taxes to pay the war debts. Although the Whiskey Rebellion was halted by a show of force, it serves as a reminder that our short American history has always included individuals whose patriotism is more rooted in racism, usury, and stupidity than level-headed thinking.

Am I being fair?

You cannot, on one hand, be a good neighbor and a good citizen while on the other, you directly attack the government in which you live. I continue to find it extraordinary that any elected or appointed public official or public servant would take up arms and riot against the foundation of where our freedom comes from. Even though we are three years removed from this event, I appreciate that the long arm of the law has continued to stretch and find those who I label, by the historical definition, as traitors.

What a piece. As a country that transfers power peacefully by the will of the people, this is a very informative read about how a democracy went wrong. Using the wheels of government, a handful of egos in leadership positions enabled Hitler in his rise, along with the typical infighting among like-minded groups. This sentence here is a beauty, able to show how Hitler had the cunning to change some of his messaging to come across as more palatable to those “undecided voters.”:

Does that ring a bell at all?

The title and the free use of terms are a bit overplayed here, but this is a reminder of how public service and services are supposed to work. People want government to be accountable and part of that is ensuring we don’t have a lot of policy and procedure that impede common sense. I always worked to train staff to think. Within any field or discipline, there are always procedures, but the ability to think about outcomes and how things go together is critical. You want staff able to make suggestions and mistakes, and not have a policy or procedure so rigid that the results are not good. In an atmosphere of continuous improvement, things like the focus here in San Francisco would not have gotten to this level.

I’ve had the good fortune of having been to the mother ship of Powell’s bookstore in Portland. It’s a reader and book lover’s dream with books and paper as far as the eye can see and enough paths in various directions walled by stacks that you may need to let a friend know which aisle you’re going in and when you’ll be back. For those on the East Coast, there is a similar establishment called Chamblin Bookmine in Jacksonville. Not to be missed.

The keywords here: Independence is Responsibility. For your knowledge, your actions, your words, and what you do and don’t do. Not only are they a source of books as a huge independent outlet in a world of franchises, but they treat their people well. That’s the goal. We have the independence to do the right things.

And Now….

From friend, writer, and naturalist Janisse Ray:

Desire can’t happen unless you feel that more and better is available to you specifically. That you deserve it.

And desire can’t happen if you give up. If you’d rather take a bullet. If you’d rather avoid being canceled. If you’d rather not lose your standing. If you’d rather not be known as a bish, agitator, outlaw, or shrew. If you’d rather not shock folks.

In order to be filled with intense desire, I think you’ll have to

• Keep educating yourself about what the scenario around you really means.

• Keep trying to understand it.

• Keep paying attention.

• Keep watching other relationships, other places, other lives.

• Keep believing better is possible. For you.

• Start believing that desire is not a chore but a golden opportunity.

In honor of the 4th and to prepare for November, we’ve got a new Uncle Sam t-shirt in the store. Voting is one of the few expectations of being an American citizen. Please, make sure you do.

Keep reading, and remember: Be a good human.