I'm sitting here listening to the "Lectern Guy", preparing for tomorrow's interview.
It's Independence Day. I'm a Canadian. I appreciate that Canada does not have the same history as America, and in that sense, Canadians have a very different appreciation of what "freedom" means. Oversimplifying it possibly to the point of caricaturizing it (I thought that was a word, but Microsoft is underlining it), the Canadian concept of "freedom" is something that was given to us by the elites we believe should govern us. The Canadian view of "freedom" is, in a material sense, the freedom to do what you are told.
For the Zeitgeist of Canadian history, "freedom" that was something borne out of uncertain and violent revolution from a tyrannical government. Our freedom was "recognized" - given to us - by that government,
Operating on this understanding, freedom given is not freedom. It's pre-circumscribed. It's not a right. It's a privilege afforded.
Flipside, freedom fought for - the freedom to be left alone, to fend for yourself, is inherently more destabilizing. In a meaningful way, true freedom is inherently more risky. It is uncertain. It is wild. It is the freedom to choose your destiny, as opposed to the illusion of freedom to "choose your own adventure" from a limited number of chapter options.
I guess it might be something of human nature that many people prefer the limited "choose your adventure" notion of freedom than true freedom to write your own book.
Having lived through the Covid era, the most disheartening thing is seeing the next generation seeing their 'book of freedom' reduced to fewer and fewer chapters, and not even knowing it. And while it is an offensive notion to anyone with even a fading memory of freedom (or whatever freedom they thought they had), it is comforting to those who fear true, uncertain freedom. It reduces individual agency and individual responsibility for the trade-off of certainty and predictability. But it inevitably ends badly because the greedy and the tyrannical will abuse of their freedom to exploit those who fear their freedom.
For good or for bad - depending on who you ask - Americans have always valued a more pure concept of freedom. But the political and social "elites" are trying to breed that love of true freedom out of the American consciousness. They have already done it in many parts of the world, and we are seeing the consequences of it.
But the American Experiment has always been contagious. American freedom has always been the envy of the world. And as long as there are enough freedom-loving Americans - and freedom-lovers at large - there is still a fighting chance for freedom.
That is what the 4th of July means to me.

Thank you all for being here. Thank you for making me understand true freedom. And Happy Independence Day everyone!

p.s. If this has been an incoherent, rambling mess of a flow of thought, I blame oxygen deprivation from the Canadian wildfires! I should have exercised my freedom to stay inside as the government suggested to me 😝