(Aug. 10) Are you gearing up for next summer’s semiquincentennial — the 250th anniversary — of our nation’s birth? Louisiana Jay Lapeyre rightly says you should be. So, too, especially, should teachers and students during the new school year that’s about to begin.
Lapeyre is a driving force behind an effort to make it easier and more fulfilling to do so. Lapeyre, CEO of New Orleans-based Laitram Industries and chairman of the national Cato Institute, will be explaining the project at length when the State Policy Network, a national association of conservative think tanks, holds its annual meeting Aug. 25-28 in New Orleans.
Lapeyre is one of three co-founders — along with David Kelley, founder of the Atlas Society, and John Aglialoro, a trustee of both Atlas and of Philadelphia’s Museum of the American Revolution — of Free Society Coalition, which is dedicated to deeper appreciation for the ideals of the Declaration of Independence in the lead-up to the semiquincentennial and beyond.
The effort began at a conference in July 2024 when they and several others adopted what they call “The Philadelphia Declaration for Freedom and Responsibility.” The new declaration asserts that “the morality of political freedom [is] the true habitat for humanity.” And it insists that Americans of somewhat different worldviews still “share values that allow us to cooperate for mutual benefit. These values have made America great and have inspired millions worldwide.”
The new declaration is well worth reading as a whole (it’s on the website of Free Society Coalition), but it is just a starting point. The coalition also is promulgating a brochure that serves essentially as an initial study guide both for classrooms and for all interested individuals to ponder American values as outlined in the Declaration of Independence.
“Remember that this Declaration was the first in human history to establish a government with the moral premise of respect for the dignity and rights of individuals,” it says. And, it avers that by its very nature, “a free society is the most productive, progressive, and inclusive form of society in human history.”… [The full column is at this link.]
