From computers to information technology to airplanes, it has

In the chronicles of nations and the rise of civilizations, there are few voices that have captured the spirit of enterprise and liberty as powerfully as George Nethercutt, who proclaimed: “From computers to information technology to airplanes, it has been America’s unique blend of republican government and free-market capitalism that has allowed us to surpass all other nations in history.” His words, though born in the age of steel and silicon, echo with the timbre of ancient truth — that the greatness of a people does not spring from mere invention, but from the freedom that allows invention to flourish.

For from the beginning, America was not merely a land, but an idea — a covenant between the individual and destiny. It was founded upon a republican government, where power bowed before the will of the governed, and upon the fertile soil of free-market capitalism, where dreams could grow without the chains of tyranny or the shadow of imposed equality. This union of liberty and labor, of law and opportunity, became the forge of miracles. From the first telegraph lines to the roaring engines of the Wright brothers, from the glowing screen of the first computer to the invisible threads of information technology, each breakthrough was born of a people unafraid to risk, to fail, and to begin again.

Consider the tale of Orville and Wilbur Wright, those humble bicycle makers from Dayton, Ohio. In a world where kings ruled and bureaucracies stifled innovation, these men — armed only with curiosity and courage — defied the heavens. No decree commanded their endeavor, no committee approved their flight. It was the open air of freedom and the invisible hand of enterprise that lifted them skyward. On the sands of Kitty Hawk, their small machine broke the silence of centuries. Thus, the world changed — not by the order of governments, but by the daring of free men.

So too did Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, in the latter days of the twentieth century, embody the same ancient fire. From garages and modest rooms, they summoned worlds within wires — machines that would transform thought itself into light. These men, like inventors of old, were not driven by decree, but by the spirit of creation that only a free market and a self-governing society could sustain. For in freedom, ambition becomes virtue; in tyranny, it becomes crime. That is the lesson written across the annals of all human progress.

Nethercutt’s words, then, are more than praise; they are a reminder — that America’s power lies not merely in her inventions, but in her principles. It is her republican spirit, where every citizen holds a share in governance, and her economic freedom, where each dreamer may test his vision against the world, that make her more than a nation — a beacon. Her success was not guaranteed by geography or wealth, but by belief: that human beings, left free, will reach for the impossible and often seize it.

Yet beware, O sons and daughters of liberty, for every golden age is shadowed by the temptation of ease. The moment a people forget that freedom and responsibility are bound as one, the engines of progress begin to rust. If innovation is left to the few, or liberty bartered for comfort, the light that once shone so brightly will dim. The republic is not eternal by right — it must be renewed in every generation by the courage of those who believe in it.

Therefore, let this be your charge: guard the balance that made greatness possible. Defend liberty not with anger but with excellence; pursue knowledge not for pride but for service. Create, build, imagine — not because you are commanded, but because you are free. For the true inheritance of America is not wealth or power, but the freedom to dream without permission.

And so, remember Nethercutt’s teaching: the engines of progress are not found in machines, but in men and women unbound. As long as the flame of freedom burns in the hearts of a people, there is no height beyond their reach — not in the skies of flight, nor in the circuits of thought, nor in the boundless expanse of the future that awaits.