“A republic, if you can keep it.”
–Ben Franklin
July 3, 2025 — Picture yourself: an intelligent, seasoned gentleman — or a wise, no-nonsense gentle lady — navigating the choppy waters of AI-driven financial markets and global power pivots.
You’ve built your wealth on sharp wits, stubborn grit, and well-timed bets. Now, the walls are closing in — algorithms, tariffs, central banks — and the only question that counts: what is real freedom in this new age?
Freedom is never just “freedom.”
It’s a duty — a duty to preserve for our families, to educate the next generation, to honor our role in this ongoing experiment.
As Mr. Franklin famously reminds us through the ages, especially at this time of year: it’s a Republic, if we can keep it.
Let’s rewind to the lightning strike that sparked our experiment into existence: July 4, 1776 — the Declaration of Independence. September 17, 1787 — the Constitution signed in Philadelphia.
These were far more than ceremonial acts. They were defiant strokes of genius, wrought by history, codifying your right to be left alone: to think, to choose, to invest privately, to kick yourself out of bed each morning and bet on your own rather than the government’s.
Along the way, the Republic hit some bloody mile markers. Antietam, September 17, 1862 — America’s bloodiest single day, 22,717 dead, wounded, or missing. Five days later, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, recasting the Civil War not just as a constitutional crisis, but a moral reckoning.
Then came Gettysburg, July 1–3, 1863 — 50,000 men fell. The high-water mark of the Southern Confederacy. Four months later, Lincoln stood above the graves and gave us 272 words that still sting and still inspire: “…government of the people, by the people, for the people…”
More than footnotes, these events proved that the experiment was alive and well and could course correct – even in blood.
Each moved the needle forward in defining what America actually means. A Republic, yes — for more than just property owners — for everyone willing to shoulder the burden of self-governance.
And then came the Revolution of 1913 — not with muskets, but with rubber stamps and bureaucrats. The first Great Progressive Era gave us the Federal Reserve Act, the 16th Amendment legalizing Income Tax to fight a European war, and the 17th Amendment making Senators elected directly by popular vote.
It sounded impressively democratic. What it delivered was the permanent expansion of Federal power. Senators became residents of Washington D.C. from then on and voted accordingly.
Soon thereafter came the Depression, the end of the gold standard – a critical reality check on expansionist government ambitions – and an alphabet soup of Federal regulation: the SEC, the FDIC, the CCC, the WPA — Washington sprouting new agencies like mushrooms in a damp cellar. Social Security under FDR set the tone for long-term and growing dependency that looked like insurance but worked more like a “ponzi scheme.”
Thirty years hence, and the Great Society under Johnson — Medicare, Medicaid, and the institutionalization of the welfare state, neatly coupled with yet another financed with U.S. taxpayer money. A war in Asia this time, mind you and one the US did not win.
Continued Below…
Trump Defended this AI Energy Stock??
It’s wildly profitable – Over $3 billion in operating income. It has a partnership with the hottest AI stock on Wall Street. And Trump has publicly backed it? Get the details on #1 AI energy stock here. |
By the 1980s, the Cold War had Reagan proving that “deficits don’t matter” — at least not politically. More than that he proved wars could now be financed with government debt, rather than direct taxation as the original 16th amendment had intended.
Naturally, government spending skyrocketed, deficits grew and the national debt began a generational explosion. The residents of Washington, to our great chagrin, discovered the Federal government could grow forever without asking permission, because with a little accounting magic and political sleight of hand, the voters had learned to like it that way.
All of i t —every new agency, every entitlement, every deficit-financed crusade — is anathema to the founding principles laid out in the Declaration, the Constitution, and explained, in better prose than most of us manage, by Madison, Hamilton, and Jay in the Federalist Papers.
But who’s counting?
Why don’t Americans heed the first warnings from their founders about “foreign entanglements”? Why not listen to Madison, who warns again today — if we listen closely enough — of the “tyranny of the majority” – not just mobs in the street but at the ballot box, too? Why do we continue to believe that through the “sausage being made” in the legislative process will deliver what the founding documents already had?
Enough of those dark thoughts, right?
This weekend, we pause, slow down and take the Republic for what it is — the good, the bad, the bloody, the brilliant. Es Lo Que Es…. it is what it is.
The genius of the American experiment is that it allows for course correction — but only if we remember our role. Not as subjects, but as stewards.
Your role, good sir or wise gentle lady, is to continue doing what you’ve always done: managing your affairs with clear eyes and a steady hand, educating those who’ll carry the torch, and resisting the ever-present temptation to comply just for comfort’s sake.
Yes, the government will grow. Yes, the financial world may turn inside out before breakfast — possibly before your second cup of coffee. But you still have the right to think. To choose. To invest in your own way.
Heck, you still have the right to cook bacon on a gas stove, if that’s your preference — and you don’t need a permit. Yet.
And because it’s still a free country, this weekend anyway, here’s a short list of absurd things you can do if you so choose:
- Griddle hash browns in your boxers while listening to Johnny Cash and reading the Constitution out loud to your dog.
- Invest in uranium stocks just to annoy your ESG-obsessed nephew.
- Eat a second helping of ribs, then criticize government spending while dipping into Medicare.
- Hang a “Don’t Tread on Me” flag next to a wind chime shaped like Thomas Jefferson’s head.
- Practice rugged individualism by refusing sunscreen, maps, or helpful advice.
- Celebrate financial independence by explaining the gold standard to your grandchildren—again.
- Use your Social Security check to buy fireworks big enough to startle the HOA.
And… if none of that sounds like your style, you can always just take a nap in a lawn chair, wearing a straw hat, while holding a warm glass of bourbon — and still be more patriotic than most of Congress.
Let’s remember, too. The Fourth of July is, and always has been, a working man’s holiday. Not a festival of political theater or corporate virtue signaling — but a nod to the ones who built the thing. Who got up early, took the hits, paid the bills, and taught their kids to do the same.
And this year, it’s extra special because the Fourth lands on a Friday. Nothing says freedom like a long weekend earned the old-fashioned way.
So here’s to you, sir and madam. May your grill be hot, your beer cold, your liberties intact — and may the Republic endure, if we can keep it. Es lo que es.
Addison Wiggin
Grey Swan
P.S. If you find yourself with a moment between barbecue rounds and fireworks bursts this weekend, I recommend a quiet sit-down with The Idea of America by Pierre Lemieux and Bill Bonner.
It’s not a history book, not exactly — it’s a sharp and thoughtful anthology that reexamines what America is, and more importantly, what it means to be American.
Several decades ago now, Lemieux and Bonner curated a collection that reaches from the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights to Emerson’s musings on self-reliance and the irreverent wit of H.L. Mencken.
Some selections are familiar. Others are delightfully offbeat. But each piece builds on the last, forming a layered meditation on liberty, religion, risk, and what happens when people are left alone to live as they see fit.
It’s a celebration of that unruly, imaginative, stubborn streak we call the American spirit. In this day and age, we can all use a little reminder.
Your thoughts? Please send them here: addison@greyswanfraternity.com
