It's America's 249th birthday, and here's what I want for a gift: I want the people who live in the United States and hate it to leave. That sounds harsh, but hear me out.

More than two centuries ago, men and women far more courageous than I am broke Britain's chains of tyranny at the risk of their lives and their livelihoods. They founded a country that made liberty its priority.

And with free speech and free markets as guideposts, the United States has become the world's most prosperous nation, generating more than 26% of the global gross domestic product. It's not just about wealth − it's about opportunity. The fact that more than 10 of the most highly valued companies in the world were founded and thrived in the United States speaks to how fertile the entrepreneurial soil is in America.

The United States also possesses the most lethal military in the world. Yet, our military might has been used far more often to liberate than to conquer.

That fact is often overlooked, but it shouldn't be. For most of human history, the........

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