No saddles

Many Americans are finishing up a week of vacation this weekend, having had the advantage of Independence Day falling in the middle of the week. So I finish this American "Fourth of July" holiday week with one more post about our traditions.

Thomas Jefferson, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, was really passionate about freedom. Around the Jefferson Memorial in Washington D.C. are his words:

"I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."

His eternal hostility against tyranny lasted all his life. Just ten days before his death, he said colorfully that people are not born to be dominated by a small number of elites:

"[T]he mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor [are] a favored few [born] booted and spurred, ready to ride them . ."