Hi, and welcome to FIVE Minutes with Phil Routly, as I say Happy 246th Birthday to the Good Ole USA!

You came into existence because you didn't believe you were being treated fairly by King George and the powers of the British Empire. You had no autonomy, but were forced to pay taxes to the Crown. So you rebelled.

It seems to me that fairness has always played a central role in the philosophy of the United States of America. Not that you always got it right, and seldom got it right the first time. The pendulum keeps swinging, because so often what is fair for one person or group is not fair to the other. But as a nation, I believe you are trying to get it right.