250 Years, and the Fight Is Still Worth It
America turns 250 this year. That is a big number. It means a quarter of a millennium of people deciding, again and again, that they would rather govern themselves than be told what to do.
The story of this country has never been quiet. From the very start, it has been a push and pull. On one side is the belief that government should set the rules and keep watch. On the other is the belief that free people and free markets, left to do their work, will build something better than any rule ever could. That tension has never gone away. It is still with us today.
Here is what is easy to miss. That struggle is not a sign that something is broken. It is the system working the way it was built to work. Our Constitution did not promise us a country without argument. It promised us a lawful way to have the argument. It gave us the vote, the courts, the right to speak, and the right to petition. In much of the world, people who push back against their government do not get those tools. They get silence, or worse. We get a seat at the table.
That is worth honoring on a birthday like this one.
For small business owners, this is not just history. It is your daily life. Every person who opens a business is making a bet on the free market. You are betting that if you offer something good, people will choose it. You are betting that your judgment, your care, and your hard work will pay off. That bet is the beating heart of the American economy, and it always has been.
Nowhere is that bet more personal than in private child care.
If you own a licensed private child care program in Colorado, you live in the space between government control and free market every single day. You feel the rules. You fill out the forms. You meet the standards. And you do it all while trying to keep your doors open, pay your staff, and give families a real choice about who cares for their children. That balance is hard. It is also deeply American.
Parents choosing your program over a one-size-fits-all option is the free market at its best. It is a family saying, "This is the place I trust." No agency handed them that choice. You earned it. Protecting that choice, and defending your right to run your business well, is exactly the work ECEA has done since 1985.
We are the workforce behind the workforce. Your industry contributes more than $1 billion to Colorado's output. It employs about 19,000 residents. It serves around 41,000 children under the age of five. You are not a side note in the economy. You are essential infrastructure, and you deserve to be treated that way.
We know the pressure is real. Rising costs, staffing shortages, and a heavy pile of state rules can make any owner feel stretched thin. But here is the part worth remembering on the Fourth of July. You are not a victim of the system. You are a part of it, with a voice in it, and with the lawful power to shape it. That is the whole promise of this country in one sentence.
So this is our job, and our privilege. We sit in the policy meetings so you do not have to. We talk to legislators and state administrators to shape the rules before they land on your desk. We bring you partnerships that save real money, so more of what you earn stays in your business. We fight the fights so you can get back to the children and families you serve.
Two hundred and fifty years in, the American experiment is still exactly that. An experiment. A daily choice to keep free people free and to keep the market open to anyone willing to work for it. Your business is proof that the experiment is still going strong.
Happy birthday, America. And to every owner reading this, thank you for the part you play in it. Together we are stronger.
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