A-list actor Matthew McConaughey delivered a stirring, patriotic Independence Day speech celebrating America on its 250th birthday on social media that is going viral for telling those who want to quit on America, “We don’t need you.”
“Two hundred and fifty years young,” the Lincoln Lawyer star begins in his video. “Howdy, America.”
“And to a lot of people, that may seem like a long time to be a country, but, it’s really not,” he continues. “But I’ll tell you what it’s definitely not too long to be, it’s not too long to be an idea, which is what America is. A land that has never been… yet!”
“And that yet that we’re seeking and chasing, that’s the whole thing. It’s a place that we’re never going to arrive at,” he explains. “And that’s not failure because we won’t, that’s by design. You knew that, we didn’t construct this country on any kind of proof. We started it on a belief that it was worth fighting for. A wager that was worth betting on. An act of faith that a self-governing people can be something worth being and becoming.”
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“And here we are 250 years later, the bet’s still on the table, folks!” he added. “We have not cashed in, and let’s hope we never cash in. We need skeptics, yes we do. We do not need cynics. One cares enough to question — which we should — and the other ones already quit. We don’t need you.”
So, here we are celebrating 250 years of independence. We look around, what have we built? What have we restored?” he asked. “What is still standing? What has fallen by the wayside? What’s gone forever? And the best of us, as in 250 years, of showing up, at least. Arguing, loving, losing, forgiving, starting over, believing in who we are, and what we can be. That’s the ‘yet’ we’re chasing.”
“So, here we are today lighting the fire, breaking the bread, raising a glass to our family and friends, and maybe even to the neighbor we don’t agree with. Today, we’re going to let the kids run barefoot after dark, maybe. That’s the celebration. Not that we’ve arrived anywhere, but to the fact we’re still on our way. Take inventory, with the one in the mirror and together. Here’s to more dancing in the home of the brave. Happy 250th, America. Just keep living,” he concluded.
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