If you’ve spent any time with the Road to Liberty, you know this project is deeply rooted in the past. Through music and storytelling, I examine the events and figures of our founding era—not merely to remember our history, but to uncover the timeless lessons it holds for us today.
But today, I want to look forward. I want to share the "why" behind this entire project—the hope for the future that serves as my North Star in every story I tell, every communication I send, and the attitude I try to bring to this work every single day.
To just about any observer today, it is "self-evident" that our nation is suffering from a scarcity of three vital things: patriotism, civility, and unity.
To say that out loud isn't to stand on a soapbox and look down on anyone. I don’t have all the answers, and I certainly don't claim to be better than anyone else. But like many of you, I look around our communities and see a landscape that feels increasingly fragmented. No single person can fix the national climate, but we can all do something. By doing what we can—arm in arm with others of a like mind—we can make a real, tangible difference in our homes, our neighborhoods, and our nation.
1. Elevating Patriotism for a New Generation
It is easy to look at the challenges of today and get caught up in a cycle of complaint. But when we look closely, particularly at the rising generation, what we see isn't a lack of desire for connection, but a profound sense of exhaustion. Our young people are swimming in a digital cacophony where it’s entirely possible to have thousands of friends on an online profile yet feel utterly alone on a Friday night. Far beyond the screens, they are staring down severe real-world challenges—a dismal employment outlook, a housing market that feels entirely out of reach, and deeply fragmented social conditions. In the face of these heavy everyday pressures, finding solid truths to hold fast to is incredibly difficult.
The result isn't just apathy; it’s distrust. For many young people, there is a deep-seated skepticism toward anything that sounds like government or traditional institutions. They feel, in many ways, like the promise of their country has betrayed them. Fortunately, it isn't all gloom and doom. There are incredible exceptions everywhere you look. But there is still far too much loneliness, hopelessness, and distrust in America today among our youth. How do we elevate the ideals of patriotism for a generation facing these realities?
First, I believe we must define our terms early so we don't let others project their own biases onto the word. Let us define patriotism not as blind, uncritical allegiance, but as a shared dedication to the ideals of the Declaration and the Constitution—ideals that we are constantly striving to fulfill.
My contribution to this "impossible" task is through the lens of history, making it a living thing that affects our hearts and motivates us internally to strive for higher goals. When we look at our founders—both the prominent names in the textbooks and the entirely unknown everyday citizens of the era—we need to see them as they truly were: flawed, complex human beings. They were dealing with the messy, special challenges of their own time, many of which are not all that different from our own.
We don't love and respect our forefathers because they were perfect. They weren't. Neither are we. But we can respect them because they championed ideals that were, in many cases, far beyond what they were capable of fully living out at the time. They established a higher standard—a blueprint—for the nation to rise to in the future. Over the generations, we have sometimes failed miserably to meet those standards, and at other times achieved real progress. In both cases the elevated standard remains, providing a compass we can use if we are willing to learn from our mistakes, build on meaningful achievements and common ground, and move forward toward a better future.
Just as visual masterpieces use shadow to give depth to light, acknowledging America's complex, imperfect journey actually makes the triumph of its core principles more profound, not less. Facing the shadows of our history doesn't diminish our past; it illuminates the brilliance of the ideals we are still fighting to realize.
Patriotism today has to be about more than flag-waving. True patriotism is showing love for our country by refusing to merely complain and instead joining hands to champion efforts to make things better for our children and grandchildren. Our lives will improve at the same time. This shared dedication does not only apply to those whose families have lived in America since the days of the pilgrims, but also to the newest citizens who have moved here to share in the blessings and opportunities of liberty.
2. Practicing Civility from Within
When it comes to civility, it is easy to feel like the battle is already lost. Civility can often feel abstract—a polite sentiment that looks good on paper but fails in the real world. To make it real, I try to focus on the use of storytelling, media, and education to help create tangible bridges that bring people back to a common table.
Not long ago, I witnessed something that fundamentally shifted my perspective and became a foundational spark for the Road to Liberty project itself. I watched an hour-long debate between billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban and Chris Klomp at the Silicon Slopes Summit. On paper, they represented entirely different worlds, philosophies, and approaches to American healthcare. Yet, the tone of that entire hour was completely devoid of the confrontation and anger that dominates our national airwaves. Instead, it was respectful, informative, and edifying. It was exactly what I believe every important conversation in our nation should look like.
That conversation stayed with me, and last week, I decided to do something about it. I sent a brief note to Chris Klomp, who currently manages some of the largest organizational responsibilities in the history of our country—overseeing a roughly $2 trillion budget that impacts 170 million Americans through leading national healthcare programs. I simply wanted to express my gratitude to him for being such an extraordinary example of respectful civility on that stage, and to let him know that his example was woven into the fabric of my project. I didn't actually expect a reply, given his unimaginable daily workload. Yet, the very next day, an email from him landed in my inbox:
"Steve, thank you so much for sending such a very thoughtful message to me; I’m very grateful and moved by this. I was grateful to participate in that discussion, I’m grateful to learn more of the work you are doing, and I appreciate it all very much. Warmest wishes to you. Sincere thanks, again! CK"
My first instinct was to wonder what his "secret" for respect and civility during the debate was. But upon reflection, I realized the answer was right there. By my count, in that brief message, he expressed thanks, gratitude, and appreciation six times. His secret wasn't a corporate strategy or putting on some kind of performance; it was simply humility, kindness, and gratitude. He also had the courtesy to pause his immense responsibilities just to respect the words and contribution of an ordinary citizen he didn't even know, gaining absolutely nothing in return. I am grateful for and inspired by his example.
These attributes can feel hard to find in a world that often rewards the loudest voice. But that kind of shift has to come from within; it isn’t something that can be forced on anyone from the outside. It has to be invited in and practiced. From my own experience, it takes a lot of effort to get it right. I am still very much a work in progress, but I can feel a difference in my own life when I manage to find those small moments of patience, or when I choose to meet a difficult situation with genuine respect for a different view. Even though I recognize my own shortfalls, those tiny moments of progress give me hope.
3. Finding Unity on Common Ground
When we cultivate a shared dedication to our core ideals and practice individual civility, unity ceases to be an abstract hope—it becomes the natural result.
I believe we can find a powerful blueprint for national unity in our history, particularly in how the founders approached religion—a topic people were every bit as passionate and divided about then as they are today. The founders represented a vast spectrum of deep, differing personal beliefs. Yet, they managed to balance the foundation of a new nation by anchoring it to a single, unifying theme: a shared reliance on Divine Providence.
Just as I believe we must clearly define patriotism, we must also protect the word unity from being weaponized as forced conformity. True unity is the hard work of finding a shared baseline in almost any endeavor or belief, if we are willing to look for it. That kind of profound connection is rare to find today, but it proves that a common denominator can exist in almost any environment, if we are willing to discover and build upon it.
Identifying that common ground always takes deliberate effort, but investing our energy there yields incredibly rewarding results. When we build from a foundation of shared values with an opponent, we create a safe space to discuss our differences. We can ask why a different approach has been helpful to them, showing true respect by listening well enough to repeat their views back to them—not as a mocking parrot, but as a genuine friend.
This is precisely how we begin building bridges of understanding. Once that trust is established, we can share our own perspectives with a partner who is far more likely to listen and contemplate. It becomes a liberating process of mutual learning where both sides are ultimately strengthened and enlightened by each other.
Conclusion: Turning the Compass Forward
There is an old saying that the best way to get rid of an enemy is to make them a friend. This doesn't mean we have to become exactly like them, agree with their ideals, or overlook bad behavior. But we can choose to respect what is good and edifying about them. You can hear this exact principle in the words of George Washington in my Journey to Liberty series, as he speaks about his political opponents in ways that are genuine and respectful. I have experienced these kinds of bridge-building situations multiple times in my own life, and every single time, I have been deeply grateful for the unexpected insights and growth that came from the process.
When we talk about these things in an atmosphere of respect and civility—using the "softened realism" approach of facing the difficult, messy parts of the American story with empathy and honesty—we elevate the conversation. We can learn to respect each other's differences and celebrate our similarities. By refusing to gloss over our history, we can honestly look at the painful mistakes and egregious practices of the past, using them not as weapons to divide us, but as critical lessons to ensure we do better today.
Even the fiercest political opponents in America today probably share more common ground than they are willing to publicly admit to. The problem is that our differences are loud, persistent, and constantly fueled by sensational news stories and partisan bickering and posturing that aggravates, polarizes and numbs us. The quiet, internal truths, the shared worries, and the common sorrows we hold as human beings are too often drowned out in public.
The goals we strive for matter, even if the loudest voices try to overwhelm or silence them. If we can join enough efforts to elevate patriotism not by preaching but by learning—seeking to relate to the human experiences of those who came before us and applying those insights to our own time—we can change the cultural tide. United as one in this effort, I believe we can make a tangible difference in our homes, communities, and across our nation.
Thank you for walking this road with me. Let’s keep moving forward, together.