As we head into the 4th of July and celebrate our country’s 250th anniversary, I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to be an American and how I feel about a country that has given me so much. I love the freedom this country has provided me, the diversity we celebrate, and the real opportunity to make something out of nothing.
It’s also a hard time. No other way to say it. Our country is far from perfect, and while the differences may seem huge, I don’t believe we’re actually that far apart. Our freedom is part of what makes this democracy difficult, but it’s that same freedom worth fighting for.
When I look at the division in this country, the common thread I see is fear. Hate breeds from fear. Intolerance breeds from fear. Control breeds from fear. And I believe much of that division, intentional or not, is by design. We have access to more information than ever before, and where I thought that would be the great equalizer, it’s mostly made it easier to push us apart. AI is only accelerating it.
Watching the US soccer team make the round of 16 this week, with the crowd singing “Country Roads,” I felt a spark of pride I hadn’t felt in a while. Americans of every culture, ethnicity, and background hugging over a shared celebration of the team. It was awesome. It was inspiring. I wanted more of it.
We still got this. It doesn’t matter who’s in office or which way the political wind is blowing. The people of America are far more aligned than the internet would have us believe, and it’s up to us to recognize that.
250 years in, I think we’re just getting started. We’re an experiment. We’re an idea. Nothing is guaranteed. But I know one thing: the people of this country are some of the hardest working in the world.
The founders left everything behind to start something brand new, with no guarantee it would work. The immigrants who came after took the same giant risk. Leaving your own country for a place that’s new and unproven takes serious guts. That means this country is filled with the descendants of a bunch of badasses.
I’m hopeful and grateful to live in a place where I can still speak my mind freely, meet people from all over the world, and be part of communities whose diversity and drive make us who we are. America is not the government. It’s not a political party. It’s a group of people who believe in an idea and will fight endlessly for that idea to win.
Don’t let fear drive you. It may be cliché, but turn off the screen and go touch grass. I find most of the world’s worries disappear the moment the screen does. Happy 4th of July!