America's 250th birthday deserves genuine celebration, not partisan theater. The country's achievements are extraordinary — immigrants built skyscrapers from nothing, and the Founders risked their lives signing a declaration that changed the world. Tuning out the political noise and appreciating this nation's shared history is the most American thing anyone can do right now.
Optimism about America's next 250 years is hard to justify when politicians have divided the country so thoroughly that 38% of Americans doubt it'll survive. Nation states rarely last in their current form, and the U.S. is no exception to historical patterns of collapse and transformation. The division is real, and pretending patriotism can paper over it misses the point entirely.
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