As America marks its 250th anniversary, the country should be celebrating one of the greatest political experiments in human history. Instead, nearly one in five Americans say they do not plan to celebrate Independence Day, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll. The survey also found that two in five Americans doubt the United States will even endure another 250 years. Those numbers should concern everyone regardless of political affiliation because they point to something far deeper than disagreement over one election or one president.
The Reuters report illustrates just how fractured the country has become. Some residents interviewed said they would not celebrate because they object to the current administration, while others argued that Independence Day should transcend politics altogether. The fact that Americans can no longer agree on celebrating the nation’s founding tells you how deep the divide has become.
This is not new. I previously wrote about the collapse in national pride, and the numbers showed exactly where the fracture is taking place. Only 29% of Democrats said they were extremely or very proud to be American, compared with 90% of Republicans. Among younger Americans, the figure was only 36% for those aged 18 to 34, while 75% of Americans 65 and older still expressed strong pride in the country. That is the generational and political divide our computer has been warning about. A nation cannot survive when one side is taught to despise its own founding while still demanding the constitutional protections that founding created.
Those who say they hate America fail to appreciate the freedoms that allow them to express that opinion in the first place. The right to criticize the government, organize protests, publish unpopular views, vote against those in power, and openly challenge public officials is protected by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. In many countries throughout history, and even today, such actions could result in imprisonment or worse. That does not mean America is without flaws, but it does mean the liberties established at the nation’s founding remain exceptional. Once people begin taking those freedoms for granted, they also risk overlooking how difficult they are to preserve when political divisions deepen and confidence in institutions continues to erode.
Civil unrest always rises during periods of economic stress. Political polarization is not the disease. It is the symptom. Governments burdened by unsustainable debt, inflation, declining living standards, and a loss of confidence eventually divide their own populations. Every major empire reached the point where citizens increasingly identified with political factions rather than the nation itself. That is when fragmentation begins.
Many people today exercise freedoms that only exist because of the principles established in 1776 and later protected by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The freedom to criticize the government, protest elected officials, publish unpopular opinions, and vote for change are constitutional protections that have distinguished the United States from many governments throughout history. The Declaration of Independence itself was a protest against government authority, and the Constitution was designed to limit the power of the state rather than the people.
This is why the 250th anniversary should not become another partisan event. Whether one supports or opposes the current administration is irrelevant. The institutions created by the Founders have survived civil war, economic depressions, world wars, and political upheaval because they were designed to withstand disagreement. Once citizens stop viewing themselves as part of the same republic and begin seeing political opponents as enemies, the foundations of that constitutional system begin to weaken.