We are now three months away from our 250th birthday. For those of us who lived through the Bicentennial in 1976, it was an amazing time. The build-up was constant. There were stories about history on the news regularly. Teachers talked about it through the last day of classes. Everyone was wearing t-shirts and caps. It was ever-present in our daily lives for months. Now, for the 250th? Not so much. We do have the grift going though: Still, we will always have this no matter what--and words have meaning. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
America is at a low point in so many respects. Bad timing with the 250th anniversary. There is the moon mission. That’s something to be proud of.
You just stated one of the primary issues. America was homogenous in 1976 and had few, select immigrants based on merit. It wasn't fighting internet brain rot. It's easy to be a positive nation when you have a shared culture and value system. We knew slavery was bad, but we weren't appointing supreme court justices because of it. The shift away from those principles is the primary cause of division today - not Trump, who merely says the quiet part out loud. You need to have the courage to address this.
You're actually complaining about the fragmented and individualized media landscape. A monoculture was possible when there were shared daily newspapers, three television stations, and a world that wasn't hunched over a phone curating 300 million unique realities. 106 million people watched finale of M.A.S.H. That type of homogenous experience isn't possible anymore.
I had just turned 3 before the bicentennial, and one of my halcyon earliest memories was about how amazing that 4th of July was. I distinctly remember the hype (as much as I was exposed to it).
Pretty frickin' depressing to have the 250th with this president and this criminal war where we are promising widescale atrocities. I think I could have mustered a little enthusiasm despite the blatant corruption and the systematic violation of civil rights under the no-foreign-wars Trump. But, to have all the corruption and the violation of civil rights plus the shame of this war in Iran under the yes-foreign-wars Trump is too much.
The United States has never been homogenous, and certainly was not in 1976. Different demographics than now? Sure. But homogeneity? No. 1976 was a big year for immigration policy though. Prior to 1965, there were no limits on immigrant visas from Western Hemisphere countries. In 1965, Congress limited the number of visas to 120,000 per year with exemptions for immediate family members of US citizens. However, in 1976, stricter controls were placed on immigration by Congress to the tune of reducing the number of visas to 20,000 with no exemptions. This had the notable effect of creating a backlog of applicants and as such, actually encouraged undocumented immigration of people wanting to reunite with families, find work, etc. (I should note that back then, the Catholic Church was very much against the reduction and supported across-the-board amnesty.)
Guys, just do what all the other people in failed state countries do and celebrate the things outside of the modern government.
