Leading up to our Independence Day party, my wife asked whether she should buy us T-shirts celebrating America's 250th anniversary or stick with what we already have. We went with our existing garments. When the red, white, and blue string lights are up and the Gadsden flag is flying out front, my son will don his free speech shirt, my wife will wear one with USA printed across it, and my shirt will show an image of George Washington crossing the Delaware and text reading: "Americans. Willing to cross a frozen river to kill you. In your sleep. On Christmas. Not kidding, we've done it."

It will be festive.

National Gloom

But not everybody shares our enthusiasm for celebrating the nation's birthday and the liberty at the core of its founding philosophy. Frankly, some folks are pretty glum about the whole thing. Angry at each other, disappointed with the government, and pessimistic about the future, too many of our friends and neighbors seem to have given up on the whole experiment—although there are signs of hope.

"Most people have told us they are dissatisfied with the way things are going in the United States and that they think the country's best days are behind us," Pew Research recently noted of its polling over the past year. "And when asked to look ahead to 2050, upward of half of U.S. adults say they think the economy will be weaker, the U.S. will be less important in the world, the country will be more politically divided, and the American system of government will work worse than it does today."

Specifically, 29 percent of adults said they are satisfied with how things are going in the country, while 69 percent are dissatisfied. More Americans have voiced dissatisfaction than satisfaction for nearly 25 years.

On a similar note, Gallup finds that less than half of us believe the American Dream (which a plurality associate with "freedoms or individual rights," followed by "financial security or homeownership") is still attainable: "Forty-six percent agree strongly (21%) or somewhat (25%) that everyone in the country has the opportunity to achieve the American Dream, down five percentage points from 2024. Meanwhile, 42% say they feel optimistic about the future of the Dream."

All that gloom has an effect on people's pride in country. According to an NBC News/Hart Research Associates/Public Opinion Strategies poll published this month, 56 percent of respondents say they're "extremely" or "very" proud to be Americans. That sounds pretty good—it's a majority, after all—but it's down from 58 percent a year ago, 70 percent in 2019, 82 percent in 2009, and 87 percent in 2001.

Digging deeper, it's clear domestic disillusion and conflict play big roles in eroding national pride.

In 1990, 36 percent of respondents reported "a great deal" or "quite a bit" of confidence in the federal government, down to 28 percent in 2000, and hovering around 16–18 percent since 2010; 52 percent have "very little" confidence or none at all—a majority for the first time. Confidence in the high-tech industry is down from 54 percent in 2000 to 26 percent now. The news media held the confidence of 37 percent of Americans in 1991, down to 18 percent in 2011, and 11 percent now.

Tellingly, 44 percent of respondents say "most Americans have fundamentally different core values" rather than shared values coupled with disagreement over policies. Eighty percent believe more divides than unites Democrats and Republicans, with a similar division cited between those who are wealthy and those who are not. Fifty-five percent hold the same view of relations between people in cities and those in rural areas. Fifty-two percent see a similar gap between the young and the old.

We might all benefit from more autonomy over our lives and less meddling from others we see as alien.

Democrats and Republicans Divide on Pride

And yes, as with all things these days, this has a partisan component.

"While 62% of 2024 Trump voters say they are extremely proud to be Americans, 12% who picked Democrat Kamala Harris in 2024 said the same," reports NBC News of the survey. "The set of Americans most likely to express great pride is older, whiter, more male, more rural and less educated."

Democrats have especially soured on the country for years. According to Gallup polling, in 2001, over 80 percent of Democrats, Republicans, and independents said they were proud to be American. But that number started plunging for Democrats after 2013. Eighty-five percent of Democrats were proud of their nationality that year, down to 42 percent in 2020. The numbers blipped up above 50 percent while Democrat Joe Biden was in the White House, only to drop to 36 percent in the most recent survey with Republican Donald Trump holding the presidency.

Independents have seen a similar slide, though not fluctuating with White House occupancy and not as dramatic. In the most recent polling, 53 percent of independents said they were proud to be Americans.

Republicans remained over 80 percent throughout and now stand at 92 percent proud to be Americans.

A Glimmer of Optimism

The good news is that even if people see more division than unity when they consider their countrymen, we do generally share some values.

As mentioned above, Gallup finds the most popular definition of "American Dream" to be "freedoms or individual rights." While fewer than half believe that dream is widely available, "nearly seven in 10 (69%) agree they will personally achieve the American Dream."

For respondents to the NBC News poll, "freedom" ranked second, after "family," among values that respondents called most important in their own lives. Half of those surveyed (up from 46 percent in 1976) thought "our form of government, based on the Constitution, has stood the test of time and remains sound for the challenges ahead."

And Pew reported that, while Americans foresee a diminished country in 2050, the ranks of pessimists have been shrinking: "There has been a 13 percentage point rise in the share of Americans who say the U.S. will be more important in the world by 2050. There also has been a 12-point increase in the share saying the country will be less politically divided and an 11-point rise in the share who expect the economy to grow stronger."

Sixty-eight percent say they're "hopeful" and 54 percent call themselves "happy" about the future.

Perhaps the people of a nation founded on liberty and individualism don't necessarily consider their personal fates to be entirely in the hands of a government they hold in low regard. The United States might fade, but they anticipate good prospects for themselves.

Honestly, that's good enough reason to celebrate America's 250th anniversary. This is a country founded on the idea that each person matters and has the right to guide his or her own life. We're not just extensions of the state and we can thrive even when politicians bumble.

So, don the clothing of your choice, patriotic or not, and celebrate Independence Day with some friends and neighbors. We may not all share the same values or even like each other very much. But we still live in the only country founded, however imperfectly, on the idea of liberty.

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