At 247 Years Old Today, the United States Still Stands Strong - Horowitz

At 247 Years Old Today, the United States Still Stands Strong - Horowitz

As we mark our nation’s 247th birthday, contrary to the steady diet of bad news that bombards us daily, and our polarized politics dominated by harsh attacks and doomsaying, there is indeed much to celebrate.  We remain the world’s foremost economic and military power, our democracy is withstanding one of the fiercest internal attacks in our history in part because our sharp divisions mask broad agreement on common values, and we are solidly positioned for a bright future.

 

Although you wouldn’t know it by reading the many apostles of American decline, we remain the world’s foremost economic power as well as its wealthiest nation. China is still a fairly distant second and confronting its own set of daunting domestic challenges.  With only 4% of the world’s population, United States’ households own 31% of the world’s private wealth and our nation produces 24% of the world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).  China’s share of the world’s private wealth is 19%, and it produces 17% of the world’s GDP, even though it has more than 4 times as many people.

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The United States is also well-positioned for robust long-term economic growth. Rated as the best in the world, our colleges and universities continue to attract the planet’s best and brightest, giving us a leg up in the global competition for talent. More broadly, with Donald Trump and his demonization of immigrants gone from the White House, we have regained our traditional role as a beacon for the entrepreneurially inclined around the world, the strivers who come to our shores seeking a better life.  The reenergizing of our economy through successive waves of immigrants who create a disproportionate share of our new businesses has been one of our unique strengths throughout our history. This strength---if somewhat dented during the Trump years--is reemerging nicely.

 

Additionally, our recent large-scale investments in infrastructure, computer chips, and renewable energy are boosting domestic manufacturing, creating skilled well-paying jobs that don’t require a college education and better positioning us to continue besting the rest of the global economic competition.

 

Even now with many Americans rattled by our first bout of serious inflation in 40 years and still feeling its impacts, the United States is outpacing the rest of the world. Today, the United States has the lowest inflation rate of any of the G7 nations. We have cut inflation in more than half over the past year, moving from a high of a little over 9 % this past June to a little over 4% today. Unemployment remains remarkably low at under 4%.

 

Similarly, the United States remains by far the world’s strongest military power.  Just as importantly, our most important strategic alliances are solidifying and becoming more potent.  Russia’s reckless and unsuccessful invasion of Ukraine has reenergized NATO and fortified Western resolve. And our active diplomacy in Asia, combined with the strong response to Russia’s unjustified invasion, is serving as a robust deterrent to China’s ambitions for regional expansion and dominance.

 

 Returning to the home front, our democracy continues to withstand one of the fiercest internal challenges in our history. The founders’ vision of strong independent institutions providing checks and balances has once again turned out to be prescient.  Our Courts and Congress, backed by an overwhelming majority of the American people, firmly rejected President Trump’s shameless attempt to reverse the results of a free and fair election, clinging to power by any means possible.   In the 2022 elections, the American people sent pretty much all the election deniers running in competitive races down to defeat. Nearly all of these losing candidates conceded their losses and unlike Mr. Trump, did not argue-- against all the evidence to the contrary-- that they were the real winners.

 

This demonstrated resiliency is partially a result of the fact that despite our sharp political disagreements, most Americans agree on the main values that undergird our democracy. The results of a new survey conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago confirms this is the case for Democrats and Republicans alike. “In the survey, respondents were asked to rate the importance of six principles: personal responsibility, fair enforcement of the law, representative government, government accountability, compassion and respect across differences, and learning from the past," AP reported. “In each case, about 90% of both Democrats and Republicans rated these values as very or extremely important.

 

Along the same lines, we have not let go of the American dream.  Nearly 2-out-of 3 Americans “believe they are already living the American dream or that they will reach it in their lifetime,” while a little over 1-in-3 “say they will not reach it in their lifetime,” according to a new poll conducted by AEI’s Survey Center on American Life.

 

Our nation remains a work in progress, coming closer to, but still not achieving the foundational aspirational goal of equality for all proclaimed by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence.  As has been true throughout our history, the challenges ahead remain substantial, the future is open and uncertain, and there are no guarantees.

 

As we near our 250th birthday, however, our nation stands strong. Together, we can build on our strengths and forge a bright future.  I, for one, believe we have yet to see our best days.