Description

The best things about the United States are often found in the same tensions that define its history: a country with serious failures that has also produced remarkable achievements.

Being a citizen: the ability to participate in the democratic process. A country that has been shaped by people from around the world. The United States is one of the world’s most culturally mixed societies. The idea that someone can come from another country and become part of the American story remains one of the country’s strongest ideals. A culture that rewards experimentation and entrepreneurship has helped create many world-changing economy. American influence in entertainment and popular culture is enormous. Many improvements in American life came from ordinary citizens pushing institutions to change. Freedoms guaranteed in the First Amendment that have helped create a society where ideas can be challenged openly. The geography and natural advantages have given the American people a National Park system that allows everyone to enjoy these wonders. The American people themselves whose friendliness and openness with strangers is a recognizable part of American social life.

A historian might summarize it this way: America’s greatest strength is not that it has always lived up to its ideals, it is that generations of Americans have continued trying to make those ideals more real. Americans are often at their best when they combine optimism with action, believing that the future can be better and then working, arguing, creating, and organizing to make it happen.