The U.S. just concluded a glorious celebration of our nation’s 250th birthday.
From the ill-attended but still continuing Great American State Fair in Washington, D.C., to the Sail 4th parade of tall ships in New York Harbor and fireworks displays from NYC to small towns all across the nation, America paused to bask in the glory of its first 250 years of existence.
So what now? Sure, there is a certain amount of cleanup after all that celebrating, but what are we, as a country, going to do next as we move forward into our 251st year?
The America 250 celebrations were all about the past, tracing our country’s beginnings from the first Europeans to set foot in the New World through the establishment of 13 British colonies to the revolution against mother England that led to the Declaration of Independence and our eventual victory in the American Revolution.
But the past is gone and the future looms before us. We know where we are on the nation’s 250th birthday, but where will we be at 300, or at 251, for that matter?
Perhaps the better question is not where will we be, but where do we want to be.
As for me, I’d like to see us to return to our position as a stabilizing force in the world, a reliable partner, a dependable ally, standing strong against forces that would quash the dream of freedom, resulting in half the world speaking Russian and the other half Chinese.
Under the present administration we have moved away from that position of quiet strength to one of bluster and bombast.
We cozy up to our enemies, we insult our friends and we threaten all sorts of outrageous things.
I would like to return to an America the rest of the world can count on, not count out.
In years past when there was a natural disaster, or widespread abuse and persecution, or war, or famine, America was the country the rest of the world looked to for help. These days we seem to be turning ever inward, thus giving the rest of the planet the cold shoulder.
We used to be the nation that would defend countries like Greenland, instead of being the one threatening to take them over, by force if necessary. We were close and congenial neighbors with Canada, instead of vowing to turn that sovereign nation into our 51st state.
Formerly, we were the nation that defended smaller countries, now we attack. It’s a disturbing trend and one that I hope begins to be reversed soon.
I’d like to see us return to the days that we celebrated our diversity instead of being ashamed of it. Inclusion used to be one of our watchwords, but now it is considered almost a curse.
I hope we will return to an America where those of different political stripes didn’t always (or ever) agree, but we could at least disagree with respect. Of late Democrats are being labeled as “communists,” which is an absurd but handy verbal cudgel with which to pummel one’s opponents. It harkens back to the 1950s and Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s “Red scare.”
We are Americans. We have different ideas, some good and some downright whacky. However, if we work together in the spirit of compromise we are bound to come to a solution with which both sides will find fault, but also some nuggets of agreement.
President George H.W. Bush called for a “kinder, gentler America.” Whatever happened to that? The past few years have seen us morph into a country in which kindness and gentleness have been looked upon as signs of weakness.
I’d like to return to the days the rest of the world looked up to America, not askance at us in disbelief at some of our rhetoric and actions.
I want America to get back to being a country where our elected leaders were more concerned about doing what was right for their constituents, and less worried about getting re-elected and keeping their cushy jobs.
I’d also like to see an America where the top 1% of the population would no longer control about 31% of the wealth, as they did in 2025 according to Forbes magazine. A redistribution of wealth is not going to come from some liberal government takeover, but from a fundamental attitude change among wealthy Americans, who must begin to ask themselves just how much is enough?
The first 250 years were at times difficult, glorious, inspiring, cruel, violent and encouraging and undoubtedly the next 50 will be as well. We must keep our founding concept of “liberty and justice for all,” at top of mind, and continue our striving for that “more perfect union” mentioned in the preamble to the Constitution.
We have come a long way in our first 250 years, but resting on one’s laurels only results in chlorophyll stains on one’s backside. America is great, but we should be striving for greater and, yes, kinder and gentler.
Jeff Mullin writes for the Enid (Okla.) News & Eagle.
Mullin is an award-winning writer and columnist who retired in 2017 after 41 years with the News & Eagle. Email him at janjeff2002@yahoo.com or write him in care of the Enid News & Eagle at 227 W. Broadway, Enid, OK, 73701.