Torn on the Fourth of July

Fear motivates. But so does love of country. And Americans have much to love - and much to lose.

Photo by Samuel Branch on Unsplash

On this Fourth of July, America feels like it’s tipping into unprecedented crisis. A true authoritarian surrounded by people who want to end democracy as we know it stands a very good chance of winning election in November. Our aging president appears to be in no shape to beat him. The nation’s conservative-dominated Supreme Court has gone rogue, imbuing the president with monarch-like powers and holding that he can commit just about any crime he likes without consequence. This feels like the setup, a set of conditions so clearly dangerous and emerging in such rapid succession it’s hard to believe it’s not a movie script. Next comes the catastrophe.

This kind of fear can be extremely motivating. But it can also be debilitating, unless it’s paired with purpose: A clear vision of the America we need to save.

I’m watching the 2024 election lead-up play out from Hong Kong, a place that knows catastrophe, and a place that is about as far away from the US as you can get. It is, in many ways, a relief to be away from the churn. I follow the news closely and I write about politics, but it’s also nice to be in a place where my day-to-day is not 100% dominated by the American campaign season. It’s certainly personally healthier, and I think the inability to constantly obsess over whatever news is breaking affords a sense of space and perspective that feels useful in these particularly pitched moments. In other words, I think it’s good personally and good professionally.

Being away, and spending time in many different places, also offers perspective in different ways, divorced from the news and social media and the breathless coverage and the chattering-class sniping. It helps expand my own sense of possibility — things other places do well, other ways the US could be, a greater appreciation for the diversity of human experience and the malleability of cultures. And being away similarly stokes appreciation for the many things the US does well, and the many ways in which America is a great place. I often feel much more patriotic abroad than I do at home. Being away often reminds me of what’s missing from wherever I find myself.

In this moment of near-crisis, I am, like everyone else, obsessing over what Democrats should do. But on our country’s Independence Day, I thought it might be worthwhile to remember why we care in the first place. Not because the horserace is exhilarating or because politics is sports for eggheads. But because there are so many ways in which the US is a unique and special place. There are so many ways in which Americans are good. There is so much worth saving — and so much worth improving, if we get the chance.