talkin' 'bout Our Generation
In Case You Missed It:
Independence Day 2026, the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, was a mixed moment in our history. Most celebrated as always, with parades and picnics festooned with red white and blue, cheering the fireworks.
Our generation can look back 50 years to our Bicentennial in 1976, a peaceful time of hope and happiness. President Gerald Ford embodied calm and healing as he led the nation out of the dark days of Richard Nixon's divisive presidency and the shattering impact of the two decades of the Vietnam war. It was a time of relief and reconciliation, when a population of 218 million people were once again one nation. It was a happy day in America.
For many of us, this anniversary marks a drastic drop from that euphoric spirit of 1976 to today's heart-rending sense of impotence as our democracy mutates into an autocracy. We watch helplessly as our foundational documents -- the Declaration and the Constitution -- and our once-inviolate institutions -- are ignored, and millions more are simply oblivious.
But a lot has happened in 50 years, and many Americans did not feel much like celebrating this year.
Most Americans have not even read the Declaration of Independence. Few are aware of the grueling struggle that followed to win our freedom.
It came at a terrible price: the population of the 13 colonies was only 2.5 million in 1776. 25,000 of those gave their lives to win our freedom from tyranny, and thousands more were left maimed and destitute.
The Founding Fathers knew that independence and the Constitution and Bill of Rights that became the pillars of the new nation were fragile. They would require constant vigilance to survive.
It is shamefully clear that over the 250 years since our country was born, we have failed in that vigilance, and drifted far from those founding principles.
The pride and solidarity that made America a model of peaceful democracy to nations worldwide has devolved into a bitterly divided populace fueled by a lawless and chaotic government. Millions of American citizens and people around the world now fear our democracy is in jeopardy, and our sacred rights and institutions are crumbling.
Perhaps worst of all is the rampant repression of citizens exercising their first amendment rights to protest nonviolently and voice their opposition to the tyranny that is tearing our nation apart. Innocent citizens have been murdered and brutalized by a masked, armed force given free license to trample the rule of law. Peaceful law-abiding and hard-working immigrants are being rounded up, incarcerated in concentration camps, and deported to countries they do not recognize.
There is hope. More than seven million people turned out in a mass "No Kings" protest -- the largest in our history. There has been no tangible response from our lawless government, but a new spirit of solidarity was born.
Whether or not all those protestors realize it, they embody the rebellious "Spirit of '76." Many of our grievances over the actions and edicts of our government today parallel those listed in the Declaration of Independence. Listen to John F. Kennedy's reading of that document, and you can hear the echoes:
