‘The wheels are coming off’: readers reflect on the 250th anniversary of the American experiment
Against a backdrop of sweeping rollbacks of civil rights and deteriorating relations with allies, many are feeling cynical
As the United States prepares to mark its 250th anniversary on 4 July, the country faces a turbulent moment under the Donald Trump administration.
The anniversary coincides with sweeping rollbacks of civil rights, deteriorating relations with traditional allies and growing domestic opposition to the administration’s handling of immigration and free speech. Against this backdrop, many Americans say they feel increasingly cynical about the country’s future.
Speaking to the Guardian, American readers described a country they believe has lost credibility on the world stage and reached a “tipping point”.
For Laurie King, a Georgetown University anthropology professor in Washington DC, anxiety defines the moment.
“I’m very anxious. The country is at a … tipping point. The worst characteristics and historical contradictions of the US are in ascendance; economically, socially and psychologically, the wheels are coming off and civil war is not off the table,” King said.
“The US is both a laughingstock and a cautionary tale in the global context.”
Storianne, a 55-year-old children’s librarian in Connecticut, also expressed dismay, saying she is “not feeling proud at all these days” about an “empire in decline”.
“We are living in a dystopian hellscape of unfettered capitalism that is ruining the planet, pillaging our savings, our safety net and our freedoms. As a transgender American, I have seen our right to use a bathroom, the end of equal protection under the law and the rise of a toxic form of performative masculinity that makes everyone less safe. Add in the most corrupt administration in United States history and one has to ask what do [we] have to be proud of these days?” Storianne said.
Tony Callisto, a 26-year-old Californian working in education administration, said the anniversary “feels stupid”.
“What is there to celebrate? Who still deeply holds allegiance to this country? … We’ve pedestalized the absence of thought or empathy for the last 250 years, and I’m not optimistic enough to expect us to hit 500,” Callisto said. “We look ridiculous, sound inane, and act insane in the global theatre.”
For Kole Williams, a 26-year-old gay man from Idaho now living in Seattle, the anniversary inspires little beyond apathy.
“I don’t know if it’s purely due to Trump being president, but I feel incredibly apathetic. When you learn the true history of the founding [and] expansion of this nation, you struggle to elicit any positive feelings of our heritage. I’ve never necessarily felt ‘proud’ to be American, but never before have I ever felt embarrassed to be American,” Williams said.
For Barbara, a 58-year-old social worker in Columbia, South Carolina, the anniversary evokes memories of a more optimistic country.
“I remember our 200th birthday in 1976 and proudly wearing my bicentennial coin necklace to school. In 1976 it seemed like we were moving forward. As a young girl, I thought a woman would be president some day. At that age, I thought it could even be me,” she said.
Barbara continued: “As someone who cares about others and our planet … I’m more concerned and worried than ever about the ‘values’ this country seems to embrace – values of avarice, consumption and ostentation.”
Others said the current climate has left them reluctant to recommend visiting the US.
Thomas, a 29-year-old web developer in Philadelphia, said: “I’m genuinely ashamed of what’s going on these days … I’ve been to protests, it’s a breath of fresh air to be reminded that people still care, we haven’t given up. And, despite all the censorship and literal ‘white-washing’ of our history, most schools still teach about the dark shameful times of our past.”
He added: “It’s nice to see how Europe, for all its own faults, has tried in some ways to step up where we’ve failed … I’ve even said to friends in other countries: ‘Don’t even bother coming here, it’s not worth the risk.’”
Kate Howe, an American artist and researcher living in London, echoed the same sense of disillusionment: “When I introduce myself and people ask where I am from, I say, ‘I’m American. And I’m sorry for the state of the world right now.’ Growing up, I truly thought American democracy was stable. I truly thought women’s rights were enshrined. I truly thought America was progressive, and that progress meant progress for everyone. I was so, so wrong.”
“It wasn’t until I left the US that the propaganda we had lived with began to reveal itself to me … How can America call itself the land of the free when my two children, who came out as transgender during Covid, do not feel safe returning there?… As the 250th anniversary approaches, I feel we have come to the end of the American experiment, and I think it has failed. A cage fight on the White House lawn, in front of the demolished East Wing, with the reflecting pool peeling and mouldering nearby, while Trump and his family become richer and American literacy continues to decline, feels like something out of Idiocracy,” they added.
Not everyone rejected the anniversary outright.
Jessica Fetcho, a 47-year-old financial adviser in California, said it “should be an honest reflection on democracy, our successes and failures and a nation, and pride in how far we’ve come”.
However, Fetcho said, “all of that has been tainted by a feeble-minded would-be dictator, so that chance at reflection has been destroyed. It’s an opportunity that will not come around again in most of our lifetimes and I’m angry that it’s being stolen from us.”
Henry, a 31-year-old Wisconsin education policy worker, also described mixed emotions.
“It feels like a federally pushed distraction, and seems to have mostly been co-opted by the Maga movement … While America has much to be proud of over 250 years, it’s hard to feel anything [more] than disgust towards anything associated with the 250 celebration. When I was in my early 20s, I used to proudly display an American flag in my room. The thought of doing that now feels genuinely unthinkable,” he said.
Amid the frustration, some still see the anniversary as a chance to change course.
Christian Brinser, a 33-year-old from Pollock Pines, California, who works in sustainability and construction, said: “The 250th anniversary makes me feel conflicted … I feel that our country is going in the wrong direction, and I worry that nothing will change until we get dark money out of politics, crack down on corruption, and focus on the working class Americans.”
Yet, Brinser added, “I think that America still has plenty of potential to be a great country, and that this 250th anniversary is a fork in the road. We can continue going down this road, and deteriorate as a country. Or we can make changes and be a country who does great things … The rest of the 21st century will see profound changes in our society, and they can be great changes if we can come together.”
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In other words for Laurie King, a Georgetown University anthropology professor in Washington DC, anxiety defines the moment. Curious to see how this develops.
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Still waiting to hear what For Laurie actually plans to do about it.
If for Laurie King, a Georgetown University anthropology professor in Washington DC, anxiety defines the moment, then the bigger picture starts to look very different.
On one hand against a backdrop of sweeping rollbacks of civil rights and deteriorating relations with allies, many are feeling. But at the same time as the United States prepares to mark its 250th anniversary on 4 July, the country faces a turbulent moment under the Donald Trump administration.