Despite the darkness, I still see signs of hope in America

Photo: Fireworks appear over the White House and the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Sunday, July 4, 2021, during the Fourth of July celebration. Photo credit: Carlos Fyfe / Biden White House Archived via Flickr. US government work. Article by Eric Berger. Ars Technica – July 3, 2026.

The last time America celebrated a big anniversary, I was all of three years old. Even so, I retain a few fuzzy memories from a sunny summer afternoon in small-town Michigan: climbing on a cannon in front of the courthouse, watching a parade, and seeing my dad, a veteran and Centreville city councilman, giving a short talk about democracy. Only later would I realize the significance of the date: July 4th, 1976, America’s bicentennial. America was imperfect and inconsistent in its approaches to “freedom,” but the country had done some big, difficult things in recent decades. […]

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