On Fridays we bring you the week’s best from around the web. In celebration of the Fourth of July holiday, this week’s round-up takes a look at America’s past and looks hopefully forward to the country’s future.
1. America the Exceptional: AEI’s Gary Schmitt reflects on America’s founding and the ramifications that it had on the rest of the world.
July 4th is a day to celebrate America’s birth. But Americans can proudly, and justly so, celebrate that July 4th is also the day the Americans gave birth to a set of ideas that not only transformed their own polity but that of the world at large.
2. How Can We Revive the American Dream?: At the blog, Liz Thatcher shares two stories to explain how we can restore the American dream.
The best way for people to change their circumstances is through creativity and hard work, not dependence on the government. We must foster a vibrant economy and opportunity society where that continues to be true.
3. Is America Still Exceptional?: This video from Charles Murray is worth revisiting. He asks: Was America ever exceptional? What does that mean? And is it still?
4. Is Patriotism Passé?: Writing for Forbes, Karlyn Bowman and Jennifer Marsico examine the patriotic attitudes of Americans.
What do Americans say about being patriotic? To take just one of many questions in our report, in January 2001, when the Gallup Organization asked Americans how proud they were to be Americans, 87 percent said they were “extremely” or “very” proud. When Gallup repeated the question last year, a virtually identical 85 percent gave that response.
5. What Millennials Can Teach Boomers About Start-Up Success: Lisa Heffernan shows how entrepreneurial millennials in America are changing the business sector as we know it.
College-educated millennials see the world differently. In fact they see a different world all together. Instead of looking for rigid corporate structures, millennials are seeking opportunity. Almost two-thirds of them would like to start their own company. They don’t want to go to work at a great company—they want to create one.
