America is drifting not declining as nation’s 250th birthday approaches

Editor’s note: The following column is adapted from author Doug DeVos’ new book: “Believe! Timeless Affirmation of American Principles” (50th Anniversary Edition), (Post Hill Press, November 25, 2025).

Is America on the verge of an incredible comeback? Or is America in decline?

As our country prepares for its 250th birthday next year, July 4, 2026, the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, you’ve undoubtedly heard (or even asked) these questions. It seems like everyone is asking these questions.

For the first time in recorded history, less than half of Americans think the best days are ahead. More and more people think our best days are in the rearview mirror. Four in five Americans now believe their children’s lives will be worse than their own. This number has doubled in just 20 years. In the long run, more and more Americans worry that someone born in the future will be worse off than someone born in the past.

But is this true? Is America really in decline? So I asked myself this question. And my answer echoes: No!

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I don’t think we’re down. I think we’re drifting. There is a big difference. We don’t feel connected to the core ideas that created the American experiment and the American Dream. We are carried away by the current and carried away by the wind. However, although this is not the same as falling, it is still a dangerous thing. America was never willing to drift away. America needs to move forward boldly, lift up our people, and lead our world.

Let me be clear: America remains the most powerful country in the world in many ways. But we are not progressing to where we need to go and where we need to be. The good news is that we can get the country back on track. We just need to remember who we are and what we stand for, and then build a future on the time-tested principles that made us great in the first place.

What are these principles? Faith in people. Free enterprise. Family. Responsibility and human dignity. Every generation of Americans has applied these principles to overcome challenges and bridge division. And that’s what we need to do today.

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We can’t wait for someone else to save America. Not the politicians, they are just as important. Nor are business or community leaders. The real leaders in this country are you, me and all our citizens. Although this may seem daunting, it is also empowering. The future depends on you.

This future will be a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you believe tomorrow will be worse, you will act accordingly. You will struggle less and try less. You’ll try to get more than you give because after all, things are bad, so who cares?

But if you believe tomorrow will be better, you act very differently. You will take steps instead of sitting back. Instead of accepting the problems around us, you will ask how you can solve them. You will never be satisfied with the status quo because you know you can chart a path forward.

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The stakes couldn’t be higher. And if you don’t act, make no mistake: America’s trajectory could turn into a decline. But if you take action, if you apply the time-tested principles that define the best of our history, then America will find its bearings again.

What are these principles? Faith in people. Free enterprise. Family. Responsibility and human dignity. Every generation of Americans has applied these principles to overcome challenges and bridge division. And that’s what we need to do today.

We have everything we need to move forward because we have you. Our employees are still the most creative and entrepreneurial people in the world. Our economy is still the envy of the world. Hundreds of millions of people want to live in the land of the free, in the home of the brave. And our country’s story is one of incredible progress made by ordinary people taking action every day.

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This is how we overcame every challenge we encountered. We have overcome evils like slavery, enacted civil rights and women’s rights, and given more and more people a real opportunity to live their best lives. We have worked to make our union a little more perfect with each generation. We’re not there yet and we still have a lot of work to do together. But in our hearts we all know it can be done and you are crucial to making it happen.

You have a chance to transform your future, your community, and our nation to breathe new life into the American Dream. You have a chance to achieve extraordinary success and then help others succeed, too. And most of all, you have a chance to prove to yourself and others that America’s days of drag are over. America’s future is truly bright if you stand behind the principles that built and sustained this country.