A Vision for 2026

What is America, and what will it be? What we need in 2026 is more akin to a revival. Joy, celebration, the fervent hope for a tomorrow unbounded by our past?? Yes, absolutely. It must somehow be commingled with a confession of what we have gotten wrong. In fact, it will only be truly joyful if it flows from this place of confession. It is only by admitting the full reality of America that we can love it truly. Only by holding the American dream and American shortcomings in tension can we joyfully look to the future. If you deny that America has never been flawed you will never learn; if you see only failures, you will never hope for better. Only by looking at how we have overcome our own failings can we face the future inspired to do so again.?

Study after study says that we are less polarized than we think. We assume that the people who disagree with us are all radicals with utterly different worldviews, when the data says otherwise. Liberals and conservatives are all a lot more moderate in their actual views than in what we think of each other. Therein lies our hope. If we start out with the assumption that we can work together to build a better America, our belief can become reality. If we pick concrete, commonsense projects that will make our communities better, and start working together on them, we can begin to mend the frayed edges of our social fabric.

We must make the 250th anniversary a call to action. It should inspire us to tell the full story of America in a way that gives us hope for the future. It should also demand that we come together, find common ground, and refound America for the next generation to inherit. Anything less, and the nation we love could slip away.

To read more about our CEO Nisha Anand's plan to restore democracy in America, visit our website: https://dream.org/landing-pages/restoring-democracy/?source=social-li&utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=organic