I have spent about a quarter of my life living outside of the United States, mostly in Germany. Until recently I have frequently referred to myself as stuck somewhere over the Atlantic, feeling neither American, nor European. Surprisingly that changed over the year and a half, ending in January, 2020, I spent living in Berlin. While I was there I missed the idealistic strivings of my fellow Americans, their empowering belief that the status quo can be changed through their labor.

Perhaps this belief is an illusion, innate to Americans, perpetuated by the global spotlight and dramatic flair. If we look at the statistics we have to label the rags to riches story more of a myth in the United States, which has one of the highest correlations in intergenerational earnings, than in many other countries. After generations, racism and sexism persist. Change does not seem to be forthcoming here.

Perhaps my idea of the United States comes from my deluded experience as a white man, preferring to be here because it is the place where I have the most privilege. I hope not.

I will give up hope, though. I will accept my fear of losing my privilege and relinquish my hope that we can achieve the collaborative future I want while I have it. With my privilege I cannot participate in the respectful, inclusive environment necessary for collaboration. I must further relinquish my hope for that future. It is not for me to control.

Hope is what ties us to the past. It is the idea that we can get from where we are, where we have been, to where we want to be. We cannot. We cannot get from generations of oppression to equality. We cannot get from the idea that everyone’s success is tied to their worthiness to a reality where everyone can succeed. We need to stop hoping.

The United States is talked about as a land of hope, but I think the declaration of independence was more akin to giving up, giving up on the established systems of power to create something new. When I returned to the United States I gave up on being anything other than American. I committed to the country where I was born and in the past six months I have changed dramatically.

On this day two hundred forty four years ago the United States declared independence from the past, throwing off its safety net and committing to a new vision. We do not need to make America great again. Americans need to be great now. We need to give up on cowering behind limiting, discriminatory power structures, declare independence from the security of oppression and commit to being revolutionary. We cannot control the outcome, but as Americans it would be disingenuous to do anything less.