On this July 4, think of the America that could be

Democracy isn’t self-executing. It doesn’t run on autopilot.

This Fourth of July, as fireworks crackle across the sky and families gather for cookouts and parades, we’ll celebrate America’s founding. But amid the patriotic fanfare, we ought to pause — not just to reflect on what America is, but to reckon with what America could be. Because right now, the American experiment is at risk — daily from within.

Our democracy is fraying. Not because we disagree, but because we’ve forgotten how to disagree. We no longer assume good faith in our neighbors. We treat politics like a blood sport, and fellow citizens like enemies. We are being trained — by algorithms, cable news segments, and influencers — to see the country in binary terms: red or blue, rural or urban, patriotic or un-American. This mindset doesn’t just stall progress. It chips away at the very foundation of our self-government.

Democracy, after all, isn’t self-executing. It doesn’t run on autopilot. It survives only when citizens choose to uphold it — when we choose to show up, contribute, and serve. And that’s what we need to recover: a culture of service. Not just military service, although I’ve seen firsthand how profound and unifying that can be. I mean service in every form: teaching, caregiving, volunteering, mentoring, voting, working in public institutions, even simply being an engaged neighbor. These acts, humble and unglamorous, are what keep a pluralistic society functioning. They’re how trust is built, how divides are bridged, how a nation renews itself.

I’ve seen this spirit up close and personal. My grandfather was just 17 when he requested an age waiver from the Marine Corps so he could fight in World War II. He returned from the Pacific wounded, but with his conviction intact: that this country — flawed and unfinished — would always be worth defending. My father immigrated here from Venezuela with little money, no safety net, and few connections. But he had a work ethic forged in hardship and a belief in America’s promise. This country gave him a shot; and, in return, he has been able to save countless lives on the operating table. My mother has been a pediatrician for over thirty years. My stepmother served as a nurse. My wife has deployed to the Middle East a couple of times. My brother wakes up every morning prepared to take a bullet for his country. All of them serve in their own way not because of the perfection of this country — but the possibility.

That distinction matters. America was never meant to be a finished product. The founders did not declare the mission accomplished in 1776. They simply ignited the experiment — one that depends on every generation deciding whether or not to keep it going. We inherit not a conclusion, but a question: Will we rise to the occasion? Or let apathy, division, and cynicism do what no enemy has managed to do — unravel us from the inside out?

https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2025/06/19/this-july-4-think-america-that-could-be-column/