More people choose to immigrate to the United States than any other country on Earth.
Every year, more than a million people leave behind everything they know in search of the opportunity to build a life here.
In a world that often tells us America is in decline, that’s worth thinking about.
Spend enough time watching cable news, scrolling social media, or reading political email lists, and you can start to believe America is in irreversible decline.
Yet every year, people from every corner of the globe continue to make the same calculation: America remains one of the best places on Earth to live, work, raise a family, and pursue opportunity.
To understand why, look no further than the stories being shared by visitors attending World Cup events across the United States.
Again and again, they describe Americans as welcoming, our communities as beautiful and accessible, and our country as more optimistic than they expected. Many have remarked that the America they experienced doesn’t resemble the America they’ve been told about.
America is an extraordinary place. As we celebrate our nation’s 250th anniversary, that shouldn’t be a controversial statement.
But appreciating America doesn’t require believing it is perfect.
The American story has never been about perfection. It’s about progress. Every generation has recognized our shortcomings and worked to leave the country better than they found it. That unfinished work has always been our greatest strength.
A Country That Never Stopped Improving
The United States was founded on a radical idea: that ordinary people could govern themselves.
The founders didn’t get everything right. Far from it. They lived in direct contradiction to many of the ideals they proclaimed, from slavery to severe restrictions on who could participate in our democracy.
But they also created a system capable of correcting its own mistakes.
Over the last 250 years, generation after generation has pushed our country closer to its founding ideals.
Voting rights expanded.
Slavery was abolished.
Segregation was dismantled.
Women gained the right to vote.
Interracial marriage became legal nationwide.
Same-sex couples won the freedom to marry.
Progress has rarely been fast enough, and it has never been perfect. But history is measured in centuries, not news cycles. In that context, America’s ability to recognize its failures, expand rights, and move closer to its founding ideals has been extraordinary. Ruby Bridges, the six-year-old who integrated an all-white elementary school in 1960 under the protection of federal marshals is still alive today. The distance between legally segregated schools and today’s classrooms spans little more than a single lifetime.
Our progress extends beyond civil rights. America built the world’s largest economy, landed humans on the moon, pioneered life-saving medical breakthroughs, created the internet, and continues to lead the world in innovation.
None of this happened because America was perfect.
It happened because each generation believed tomorrow could be better than today and were willing to do the work to make it so.
What Still Unites Us
Spend enough time online and you’ll come away believing Americans have nothing in common.
I think the opposite is true.
Most Americans want many of the same things:
A safe community.
A good job.
A chance to buy a home.
The opportunity to raise a family.
The freedom to speak their mind.
The hope that their children will have a better life than they did.
Perhaps most importantly, they share the belief that tomorrow can be better than today. That kind of optimism isn’t universal around the world. It’s uniquely American.
Our political disagreements are real. But they often overshadow something equally important: the values we still share.
For 250 years, Americans have debated how to build a more perfect union. What has kept us moving forward is the shared belief that improvement is always possible.
That belief is worth protecting.
Not by pretending we all agree.
But by remembering our neighbors are not our enemies.
Democracy works best when we can disagree without dehumanizing one another, challenge ideas without assuming bad intentions, and respect people even when we reach different conclusions.
That kind of civic culture feels increasingly rare today. But if we’re going to solve the challenges ahead, we have to rebuild it.
The Next Great American Challenge
Patriotism doesn’t require pretending everything is fine.
Everything isn’t fine.
Families are facing an affordability crisis. Housing costs have climbed beyond the reach of too many young people. Homeownership, marriage, and starting a family are increasingly delayed because the numbers simply don’t add up.
Artificial intelligence will reshape our economy in ways we’re only beginning to understand. Climate change presents challenges we cannot ignore. Trust in our institutions has eroded, making it harder to solve the problems we face together.
These challenges are real.
But they are not reasons to lose faith in America.
They are reasons to recommit ourselves to America and to one another.
Here in Snohomish County, we see these challenges every day. Young families struggle to buy their first home. Parents face childcare costs that rival a mortgage payment. Employers work to fill good-paying jobs while workers wonder if they can afford to stay in the communities they love.
These challenges may be national in scope, but they are deeply local in their impact.
Every generation inherits unfinished work.
Ours is no different.
Grateful and Optimistic
My hope for America’s next 250 years is simple. That we rediscover confidence in ourselves.
That we teach our children not only about our mistakes, but also about our achievements.
That we never lose the ability to celebrate what is good while working to improve what isn’t.
That we spend less time assuming the worst about one another and more time solving problems together.
America has never been perfect. It never will be.
But after 250 years, I still believe our greatest strength isn’t found in any political party, president, or institution.
It’s found in the uniquely American belief that tomorrow can be better than today.
Generation after generation, Americans have expanded freedom, challenged injustice, solved impossible problems, and left this country stronger than they found it.
Now it’s our turn.
More than a million people each year still choose America in search of opportunity and a better life.
My hope is that 250 years from now, they’ll still be making that same choice. Not because our generation believed America was perfect, but because we believed it was worth making better.
Snohomish County Councilman Jared Mead
Jared Mead is a Snohomish County Councilmember representing District 4 (Mill Creek, Bothell, Mountlake Terrace, Brier, and parts of unincorporated South County) since his appointment in April 2020 and subsequent election.
Born and raised in South Snohomish County, Mead and his wife Krystal—a middle school teacher in the Everett Public Schools—are raising their four children (Kallen, Olivia, Sloane, and Benson) in Mill Creek.
He graduated from the University of Washington, worked as a licensed small business and investment banker, and entered public service in 2014 on the Mill Creek Planning Commission. He later served on the Mill Creek City Council and as a Washington State Representative for the 44th District (2019–2021).
Mead focuses on sustainable growth management, affordable early learning, and bipartisan solutions to improve quality of life for families and future generations.
COMMENTARY DISCLAIMER: The views and comments expressed are those of the writer and not necessarily those of the Lynnwood Times nor any of its affiliate
COMMENTARY: Celebrating America’s 250th and building our future
More people choose to immigrate to the United States than any other country on Earth.
Every year, more than a million people leave behind everything they know in search of the opportunity to build a life here.
In a world that often tells us America is in decline, that’s worth thinking about.
Spend enough time watching cable news, scrolling social media, or reading political email lists, and you can start to believe America is in irreversible decline.
Yet every year, people from every corner of the globe continue to make the same calculation: America remains one of the best places on Earth to live, work, raise a family, and pursue opportunity.
To understand why, look no further than the stories being shared by visitors attending World Cup events across the United States.
Again and again, they describe Americans as welcoming, our communities as beautiful and accessible, and our country as more optimistic than they expected. Many have remarked that the America they experienced doesn’t resemble the America they’ve been told about.
America is an extraordinary place. As we celebrate our nation’s 250th anniversary, that shouldn’t be a controversial statement.
But appreciating America doesn’t require believing it is perfect.
The American story has never been about perfection. It’s about progress. Every generation has recognized our shortcomings and worked to leave the country better than they found it. That unfinished work has always been our greatest strength.
A Country That Never Stopped Improving
The United States was founded on a radical idea: that ordinary people could govern themselves.
The founders didn’t get everything right. Far from it. They lived in direct contradiction to many of the ideals they proclaimed, from slavery to severe restrictions on who could participate in our democracy.
But they also created a system capable of correcting its own mistakes.
Over the last 250 years, generation after generation has pushed our country closer to its founding ideals.
Voting rights expanded.
Slavery was abolished.
Segregation was dismantled.
Women gained the right to vote.
Interracial marriage became legal nationwide.
Same-sex couples won the freedom to marry.
Progress has rarely been fast enough, and it has never been perfect. But history is measured in centuries, not news cycles. In that context, America’s ability to recognize its failures, expand rights, and move closer to its founding ideals has been extraordinary. Ruby Bridges, the six-year-old who integrated an all-white elementary school in 1960 under the protection of federal marshals is still alive today. The distance between legally segregated schools and today’s classrooms spans little more than a single lifetime.
Our progress extends beyond civil rights. America built the world’s largest economy, landed humans on the moon, pioneered life-saving medical breakthroughs, created the internet, and continues to lead the world in innovation.
None of this happened because America was perfect.
It happened because each generation believed tomorrow could be better than today and were willing to do the work to make it so.
What Still Unites Us
Spend enough time online and you’ll come away believing Americans have nothing in common.
I think the opposite is true.
Most Americans want many of the same things:
A safe community.
A good job.
A chance to buy a home.
The opportunity to raise a family.
The freedom to speak their mind.
The hope that their children will have a better life than they did.
Perhaps most importantly, they share the belief that tomorrow can be better than today. That kind of optimism isn’t universal around the world. It’s uniquely American.
Our political disagreements are real. But they often overshadow something equally important: the values we still share.
For 250 years, Americans have debated how to build a more perfect union. What has kept us moving forward is the shared belief that improvement is always possible.
That belief is worth protecting.
Not by pretending we all agree.
But by remembering our neighbors are not our enemies.
Democracy works best when we can disagree without dehumanizing one another, challenge ideas without assuming bad intentions, and respect people even when we reach different conclusions.
That kind of civic culture feels increasingly rare today. But if we’re going to solve the challenges ahead, we have to rebuild it.
The Next Great American Challenge
Patriotism doesn’t require pretending everything is fine.
Everything isn’t fine.
Families are facing an affordability crisis. Housing costs have climbed beyond the reach of too many young people. Homeownership, marriage, and starting a family are increasingly delayed because the numbers simply don’t add up.
Artificial intelligence will reshape our economy in ways we’re only beginning to understand. Climate change presents challenges we cannot ignore. Trust in our institutions has eroded, making it harder to solve the problems we face together.
These challenges are real.
But they are not reasons to lose faith in America.
They are reasons to recommit ourselves to America and to one another.
Here in Snohomish County, we see these challenges every day. Young families struggle to buy their first home. Parents face childcare costs that rival a mortgage payment. Employers work to fill good-paying jobs while workers wonder if they can afford to stay in the communities they love.
These challenges may be national in scope, but they are deeply local in their impact.
Every generation inherits unfinished work.
Ours is no different.
Grateful and Optimistic
My hope for America’s next 250 years is simple. That we rediscover confidence in ourselves.
That we teach our children not only about our mistakes, but also about our achievements.
That we never lose the ability to celebrate what is good while working to improve what isn’t.
That we spend less time assuming the worst about one another and more time solving problems together.
America has never been perfect. It never will be.
But after 250 years, I still believe our greatest strength isn’t found in any political party, president, or institution.
It’s found in the uniquely American belief that tomorrow can be better than today.
Generation after generation, Americans have expanded freedom, challenged injustice, solved impossible problems, and left this country stronger than they found it.
Now it’s our turn.
More than a million people each year still choose America in search of opportunity and a better life.
My hope is that 250 years from now, they’ll still be making that same choice. Not because our generation believed America was perfect, but because we believed it was worth making better.
Snohomish County Councilman Jared Mead
Jared Mead is a Snohomish County Councilmember representing District 4 (Mill Creek, Bothell, Mountlake Terrace, Brier, and parts of unincorporated South County) since his appointment in April 2020 and subsequent election.
Born and raised in South Snohomish County, Mead and his wife Krystal—a middle school teacher in the Everett Public Schools—are raising their four children (Kallen, Olivia, Sloane, and Benson) in Mill Creek.
He graduated from the University of Washington, worked as a licensed small business and investment banker, and entered public service in 2014 on the Mill Creek Planning Commission. He later served on the Mill Creek City Council and as a Washington State Representative for the 44th District (2019–2021).
Mead focuses on sustainable growth management, affordable early learning, and bipartisan solutions to improve quality of life for families and future generations.
COMMENTARY DISCLAIMER: The views and comments expressed are those of the writer and not necessarily those of the Lynnwood Times nor any of its affiliate
Author: Mario Lotmore
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