James MagazineJames_July-August_2026_web - Flipbook - Page 4
P U B L I S H E R ’ S M ES SAG E
REFLECTIONS ON OUR 250TH BIRTHDAY— AND CHALLENGES AHEAD
or America’s forefathers, Independence Day— marking the
250th anniversary of when
13 soon-to-be states declared independence from tyranny— called for a
special and unique observance. July
4th was a joyous continuation of recreation and reverence for the Founding Fathers and their principles which
formed this constitutional republic.
I remember growing up when
Old Glory flew from many homes
and businesses, parades were the order of the day and fireworks exploded throughout the land.
While many patriotic trappings
of yesteryear have been abandoned,
I’m glad some of that old flavor is
being continued. And I hope to see
more American flags on display by
individual citizens this year. After all,
it remains important that there be a
large majority of our citizenry who
look past material things to the profound values and virtues of liberty.
At the same time, though, are all
too many of us forgetting that for over
250 years our leaders have presided over a competitive free market/
private enterprise economic system
that makes our prosperous nation the
envy of the world? Apparently so.
This hit home to me after reading
an article by 26-year-old old college
student Alyssa Ahlgren, who’s in
grad school working for her MBA. It
is titled “My Generation Is Blind to
the Prosperity Around Us!” Consider
her perspective:
I’m sitting in a small coffee shop
trying to think of what to write about.
I scroll through my newsfeed on my
phone looking at the latest headlines
of presidential candidates calling for
policies to “fix” the so-called injustices
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of capitalism. I put my phone down
and continue to look around.
I see people talking freely, working
on their MacBooks, ordering food they
get in an instant, seeing cars go by
outside, and it dawned on me. We live
in the most privileged time in the most
prosperous nation and we’ve become
completely blind to it.
Vehicles, food, technology, freedom to associate with whom we
choose. These things are so ingrained
in our American way of life we don’t
give them a second thought.
We are so well off here in the United States that our poverty line begins
31 times above the global average.
Thirty One Times!
Virtually no one in the United
States is considered poor by global
standards. Yet, in a time where we
can order a product off Amazon with
one click and have it at our doorstep
the next day, we are unappreciative,
unsatisfied, and ungrateful.
Our unappreciation is evident
as the popularity of socialist policies
among my generation continues to
grow. Congresswoman Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez recently said to Newsweek talking about the millennial generation, “An entire generation, which
is now becoming one of the largest
electorates in America, came of age
and never saw American prosperity.”
Never saw American prosperity! Let
that sink in.
I thought to myself, that was quite
literally the most entitled and factually
illiterate thing I’ve ever heard in my 26
years on this earth. Many young people agree with her, which is entirely
misguided.
My generation is being indoctrinated by a mainstream narrative to
actually believe we have never seen
prosperity. Why then, with all of the
overwhelming evidence around us,
evidence that I can even see sitting at
a coffee shop, do we not view this as
prosperity? We have people who are
dying to get into our country.
People around the world are destitute and truly impoverished. Yet, we
have a young generation convinced
they’ve never seen prosperity, and as
a result we elect some politicians who
are dead set on taking steps towards
abolishing capitalism.
Why? The answer is … we have
no contrast. We didn’t live in the great
depression, or live through two world
wars, the Korean War, the Vietnam
War or we didn’t see the rise and fall
of socialism and communism.
We don’t know what it’s like to
live without the internet, without
cars, without smartphones. We don’t
have a lack of prosperity problem. We
have an entitlement problem, an ungratefulness problem, and it’s spreading like a plague.”
Can we turn that mindset
around? It’s hard to say.
Furthermore, there is another
related challenge. Columnist Matt
Campbell stresses that our country
needs a rebirth of “effective civic
education that helps build informed
citizens, teaches respectful discourse, encourages community
engagement, connects students to
the real world and prepares the next
generation of leaders.” The concerns of the 26-year-old student and
Campbell must be taken seriously
as we reflect on our 250th birthday—
and what comes next.
PHIL KENT CEO & PUB L I S H E R
