From The Believe! Journal:

From our Contributors:

What the Cornell Allegations Reveal About How America Raises Sons | Anthony B. Bradley

The Growth Ponzi Scheme | Charles Marohn | Aaron M. Renn

It’s Constitution Day | John Pinheiro

Believe! The American Stream:

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The Believe! Journal

America is About Big Ideas. Find Yours.

Kevin Gentry explores how big ideas, bold vision, and an entrepreneurial spirit have shaped America, challenging individuals to think bigger and pursue ambitious goals that create lasting impact…

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6 days ago · Kevin Gentry

The classic book that taught us how to Believe!

Believe! is a timeless expression of American principles, reintroduced in this 50th anniversary edition for a new generation. As we approach America’s 250th, its message speaks to both personal renewal and the opportunity for a broader national comeback.

If the book has resonated with you, we’d be grateful if you’d consider leaving a review on Amazon.

Reflect with The Believe! Concierge:

Want to go deeper? Try The Believe! Concierge—an interactive way to put these principles into practice in your work and daily life. For a more natural conversation, use voice mode. Try it now.

He went Big. And it helped spark a Revolution.

On March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry stood in a small church in Richmond, Virginia, and delivered one of the most powerful speeches in history.

Tensions had greatly escalated with Great Britain. More than 160 delegates had gathered from across the young Virginia Colony to meet at St. John’s Church for the Second Virginia Convention.

To this point, the seeds of rebellion had largely been planted by the Sons of Liberty in Boston. Those seeking freedom knew they had to expand this beyond a small regional outcry. Virginia, the biggest and most prosperous colony, was the target. Getting them onboard meant their efforts would be serious and significant.

Patrick Henry knew this too. He introduced three resolutions. His most radical called for raising a militia to prepare for conflict. If he could get this adopted, a full-scale rebellion would be inevitable.

But, he knew he didn’t yet have the votes. Yet he did know his audience: Virginia planters who were torn – concerned about tyranny, yet comfortable in their current lives.

He tailored his message carefully, drawing from biblical allusions, classical references, popular plays of his time, and emotional appeals.

Finally came the crescendo:

The vote passed narrowly: 65 to 60. And with that, Patrick Henry ignited a revolution.

The truth is that America has always been about big ideas.

Big ideas and bold visions.

And the entrepreneurial spirit to see them through.

Because if you’re going to do something great, you have to be ready to Go Big.

In my role leading TenX Strategies, I work with nonprofit organizations working tirelessly to address the greatest problems in our country and in the world. Our model is built on my 40 years of experience in the nonprofit sector, partnering with business leaders and philanthropists such as Rich DeVos and his family to understand their visions for social change.

Now, as America marks its 250th anniversary, the question of vision becomes more important than perhaps ever before.

It’s one thing to ask about the future of our great country, and what its vision should be.

It’s another to ask yourself about your vision – what do you want to achieve?

That includes your role as a community member. A businessperson. A public sector employee. A social entrepreneur. A volunteer. A donor.

What do you want to build, and see, in the world?

Are you ready to Go Big for a cause that matters deeply to you — so much so that you’d devote your life to it?

If so, then let’s dive further into this idea. We have to start with a foundational question.

What’s Your B.H.A.G.?

What’s your Big Hairy Audacious Goal?

This term B.H.A.G. was coined by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras in Built to Last to challenge leaders to think beyond what’s merely achievable.

So, what’s your moonshot?

What’s the big problem you’re trying to solve, in the commercial, public, or nonprofit sector?

The world is hungry for leadership. Americans are craving visionaries with bold ideas, ambitious goals, and the kinds of strategies and plans that actually get results.

Can you be one of those leaders?

Let’s look at three powerful American stories that show what bold vision looks like in action.

Dr. Sidney Farber

In 1947, the New England chapter of the Variety Club – basically an early, informal version of a community foundation – gathered a group of philanthropists to explore meaningful giving opportunities.

They visited Boston Children’s Hospital and asked the head of hematology, “What would you do with a generous gift?”

He replied, “I’d buy another microscope.”

But down the hall, they met Dr. Sidney Farber, a pathologist known for his big ideas. “With a gift like that,” he said, “I’d find a cure for cancer!”

That’s a different kind of answer. Of course, it changed everything.

Today, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute employs over 5,000 professionals and is one of the most recognized cancer research and treatment centers in the world. It raises $3.5 billion annually. And Dr. Farber is remembered as the father of modern chemotherapy.

Think about your big idea:

Another microscope? Or a cure for cancer?

Mahalia Jackson and Dr. King

On August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stood at the Lincoln Memorial, about to deliver a carefully prepared speech to a crowd of more than 250,000 at the March on Washington.

He had written the speech with input from many others, staying up throughout the night to complete it. There he was, reading his typed-out remarks. And then, from behind him, gospel legend Mahalia Jackson called out, “Tell them about the dream, Martin! Tell them about the dream!”

She had heard him speak from his heart before. And in that moment, Dr. King pushed aside his notes and spoke from his soul.

What followed was one of the most iconic speeches in human history. A true vision that Dr. King deeply believed in.

Howard Schultz and Starbucks

Howard Schultz was a marketing executive working for a small coffee company in Seattle. They had two or three locations and only sold whole beans.

On a trip to Milan, Italy, Schultz discovered a dramatically different coffee culture: high-quality espresso drinks served in beautifully designed shops where people gathered to talk, share ideas, and connect.

He came back to the U.S. with a vision — not just to improve coffee quality, but to create community. He wanted Starbucks to become America’s “third place” — not home, not work, but a communal space.

He raised funds, acquired the company, and began opening stores based on that vision.

Today, Starbucks has over 14,000 stores globally and has completely reshaped how Americans — and much of the world—experience coffee.

So, What’s Your B.H.A.G.?

Patrick Henry, Sidney Farber, Mahalia Jackson, Martin Luther King, Jr., Howard Schultz, Rich DeVos –

Big ideas, bold vision, and an entrepreneurial spirit have always been the animating force behind American dynamism.

As we approach the semiquincentennial of the United States’ founding, I can think of no greater task for each of us collectively and individually to challenge ourselves to think bigger and do better.

So what’s your B.H.A.G.?

What’s your moonshot?

What strategy are you building?

And what plan are you executing to bring it to life?

Kevin Gentry founded TenX Strategies to help great causes transform their effectiveness by 10xing their fundraising. He is also the host of the Going Big! podcast, in which he interviews entrepreneurs and other leaders about the importance of a big vision. He brings over 40 years of experience helping build the fundraising and marketing capabilities of multiple nonprofit organizations. Kevin previously served as Vice President at Stand Together and Vice President for Special Projects at Koch. He has also had previous leadership roles at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, the Leadership Institute, and the Institute for Humane Studies. Kevin brings a wealth of experience to solve big problems and a passion for advancing meaningful causes.

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The following is excerpted from newly written material by Doug DeVos for Believe! 50th Anniversary Edition.

How do you feel about America’s founders? There are certainly lots of opinions out there. Many think you should hate them. Many others think you should love them. As is usually the case in life, reality is more complicated.

The founders were human, which means they were deeply flawed. They enslaved black people. They restricted the right to vote to landowners and didn’t even consider extending that right to women. None of us should overlook the founders’ sins or try to excuse them.

Still, we should recognize their accomplishments and understand the tremendous progress they unleashed. They created the first country in the world founded on the promise of “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” for all. While they failed to live by those words, they created a country that has undeniably changed the world for the better, lifting up billions of people along the way.

How has America gotten so much right? The answer isn’t just the Declaration of Independence, with its lofty language and sweeping promises. The Constitution, which came eleven years later, is just as important.

Where the Declaration laid out America’s principles, the Constitution gave every generation a practical framework for applying those principles more fully. The Constitution’s very first words are about forming “a more perfect Union.” Ultimately, that means ending the injustices perpetuated by deeply imperfect people.

Isn’t this the story of America?

For 250 years, we’ve struggled to realize our country’s full potential, so that every American can avail themselves of their rights and fully participate in our national prosperity. It hasn’t been easy. Yet the determination and work we’ve done to break barriers has been more than worth the effort. As we’ve empowered more people, we’ve made America the freest, wealthiest, and most successful nation in human history!

But along the way, and especially in the past fifty years, a lot of people have started thinking that all our progress springs from a poisoned seed. They say that the evils of the founding define our country. So America has been evil ever since.

The problem with this view is the lack of perspective. History is complex. So are human beings. They can advocate true principles while utterly violating those principles through their actions. We shouldn’t accept those actions. But we shouldn’t throw out the principles, either.

The rejection of our country’s principles is an abdication of our duty as Americans. The proper response to evil is to say: Not on my watch. The generations before us stood in the breach and made America more perfect. It’s up to us to continue in that tradition and make America more perfect still. If not us, who? And if not now, when?

After reading this, you may still say: Doug, you’ve led a privileged life. America has been good to you. But it hasn’t been good to so many others. Why should I listen to you and not them? My response is simple: Don’t listen to me. Listen to Frederick Douglass.

America was not good to Frederick Douglass. He was born into slavery before the Civil War. He endured horrors that no human being should ever endure. While he escaped to freedom, he never experienced real racial equality, even as he successfully fought to end slavery once and for all. If anyone had a right to hate America, it was him.

Years later, Frederick Douglass posed a question: “What to the slave is the Fourth of July?” His answer: The Fourth of July is everything, because America is built on “saving principles.” Douglass implored his fellow Americans of all races and creeds: “Stand by those principles, be true to them on all occasions, in all places, against all foes, and at whatever cost.”

If a former slave like Frederick Douglass could say those words, if he could dedicate his life to making America live by the principles espoused by the founders, surely we can do the same.

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From The Believe! Journal:

From our Contributors:

What Kids Need From Dad Is Simpler Than You Think | Anthony B. Bradley

The American Transition Survey Results | Aaron M. Renn

The Hidden Factor in Student Success: Family Structure | Ian V. Rowe

Believe! The American Stream:

Prefer to listen? Tune in to The Believe! Journal broadcast series, where contributors narrate their own articles. New episodes each week.

The Believe! Journal

From George Washington to George W.: What I Thought About When I Met the President

John C. Pinheiro reflects on America’s enduring appeal to immigrants, exploring how freedom, opportunity, and assimilation have enabled generations to build better lives and contribute to the nation…

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19 days ago · 2 likes · Liberty & Order

The classic book that taught us how to Believe!

Believe! is a timeless expression of American principles, reintroduced in this 50th anniversary edition for a new generation. As we approach America’s 250th, its message speaks to both personal renewal and the opportunity for a broader national comeback.

If the book has resonated with you, we’d be grateful if you’d consider leaving a review on Amazon.

Reflect with The Believe! Concierge:

Want to go deeper? Try The Believe! Concierge—an interactive way to put these principles into practice in your work and daily life. For a more natural conversation, use voice mode. Try it now.

I once told the President of the United States that I liked a different President better.

The year was 2005. The place was the Oval Office. And the President I spoke with was President George W. Bush. I was there to discuss a volume of George Washington’s presidential papers that I had co-edited. For 30 minutes, we had a far-ranging conversation about presidential leadership and American principles.

As a history professor, it was amazing to sit and speak with a sitting president about his favorite presidents. And yes, I told him that I preferred the first “GW”—George Washington. He didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he seemed to agree!

But our wide-ranging, pleasant, and apolitical conversation is not the thing I remember most about the meeting. What I remember most is looking out the windows of the earth-toned Oval Office into a sunny D.C. afternoon and thinking:

“If only my illiterate, immigrant grandfather could see me now. What would he think about America and his choice to leave Portugal, alone, as a twelve-year-old boy who spoke only Portuguese?”

My story is not unique in American history. Stories of the children and grandchildren of immigrants are varied and numerous. Stories from entrepreneurial immigrants with successful businesses are equally bountiful. And today, as I think back on my meeting with President Bush, I reflect with gratitude on America’s 250 years of economic freedom and opportunity, because that’s what drew families like mine to these shores.

To this day, America is always—always—at the top of the wish list for those who want a brighter future for themselves and their families and who are willing to work for it.

I say this even as the immigration debate rages in America. We can and should argue about which policies promote human flourishing and economic independence. We can talk about how to avoid creating a habit of dependence on government benefits. We can also debate what helps or hinders assimilation, how to face the moral evil of human trafficking, how to assess the economic impact of remittances that are sent back to one’s country of origin, and how to measure immigration’s effects on employment and productivity.

But what’s inarguable is the long-running attraction of America to those seeking freedom and a better life.

As my Acton Institute colleague, Dr. Stephen Barrows, has written, those who dislike immigration today “too often reduce people to zero-sum consumers of their country’s resources and underestimate each migrant’s potential, while others persist in treating refugees with a permanent emergency and segregation mindset. Open-border zealots ignore the importance of enforcing the rule of law and underestimate the harm such neglect entails for both migrants and native citizens.” He concludes that, “migration, though accompanied by challenges, can bring great blessings to society if it is properly circumscribed with sound policy.”

It was George Washington who struck a sound balance between openness to immigration with the need for assimilation. In 1783, Washington wrote to Joshua Holmes, “The bosom of America is open to receive not only the Opulent and respectable Stranger, but the oppressed and persecuted of all Nations and Religions; whom we shall welcome to a participation of all our rights and privileges, if by decency and propriety of conduct they appear to merit the enjoyment.”

In fact, George Washington knew someone who embodied this vision: Alexander Hamilton. Many Americans are familiar with Hamilton today because Lin-Manuel Miranda reconceived his story, presenting Hamilton as “another immigrant coming up from the bottom.” Hamilton, an orphan from the Caribbean, certainly did come “up from the bottom.” At twenty he became General George Washington’s aide-de-camp during the Revolutionary War. Hamilton authored the call for a Constitutional Convention and penned the majority of the Federalist Papers. Then he became Washington’s Secretary of the Treasury. Even Thomas Jefferson, Hamilton’s political nemesis, admitted that Hamilton was “a colossus.” ​

As a nation, we should seek to welcome as many such colossi as possible. And we should also seek to encourage the blessing of liberty across the world, so that people don’t feel compelled to find it only in America. To quote the first “GW,” who I told the second “GW” that I preferred: “It is much to be wished that the blessings of equal Liberty and unrestrained Commerce may yet prevail more extensively.”

John C. Pinheiro, Ph.D., is Director of Research and Publications at the Acton Institute. A historian, he is the author or editor of five books, speaks widely on the American founding, and is a frequent contributor to many journals and magazines. His most recent book, with Dylan Pahman, is The Christian Roots of American Liberty: A Reader. He frequently writes on Substack at Liberty & Order and on X at @DrJohnPinheiro.

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America has traditionally been a product that almost sells itself. Whereas the communist bloc fortified borders to keep people from getting out, America’s problem is that it’s so attractive to outsiders that even today it has to fortify its borders to keep people from illegally entering.

Nevertheless, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in the number of Americans who are dissatisfied enough with the status quo to vote for insurgent, sometimes extreme candidates, or to adopt what would have previously seemed like outré beliefs. An ideology like socialism that once had little purchase in America is now a banner for winning elections in America’s big cities (even if its substance is not exactly state ownership of the means of production).

There’s much debate over whether things are as gloomy as many Americans seem to think. But a belief in the agency of the individual and his ability to make the best choices for himself and his family would seem to imply that the individual is a good judge of his own situation. It’s hard to argue that a low-income single mother is fully equipped to select the best school option for her children but that she somehow can’t correctly assess her own economic situation. We should take Americans’ complaints seriously.

What’s necessary to get people believing in America again isn’t just a marketing program or a really great America 250 celebration, but for America’s leaders to show that they are serious about improving their material conditions, opportunity, and the prospects for themselves and their children.

Some of this could come from new technology development. Start with curing disease. The vast majority of people with cystic fibrosis, a fatal disease, can now be cured with gene therapy. Gene therapy is also curing a rare form of deafness in children. A new treatment is now curing at least some forms of Hepatitis B. And a new gene therapy in development by Eli Lilly has shown promise in reducing LDL cholesterol levels permanently, which might dramatically reduce heart disease. And of course, GLP-1 drugs are effectively curing obesity – and having positive effects on a slew of other health problems.

Move on to transportation, where autonomous vehicles could be a lifeline to seniors who can’t (or shouldn’t) drive, to children, or to those with disabilities. With driverless Waymo taxis cruising the streets of San Francisco and other cities right now, it seems like it is only a matter of time until this is available more widely. This is part of what the artificial intelligence revolution can bring to improving people’s lives. The “AI” branding needs to be front and center on this technology, so that a public that’s turning negative on AI technology can see how it could benefit them or their families.

New technologies represent part of American dynamism, and keeping that forward looking, dynamic spirit is critical.

Beyond new technologies that make people’s lives better, we need to address the cost challenges that are making people question whether the American Dream is still alive. Housing prices have gone up substantially relative to incomes around the country. This isn’t all a result of not building enough new housing, but that’s part of the equation. We need to be chipping away at the restrictions that make it too hard to build in many places. We also need to be getting rid of regulations that raise the price of food and fuel, such as mandating the inclusion of ethanol in gasoline. While we need to build data centers that will power our AI race against China, we should be careful to ensure that AI isn’t subsidized by residential electricity customers or taxpayers. This is only a small sample of what we need to be doing as a country to increase the supply and contain costs on critical things American families need.

America also needs to work hard to restore a sense of fair play in our country. DEI, which remains deeply embedded into American institutions, rightly strikes many Americans as deeply unfair. Large-scale illegal immigration – effectively supported by a large share of our national elite – rewards rule-breakers over rule followers. Significant percentages of college students at some elite universities are now getting disability accommodations like extra time to take tests. Many of those are almost surely gaming the system. While it’s unclear exactly if or to what extent the phenomenon is actually growing, widespread recognition of the way “nepo babies” get ahead in many domains is revealing that the playing field is often far from level. These are just some of the ways that fair play has been eroded in our country.

The feeling that, as Donald Trump likes to put it, “the system is rigged,” no doubt contributes to ordinary Americans’ sense that they are facing an uphill battle to get ahead. They aren’t entirely wrong to think this way. While there will never be perfect fairness or equality of opportunity, we need to do a much better job here.

Making people’s lives better through new technology, making key necessities like housing more affordable, and restoring a sense of fair play would go a long way towards selling people on America again. Because delivering results is the best marketing campaign we could come up with.

Called “a kind of Malcolm Gladwell of conservative Christianity” by the New York Times, Aaron Renn is an opinion leading, market moving thinker and writer on American culture. He is the author of the book Life in the Negative World: Confronting Challenges in an Anti-Christian Culture. His writing also appears in a number of leading global publications, including The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic and others.

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From The Believe! Journal:

From our Contributors:

How to Raise a Son Who Is Boring and Unattractive to Women | Anthony B. Bradley

The Man Spectrum | Aaron M. Renn

Is the American Dream Alive and Well in 2026? | Gonzalo Schwarz

Believe! The American Stream:

Prefer to listen? Tune in to The Believe! Journal broadcast series, where contributors narrate their own articles. New episodes each week.

The Believe! Journal

The Real Field of Dreams: How an Immigrant's Son Became a Dodgers Owner

Alan Smolinisky shares his immigrant father’s journey from arriving in America with four dollars to building a life, showing how freedom, opportunity, and family make the American Dream possible…

Listen now

a month ago

The classic book that taught us how to Believe!

Believe! is a timeless expression of American principles, reintroduced in this 50th anniversary edition for a new generation. As we approach America’s 250th, its message speaks to both personal renewal and the opportunity for a broader national comeback.

If the book has resonated with you, we’d be grateful if you’d consider leaving a review on Amazon.

Reflect with The Believe! Concierge:

Want to go deeper? Try The Believe! Concierge—an interactive way to put these principles into practice in your work and daily life. For a more natural conversation, use voice mode. Try it now.

Editor’s Note: Alan Smolinisky—entrepreneur and co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers—wrote this piece in 2019 to honor his recently departed father. Seven years later, it’s still one of the most powerful odes to America we’ve ever read, and a perfect fit for The Believe! Journal as we celebrate the country’s 250^th anniversary.

In the classic baseball film “Field of Dreams,” an Iowa farmer named Ray Kinsella hears a voice in his cornfields inspiring him to plow part of his crop under and build a baseball field. Magically, several deceased baseball players arrive to play the game they love. In the famous final scene that makes men of all ages sob, Ray realizes the catcher is his father. As father and son walk down the first base line to have a catch, Ray asks, “Is there a heaven?” His father responds: “Oh yeah. It’s the place dreams come true.” For my immigrant father, that place was America.

My father, Mario, was born in Argentina in 1945 with large skin discolorations and rubbery nodules called hemangiomas across his face. He was poor and Jewish in a country where Jews were treated as second-class citizens, sometimes worse. People weren’t so good to Dad. He was bullied and forced to endure mocking stares wherever he went.

While Dad wasn’t formally educated, he possessed worldly wisdom and could see the writing on the wall for Argentina, with its political instability and lack of opportunity. Dad fantasized about a better life in that place where immigrants from around the world were given a chance to make their dreams come true: America.

Dad caught a break in early 1963 when his Uncle Samuel moved to Los Angeles. He wrote asking if he could come live with Samuel and in the meantime saved every peso. The letter from America finally arrived. Samuel said yes.

Dad arrived in Los Angeles in October 1963 with four dollars in his pocket and no skills or trade. He didn’t speak a word of English. He was 17.

Twelve hours later, Dad had his social security card. By noon, he’d landed his first job. With broom in hand and beaming with pride, he swept floors at a clothing factory in the downtown L.A. garment district for $1.25 per hour. He would spend the next 40 years of his life there working with immigrants from every corner of earth.

Dad embraced America, which meant he naturally fell in love with baseball. His beloved Dodgers, who played just a few miles from the garment district in their new stadium, became part of his life. He’d attend games and sing the “Star Spangled Banner” and “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”. He learned English by permanently tuning his radio to Vin Scully’s Dodger broadcast, which was delivered in the legendary commentator’s warm, unhurried style.

With the support of my mother, who’d separately emigrated from Argentina with her family, Dad worked his way up from sweeping floors to the head of a department. He and Mom used their savings so Dad could start a garment business that eventually would bring 30 years of success and allow him to hire and mentor new immigrants. With guidance and encouragement from Dad, many of those immigrants went on to start their own businesses, something that brought him great joy throughout his life.

Dad’s successful run in business ended in 2001, but by then he had already sent my sister and me through major universities. He gave us the opportunities he and Mom never had. His daughter became a corporate lawyer; his son an entrepreneur who partnered with a Taiwanese immigrant to start a business in his college dorm that grew large, then enormous.

Then our perfect world came crashing down. Dad called one day in May of 2016 instructing me to find my sister, grab our spouses and get to his house immediately. When we got there, we learned about Dad’s cancer. After a sleepless night, Dad came over the next morning. I had a burning desire to have a catch. We grabbed our gloves and tossed the ball back and forth in the warm California sun like everything was fine. Then we sat together silently; two guys who never stopped talking for once had nothing to say.

A few months later, my son and I picked up Dad and headed straight to our favorite place on earth, Dodger Stadium. Picture three generations of diehards eating Dodger Dogs along the first base line. It was perfect. We talked about our team’s incredible history – Jackie breaking the color barrier, Sandy’s perfect game, Fernandomania, and the night 31 years ago when Dad let me stay up late to watch Gibby hit it out. And Vin. Always Vin. I knew Dad was weak. He only lasted a couple innings, but I just had to be there with him one last time.

In October of that year, Dad passed away in my arms. My hero and role model, the kindest and most loving father a boy could ever have.

Recently, I became an owner of the Dodgers, joining an incredible group of individuals. The more I reflect on this momentous step in my life, the more I realize that, at its core, it’s about honoring Dad and the opportunities this great nation offered my immigrant family.

Last week, I arrived at Dodger Stadium with my son for my first game as an owner, 38 years after Dad took me to my first game in that same sanctuary. We arrived early. My boy wore a Clayton Kershaw jersey, I wore Fernando Valenzuela—two legendary Dodger south-paws. We watched batting practice and grabbed peanuts and dogs before lineups were announced.

When called upon to stand for the great American tradition, we rose and removed our Dodger hats placing them firmly over our hearts for the “Star Spangled Banner.” I gazed out at our country’s flag and thought of everything it represented: freedom, opportunity, hope (and, of course, baseball). In no other country on earth would my family’s story be possible.

I thought back to that poignant moment in “Field of Dreams” when Ray asked his father if there’s such a place as heaven. I wondered what Dad would have said if I’d have asked him if this was that place. I know his answer would have been simple and true: “No, son. This is America.”

Alan Smolinisky is an entrepreneur, investor and a Los Angeles Dodgers owner.

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When I moved to this country almost 20 years ago, I fell in love with the American Dream. I fell in love with it so much that I’ve devoted my life to “selling” the American Dream—to paraphrase Rich DeVos’ great speech “Selling America” (which he delivered throughout the 1960s)—by founding a think tank dedicated to inspiring more hope in this incredible cultural ethos.

The founding father of the American Dream, James Truslow Adams, defined this concept 100 years ago in The Epic of America (1931):

[The American Dream] is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man and woman, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement . . . . It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of a social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.

Towards the end of the great “Selling America” speech, DeVos quotes Thomas Wolfe’s similar theme:

So, then, to every man his chance, to every man, regardless of his birth, his shining golden opportunity, to every man, the right to live, to work, to be himself, and to become whatever thing his manhood and his vision can combine to make him—this, seeker, is the promise of America.

The promise of the American Dream is also at the core of the United States’ founding document, the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

The unique ethos of the American Dream is a treasure that should be cherished. Two economists and Nobel laureates, Joel Mokyr and Edmund Phelps, recognized the importance of culture for human progress and mass flourishing, especially in Europe from 1400 to 1800. New cultural attitudes and institutions ushered in by the Renaissance, Enlightenment, and Industrial Revolution led to greater freedom, innovation, and paths to human flourishing. I would argue that no place has done a better job of fostering and embodying those cultural environments than the United States, where the American Dream has been woven into the social fabric of a country.

Despite the incredible success of the American Dream, it is never without its critics. Recently, American journalist David Leonhardt argued that the American Dream is in decline, while other pundits suggests that the American Dream is better found outside the U.S. Moreover, politicians on the left and the right motivate their base by casting doubt on the Dream and offering to be its “saviors.” You can find criticism of the American Dream in all kinds of unexpected places, like a Captain America comic or a Green Day song. Truslow Adams himself acknowledged this pessimism when he said, “It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it.”

Despite the critics, research by my organization, The Archbridge Institute, shows that the American Dream is alive as a unifying and aspirational force after 250 years.

We have conducted a survey of the American people for the past seven years, and the results show the American Dream is resilient. Despite concerns about rising economic challenges, the majority of people continue to believe in the American Dream. Almost 7 in 10 Americans believe they have either achieved their Dream or are on their way to achieving it. Most Americans are optimistic about this Land of Opportunity and feel that the American Dream is about the journey and not just the destination. Some 8 in 10 Americans agree that the Dream’s defining features are freedom and a good family life, while only a minority focus on material things like owning a house or becoming wealthy. More than 6 in 10 define “equality” as having equal opportunity and fairness before the law; only 4% view equality as a measure of equal outcomes.

Americans believe that immigration has been and continues to be a building block of our nation and that the character virtues of honesty, integrity, personal responsibility, and work ethic are essential to the American Dream. In his speech DeVos mentions, “A typical American can be depended upon, is trustworthy, honest, and carries out his responsibilities. That is the true American that I know.”

Are there challenges past and present to the American Dream? Yes. But the American Dream is resilient precisely because it is about embracing and overcoming challenges, at an individual and societal level. The American Dream inspires us to overcome barriers. In addition to sharing the data, we need to “sell” the many amazing stories of Americans who achieved their Dream, regardless of where they started, such as Rich DeVos, Madame CJ Walker, Walt Disney, Sam Walton, among millions of entrepreneurs, the Founding Fathers themselves, and civil right leaders like Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King Jr. All of them overcame barriers on their way to achieving their American Dream and enabling others to do the same.

And that resiliency has allowed the American Dream to be the fuel that drives the progress of America and its people for the past 250 years. When we exaggerate the death of the American Dream, make it a national hobby to criticize America, or take it for granted, we risk making the demise of the American Dream a self-fulfilling prophecy. Selling the American Dream is selling America and the resilience of the American Experiment for the next 250 years.

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From The Believe! Journal:

From our Contributors:

Fathers and Daughters 2: How Fathers Can Show Up for Their Daughters | Anthony B. Bradley

What the New Right Actually Reads | Aaron M. Renn

Trust Is a Currency That Can’t be Counterfeited | John Tillman

American Dreaming For 250 Years | Gonzalo Schwarz

Believe! The American Stream:

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The Believe! Journal

What Should Be In America’s Ruin Garden?

The editorial team imagines what America’s “ruins” might reveal to future generations, calling Americans to preserve the principles of family, faith, and freedom that have shaped the nation…

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2 months ago · The Believe! Journal

The classic book that taught us how to Believe!

Believe! is a timeless expression of American principles, reintroduced in this 50th anniversary edition for a new generation. As we approach America’s 250th, its message speaks to both personal renewal and the opportunity for a broader national comeback.

If the book has resonated with you, we’d be grateful if you’d consider leaving a review on Amazon.

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Imagine if archaeologists dig up a typical American home a thousand years from now. They find a single chair at the kitchen table. Their conclusion: Americans stopped having families. The explorers took the chair home to illustrate America’s decline.

Or imagine if they excavate a school and find nothing but petrified laptop computers and smartphones, not chalkboards and playgrounds. It appears Americans stopped playing outside. The explorers lug the technology back to display to their own friends and family.

And imagine if explorers stumble on the remains of Washington, D.C., but there’s no Lincoln Memorial or Washington Monument. All that’s left is row after row of soulless modernist concrete offices—the kind of filing-cabinet-buildings that took over the city starting in the 1960s. The explorers pick them apart and bring back a load of cinderblocks.

Sound crazy? Not really. We know this issue is all about America’s birthday, but what we’re describing is basically what our former British overlords did in the 19th Century.

Back then, it was all the rage in the aristocracy to have what they called a “ruin garden.” Patricians would devote a part of their estate to Roman monuments. Sometimes, the ruins were actual ruins—the remains of ancient statues and structures unearthed in England or bought somewhere else in Europe. Other times, the ruins were fake, manufactured to give the appearance of Roman times and tastes.

Either way, the ruin gardens evoked and celebrated one of the greatest empires in human history. The not-so-subtle implication was that the British Empire was the Roman Empire’s rightful heir.

Which got us thinking: What would a future aristocrat, from some wildly advanced culture, put in a “ruin garden” dedicated to America? (This isn’t to say America is in decline—this is just a fun thought experiment).

We hope a future patrician would discover ruins that speak to American ideals and American identity. They’d find things worth celebrating—and things worth emulating.

A piece of the Statue of Liberty could easily wind up in the garden. Maybe her torch, all 305 feet tall. Few symbols are more illustrative of how America has been a light to the world. We’ve burned bright with the promise of freedom and equality—a promise that didn’t exist in the world until America came along. Even as government has grown and liberty has declined, that promise remains at the heart of our national creed.

Maybe, in some corner of the ruin garden, there would be a fossilized newspaper printing press. More than any other country on earth, the American public has relied on the media to hold politicians accountable and shape a culture of vigorous yet respectful debate. No doubt, the media has declined in recent years, promoting ideology more than accountability. But the ruined printing press would still speak to a powerful part of the American story.

If this ruin garden had actual ruins, excavated from some long-forgotten American town, it would surely have a Christian cross. Maybe it was the old steeple of a local church. Maybe it graced the entryway to a graveyard. Regardless, the cross would speak to religion’s indelible mark on American society. The Christian faith—in all its many forms—has pushed our culture toward self-restraint and strong families. Such religious influence is also declining, which is both a shame and a danger.

Actually, the decline of these things—respect for liberty, an effective media, and religion in the public square—could affect what appears in the ruin garden. The tides of socialism and secularism could wash away the things that make America great. If we allow that to happen, a future civilization may find only the remains of a lesser culture. There would be nothing left of the America we know and love—an America that’s powerful and principled.

Instead, you’d get the sad scenes those explorers discovered at the start of this story. The empty kitchen. The playground-less school. The cinderblocks instead of marble masterpieces.

No American should want a ruin garden to memorialize such things. To the contrary: We should want a future civilization to stand in awe of what they discover. The objects that endure should speak to our patriotism, our principles, and our enduring commitment to family, faith, and freedom.

Then again, if we stand for these things, then America will never fall into ruin. That should be our goal as we celebrate the country’s 250th birthday: To stand by and for the ideals that gave America life and can keep America ever young and strong.

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E pluribus unum is the most famous Latin phrase inscribed on the Great Seal of the United States of America. It means, of course, “out of many, one.” But where did this aspirational idea really come from? And what does it mean, 250 years after the founding of a nation that now looks much different?

In its early association with the U.S., the phrase described the often precarious union of the original 13 colonies at war against the British. Its official connection with the cause of independence began in August 1776. Just a few weeks after the Declaration was published, a kind of design competition was commissioned for a seal that would accompany official documents published by the new government. The first draft was rejected for various reasons. Six years later, however, when a design could finally be agreed upon, e pluribus unum joined an image of an eagle clutching arrows in one foot and an olive branch in the other as the official seal of the Continental Congress.

Right from the start, “out of many, one” was as aspirational a motto for the new nation as it was descriptive. As the prolonged debate over the seal itself suggests, the 13 colonies were fractious and argumentative. Despite their differences, however, they knew they needed each other, certainly to win a war against the British Empire. “We must, indeed, all hang together,” as Benjamin Franklin famously said, “or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

The existential imperative of correctly balancing unity with diversity continued to be a major theme of the Early Republic long after the fighting stopped. Following ratification of the Constitution, one of the first acts of the new Congress was to adopt the Continental Congress’s seal as the official Great Seal of the United States. Developed in wartime, its message was still needed in peacetime. E pluribus unum has appeared on the country’s official documents ever since.

The problem of forging an “unum” out of so much “pluribus” has only become greater in time. The original draft of the seal—the one discarded back in 1776—attempted to give representation to all the 13 colonies and even the nations of origin that most of the colonists had emigrated from. These symbols of representation included the lion for England, the harp for Ireland, the fleur-de-lis for France, and so on.

Today, of course, no such attempt at representation could even be made, as Americans’ nations of origin are as numerous as the nations of the earth. Instead, we must be content with the imagery of diversity, given to us by history, as it appears on the seal, and extend its symbolic value to cover contemporary circumstances: 13 olives, 13 arrows, 13 stripes, 13 stars, and 13 letters in the phrase e pluribus unum. These are the symbols that today represent three hundred forty million people living across three and a half million square miles.

The “unum” of the United States has regularly been tested throughout our history, most terribly, of course, during the Civil War. Likewise, each major wave of immigration has been accompanied by periods of upheaval and unrest. Economic strife, cultural change, war—all of these have seemingly given the lie to, or at least encouraged cynicism about, notions of unity amidst diversity.

One of the enduring questions of the USA’s 250^th anniversary is: Can the one survive with so many? And another is: Can the many be respected even as they become one? So far into the American experiment, these remain live questions—questions each subsequent generation of Americans must ask and answer anew. These are challenging problems and our answers have often been messy.

But part of the greatness of the country is that we keep striving toward the answer. For the entire history of the United States, we have lived within the inherent tension—often excruciating tension—of reconciling unity and plurality. Injustice, violence, exclusion, and degradation have been perpetrated by advocates on either side of the equation. So have justice, peace, inclusion, and collaboration. This tension is a distinctive feature of the American system, not a bug.

Tension, even painful tension, can be a powerful source of creativity and dynamism. The success of the United States in integrating so many different peoples while becoming so prosperous and powerful is a case in point. Working out the tension of E pluribus unum is one of the major projects of the United States of America. At times this project has been the source of pain and national shame; more often, however, it has been the very catalyst for so much that has made us great.

Forging a workable national culture from extraordinary diversity is the impossible homework assignment given to us by the country’s founders. For 250 years, we haven’t stopped trying. That’s made all the difference.

Caleb Whitmer is a project manager at the Acton Institute’s Center for Social Flourishing and a co-producer and writer for the forthcoming documentary film Poverty Trap: How Big Plans to End Poverty Broke the Promise of America. A graduate of Hillsdale College, he lives outside Grand Rapids, MI with his wife and children.

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