“Our identity as a Nation — unlike many other nations — is not determined by geography or ethnicity, by soil or blood. Being an American involves the embrace of high ideals and civic responsibility.”— President George W. Bush
Every great empire has failed not due to economic challenges, or corruption, or the elites — but due to diminishing interests in upholding the values that bind the nation. At the most pivotal moment ahead of superintelligence where we hold the promise to change the future of every human's life, our people continue growing in polarity, our flag continues to become politicized, and we continue drifting further away from the shared values that our founding fathers so brilliantly authored at a time when foresight was scarce.
Writing this essay today is a direct testament to these values. I would not have been here, would not have been born in Virginia, would not have contributed to the world had this nation not welcomed my parents with a legal process and open arms at a time when Afghanistan was turning to communism. The only stipulation that came with the United States was to adhere to our framework: our identity, laws, and values, and the rest of life is what you make of it.
The beauty of freedom — embrace our identity, laws, and values, and the rest of life is what you make of it.
As we enter the next 250 years of our beloved home, America, I am reminded that this flag represents the only shared identity, laws, and values that have the ability to scale human civilization and ensure the alignment of our all-powerful inventions. If we're unable to adhere to a common framework of identity, laws, and values, our fate is sealed, as the sheer volume of changes we will encounter in the age of superintelligence will make the challenges that arose through the internet and mass globalization appear as if they were the warm-up.
One of those values that are unique to America is our willingness to embrace controversy, engage in discourse, and shape the future of the world.
Let me remind us all — America began as a controversy. It takes controversy to challenge your rulers, your way of life, your religion, your beliefs, and ask whether there's a more rational approach to governing a society that maximizes human dignity, freedom, and development. It takes controversy to attract other people across the world who are willing to escape their circumstances to participate in the American way of life. It took controversy to empower women's rights at a time when the majority of the world didn't, to abolish slavery at a time when many parts of the world didn't, and it'll take controversy to solve our economic challenges at a time when the world is increasingly turning to socialism. It will take controversy to accept that we're inventing a new species of intelligence into the world, and it'll take controversy to ensure this intelligence is aligned to the values of humanity. Without any of our controversies, we would have never catalyzed the greatest acceleration of global human development in the history of civilization. We must continue to lead the world.
Our values and laws create an asymmetric tolerance for risk, and that willingness to embrace controversy and challenge every idea is one of our deepest advantages. You weren't incentivized or protected to take big bets in Europe circa 1600, and in much of the world today, you still aren't. It's why capital formation is strongest here, it's why we produce the highest GDP with ¼ the population of the next country. It is entirely the free expression of thought that helped produce the technologies that have changed modern life worldwide — the internet, the plane, the phone — allowing people to come together, to problem solve, to improve their lives.
We are not a country of people whose interests are only of self, we have built technologies and innovations that are distributed across the world to help make the world better. 19 of the 25 largest publicly traded companies are American, and that's not because our value exists in a vacuum. Our services and innovations increase the quality of life in areas of the world that may have never been able to invent or acquire equivalent solutions. We automate cashiers at Walmart to sell automated solutions built on Google Cloud to countries whose populations would massively benefit from our technology, whose labor could be so much better utilized towards countless other services for their citizens. We invented self-driving cars and pioneered electric vehicles, and as a result, one day you will never lose a loved one to a car crash again.
Our economy is predicated on growth, meaning, as long as there's more problems to solve in the world, there will always be more jobs for our citizens. It's not just our citizens who benefit, our multinational enterprises build value in local economies to create jobs and give other countries more opportunities. Every single country around the world, all of the flags worn on July 4th, has benefited tremendously from our innovations. The world looks to America to pioneer the future of civilization, and over these next 250 years as we enter the age of superintelligence, the world continues to look to our leadership to protect civilization.
Embrace controversy, because the ramifications of apathy are far greater than the individual effort to be informed. The second- and third-order effects of our decisions all come with short, medium, and long-term consequences. We will never have all the answers if the ones who have the data are silent, so we must embrace controversy and use our values as the framework to challenge convention. If you thought the ramifications of apathy were bad today, consider what the future looks like when intelligent systems can be used for, with, or against the human population.
We are all ambassadors of the country we call home, and we have a civic duty to stay informed so that we collectively make decisions that align to the values embodied in our belief system. The country is nothing without its citizens, and the citizens are nothing without their country. There's no more time to sit on the sidelines — you must engage in the discourse and development of the country, no matter if you're an employee, employer, or unemployed.
The next most important companies in America must be deeply interested in aligning economic incentives with the values of the nation. They will help incentivize capital formation towards good, foster tremendous economic growth, create more jobs and career paths, catalyze more progress, and reinvigorate our hope for the future. No matter big tech or small business. They will remind the world of our unique value proposition, that we are the nation of thinkers who are grounded in the words ratified in our texts. Without controversy, we will never solve the problems within our own walls, let alone scale the development of the world that has looked to the United States for its leadership since its birth.
America is the heartbeat of planet Earth — the belief in and willingness to take care of our home is not reserved to your political allegiance, it is a civic duty for your life here… Embrace our values, change the world, and when you don't agree with someone's opinions on how to make this country great — you have the freedom to make it better, no matter the circumstances.
Happy 250th birthday, America. Let's make sure our future generations look back at the decisions we make today and thank us for the life they live tomorrow.
— Iman