Happy Birthday, America! You made it another year. Two hundred forty-one. Not bad. I mean, there are plenty of nations that are way older and more experienced, but you’ve done pretty well for yourself for such a young country. You’ve survived some serious growing pains (even a civil war), and on the whole, your people are now freer and have better living conditions than many people in many other nations in the world. And what a beauty you are! So demographically and geographically diverse, so many shades of so many colors scattered throughout your ever-changing landscapes.

I have to say, though, recently I’ve been more than a little worried about your health. Because your bones have gotten so brittle lately. You came into the world a strong democracy, but you have been infected by greed, and I just see you getting weaker and sicker as time goes on. Your democratic ideals aren’t what they once were, and it shows.

And the bigger problem is that your citizens, who could heal you, are in no position to do so. Your full name is the United States of America, but these days you’d be more aptly named the Divided and Really Pissed-Off States of America. Partly as a result of your infection, your people are angry, and they are mistrustful of one another and of your leaders. As humans tend to do, they have largely forgotten all the ways in which they’re the same and they’re seeing only how they differ. They are really, really not united, and I’m not sure how they’re ever going to come together enough to restore your health.

But don’t despair. As absurdly petty as humans can be, one great thing about them is that they like to solve problems–the bigger the better. They’re pretty good at coming up with new ideas and ways of doing things. And they also desperately want to feel happy and useful. Sitting around fretting over their problems without working toward solutions to those problems eventually makes them crazy. So day after day, they overcome their strong urges to just keep sleeping and not do anything, and they drag themselves out of bed and get busy, together and individually, solving problems both big and small. It’s pretty amazing, really, what they’re capable of.

So here’s hoping they can figure out answers just a little bit faster so that you can begin to recover. After all, you can be so vibrant and extraordinary, and you have given hope and joy to so many. And so I wish you a healthier 242nd year, and many happier returns.