In One Year, We Declare Interdependence
Towards a Declaration of Interdependence for America's Next 250 Years
“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 Declaration of Independence, 1776
249 years ago, the United States of America was founded upon these words.
At best, they are a revolutionary statement of human equality.
At worst, they exclude the half of humanity that are not men and require a bold asterisk for those that are. Black men, Indigenous men, men of color, and even most white men who lacked property or education were not included in this promise.
The equality our nation was founded upon was partial, its aspirational rights restricted, and its radical freedom incomplete. Yet these imperfect words planted seeds of equality that future generations have been able to nurture, each growing what it means to be an American.
A new nation declared its independence, and its diverse people demanded their freedom—a task that successive generations have carried forward. What is our generation’s role in taking forward the American project?
The Founders' generation forged political independence from monarchy, establishing that governments derive their power from the consent of the governed rather than divine right of kings.
The Civil War generation fought for freedom over our body and our labor by abolishing slavery, recognizing that the bondage of anyone restricted everyone.
The New Deal generation expanded freedom by creating collective infrastructure—Social Security, labor protections, public works—that enabled ordinary Americans to find stability.
The Civil Rights generation expanded freedom by dismantling legal barriers that prevented full participation in American life.
As a result of our ancestors’ contributions, our generation has witnessed individualism flourish like never before. More people can live as they choose, express themselves freely, chart their own paths. We have inherited the beautiful benefits of centuries of expanding liberty—even as that freedom remains withheld for far too many.
Yet, now, in our era, we face genuine challenges that demand cooperation. Climate change knows no borders. Supply chains that span continents mean disruptions anywhere affect everyone. Even the air we breathe depends on the choices of strangers we will never meet.
Our 249 years of experimentation—progress and regress—leave us in a position of privilege. We have the evidence to know what we could only feel before: The individual freedoms we cherish depend on the community bonds we nourish. For us, humans today, who hunger and thirst for truths that unite us, the miraculous fact of our connectedness should comfort us.
Of course, we have always felt these connections: Humanity's earliest spiritual insights—born from a simple material existence—were that we depend on what is in front of us. Yet we now know that these connections are true: Humanity's newest scientific observations confirm that we share our fates because we share our origins.
Our connectedness—our interdependence—is both miraculous and a fact. It is a rare instance of alignment between our ancient spiritual insights and our modern scientific observations.
Even as the evidence of our interdependence surrounds us, our hyper-individualistic culture struggles to mount the collective action these challenges require. The irony is stark: the more we insist on going it alone, the less able we are to preserve the conditions that make individual choice possible.
We face a choice. We can retreat to narrow tribes that compete for shrinking resources. Or we can choose something genuinely new: recognizing that individual freedom depends on community bonds, that independence must be founded in interdependence.
This is not about abandoning what we've gained. It means recognizing that genuine liberty requires not just the absence of constraints, but the presence of enabling conditions. True individual freedom requires collective infrastructure that makes choice possible: schools, healthcare systems, economic opportunity, a habitable planet. Our freedom depends on the other people whose work upholds society and the animals, plants, and fungi whose lives sustain ours.
Each expansion of American freedom has required collective action to create the conditions for individual flourishing. Now, as we approach our 250th anniversary, the next stage of our freedom project is clear: we must expand the collective resources and infrastructure that enable everyone to be truly free.
July 4, 2026 will offer us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reconstitute our nation, its values, and our truths for the next 250 years — to be as bold as our founders were in 1776.
It is time to declare our interdependence.
Maybe it can begin:
“We hold these truths to be fundamental, that all beings are created equal, that we are endowed by our creation with certain essential rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness—and that these rights are secured not through isolation, but through connection.”
— A Declaration of Interdependence, 2026