Happy 250th, America! Thank you for existing as a beacon of hope that stands tall against hopelessness. Never have your contradictions been so obvious, and as life-affirming, as today. Countries, like individuals, contain multitudes and the act of balancing everything one is constituted of is not easy. Take, for example, the idea of family. America, the biggest champion of the individual, wants its elections fought in the name of family. Or, think of religion. The special constitutional place religion has both in letter (Article VI, section 3 and in the First Amendment) and spirit in the US sits uneasy with the uniquely American idea of “Civil Religion”. It’s another story that the political chasm between religious conservatives and religious liberals is leading to the latter leaving religion altogether. Or, the American strides in science. Countless lives are saved globally everyday, thanks to the US science infrastructure. But the mushroom-shaped shadow looms large, too. Is it any wonder, therefore, that one of the most celebrated American poets, T S Eliot, a Boston Brahmin at that, lost his mind trying to understand many of these complexities?The autorickshaws in Jhilmil colony in Delhi-NCR, as elsewhere in the city, can be spotted dressed in vinyl prints of the Stars and Stripes with a cheerful “Happy Birthday America!” slogan. (AFP)From the United States Declaration of Independence, where it was proclaimed “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,” you have slowly transformed into the self-appointed architect and arbitrator of a unipolar world order, ensuring trouble for both yourself and others. When 13 colonies reorganised themselves into 13 independent states, the world looked on in awe — a sentiment it continues to exhibit today, though for very different reasons.The world has witnessed the rise of the United States — now 50 of them — of America into the economic powerhouse that put Hitler’s fascist regime to an end and liberated Europe. How did the same powerhouse leave its moral prerogatives to condemn peoples barely two decades later is a case study that scholars of different disciplines have found fascinating. A celebration of the US, nevertheless, is a celebration of both its capacity and potential.The autorickshaws in Jhilmil colony in Delhi-NCR, as elsewhere in the city, can be spotted dressed in vinyl prints of the Stars and Stripes with a cheerful “Happy Birthday America!” slogan. What does the driver know of the General Congress or Thomas Jefferson? Precious little, if at all. Yet, America’s might continues to be impressive for him and countless others. It is might that once drew its strength from morals; from principles that rallied support for the American Revolution from an enslaved man called James Armistead Lafayette to the dandy poet, Lord George Gordon Byron; and from a socio-political anchorage that anointed the US from the 19th till the mid-20th century as a guarantor of democratic principles worldwide.As you turn 250 today, there is an opportunity to muster all of the above and channel them once again for the greater good. The world needs an America that can turn the tide but chooses not to unless the absolute principle of equality is threatened. Because the world has witnessed what the US is capable of. It is the US, which believes in its founding fathers’ vision, in letter and spirit, that the world, including India, looks up to.Happy Birthday, the original Brave New World!