Even our entertainment isn’t immune. Lockouts between players and ownership in two of our three major professional sports leagues threaten to take away professional football and basketball for a season.

And although there always have been different ideas and beliefs clashing, with sides being chosen and lines drawn, it’s never been this bad. This is different. Even when the issues were bigger, we didn’t have the mass communication or mass information to dig into the minutia of beliefs, we didn’t build our positions on the most polarized parts of the discussion.

That’s why this Independence Day, I didn’t feel like celebrating.

Don’t get me wrong: This country is great. I only can hope my critique of the country’s direction isn’t observed as an attack on it, and that the point I’m trying to make isn’t viewed as right-leaning or left-leaning. I’m just not celebrating because this country could be doing a lot better than it is now.

But in order to get “better” in this country, we’ll have to answer some tough questions.

Do we cut more costs? If so, from where? Do we generate more revenue? If so, from whom? Do we believe in the messianic qualities of education? Do we raise our debt ceiling? Do we address the rising costs of keeping people alive now or later? Do we vote for the people most likely to address these issues? Who are those people?

I don’t have the answer to any of these questions; no one does. If someone did, the questions wouldn’t be as big a deal. But in order to get “better,” we’re going to have to answer these questions. But that’s just it; we are going to have to answer these questions. It has to be a collaborative effort; it has to be those in power working together to create solutions to propel our country forward.

We already have seen what happens when we argue; nothing gets done. It’s too difficult to move the country in any direction if we’re too busy squabbling over who is to blame for the condition we’re in — we saw that much in the fight for the federal budget.

So what is in the past is prologue. The truly important part is what’s to come. And we can either sit on opposite sides of the issue mudslinging until the problems we have overwhelm us, or we can work together to move forward and solve said problems.

But that hasn’t happened yet. We haven’t gone forward as a country since roughly the day we decided to fight a war in Iraq — again. And that’s why I can’t watch fireworks or eat barbecue or sit by a lake in good spirits. There’s work to be done. There still are wars to fight and people to employ and a debt ceiling to adjust. There still are fires to fight and people who need rescuing.

The day of our independence must be a reminder that we all are in this together. Despite our different ideas, policies and opinions, we all are Americans. We all enjoy the freedoms and liberties of this nation. We all benefit from solutions to this nation’s problems.

We’re in this together: white, Latino, black, Jewish, Republican, Democrat, libertarian, rich, poor, in the middle, it doesn’t matter. When we work together to create a shared path, we, as Americans, win. And that knowledge is cause for celebration.

Happy birthday, America. May the next years of your life be filled with coexistence, coalitions, collaborative movements, healthy, educated and employed citizens, and a less divided, more efficient government. Maybe this time next year, I’ll be able to celebrate with you.

Lazarus Jackson is the State News opinion writer. Reach him at jacks920@msu.edu.