When I was growing up, my mom and dad always reminded me what this country did for them. It is a story worth telling, as today’s news reports of doom and gloom would have you believe stories such as my parents’ no longer happen in America. But on July 4, I think it only was fair to grant Lady Liberty a fair hearing.

America remains an exceptional nation. Eleven of the top 15 universities in the world are on our soil, according to the 2010 U.S. News & World Report. American workers are the most industrious and productive the global marketplace has ever seen. The world’s most powerful companies, from Google Inc. to Goldman Sachs Group Inc., follow in an unmatched American tradition of entrepreneurship and innovation. If you’re ever so lucky to travel, you will notice American movies, music and fashion are envied abroad.

America spends what the next 15 rich countries combined do on national defense. By every objective measure, we are still No. 1.

Presently, we find ourselves in an unusually counterproductive political rut when it is obvious we have serious structural challenges to address. But that’s what we signed up for in 1787. Our Founding Fathers wanted varying and opposing viewpoints to compromise within a government that requires majorities to move the country forward. No other system of government puts such faith in its people.

As Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist George Will has said often, “gridlock is not an American problem; it is an American achievement.” Our successes are because of, not in spite of, our governing institutions.

We never should forget our imperfect system of government has produced a tradition of American perseverance and accomplishment. Generations before us survived the Great Depression, won World War II and participated in the civil rights movement. Sometimes we learned things the hard way and repeated mistakes. But we also did a lot of good things for our country and the rest of the world.

Every American generation faced difficult challenges — we shouldn’t flip out when we are called to do the same.

It is true the rest of the world has made great strides economically and culturally. Some have decided gross domestic product and liberty are finite resources, claiming America is headed for inevitable decline. Fortunately, a prudent examination of the facts shows much of the media hype is overblown, and that our problems pale in comparison to others’.

Ask a middle class family in Delhi, India, what spikes in food and energy prices have done to their livelihood. Listen to what Chinese businessmen say about the housing bubbles about to pop in all of their major cities. Saudi Arabian women probably wish it wasn’t such groundbreaking news for them to drive a car in their own country. I bet billions of people around the world would trade their problems for the ones we Americans complain about.

Fareed Zakaria says it best: Globalization is a story not of American decline, but of the rest of the world catching up.

To be sure, competing in a global marketplace and resolving our problems at home will be a tall order. But remembering who we are should bring us all comfort. Two-and-a-half years of slower-than-expected economic growth and excessive chauvinism in American politics has not erased all past accomplishments or hindered all future progress. The fundamentals of our economic and political institutions remain exceptional and we can’t forget that as we reflect on our nation’s birthday.

Because my parents did so well, my mom jokes there’s no excuse for me not to be elected to public office. She says I can be a U.S. senator one day. Some might call that naive or far-fetched, but I call it perspective — of a uniquely American flavor.

Ameek Singh is a State News guest columnist and an international relations junior. Reach him at sodhiame@msu.edu.