Anyone who claims the lack of joy about the 250th is a function of a rough economy was not alive in 1976. The country rocked in its 200th celebration and the economy was a FREAKING MESS. There is this Gen Z misconception that the '70s and early '80s were some sort of economic golden age of readily available, well-paying jobs, low cost housing and an all around sense of prosperity. WRONG. Google "Stagflation." Google "gas lines." Google "mortgage interest rates in the 1980s." Our economy today is a golden age by comparison, without exaggeration. Yet somehow in 1976 we could gleefully celebrate our nation's birthday without Democrats turning it into a Howard Zinn-inspired anti-history hatefest.