Progress is made by individuals, not by nations.

"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."

Your Constitution is unique where it says that all men are entitled to the right of the pursuit of happiness.
That is what everybody wants, young or old.
You could be deprived of many material things that in principle not only do not make you happy, but in certain cases make you even unhappier and still be happy.
What I do not agree with, is that all men are created equal.
In reality (and that is the good of nature) everybody is unequal, we are all individuals who have similarities, but are different in their similarities.
That is the base for building a society which is really democratic.
That every man is an individual and has the same rights as all others, one of them being the pursuit of happiness.
Individualism and freedom to reach the goal you want, that is real freedom.
A society build on the fact that there are no individuals, but what counts is the "State" the "Nation" not only kills the freedom, it also kills progress, kills the right to pursue one own happiness.
Because happiness is in the dream, in the effort to reach it.
Happiness is in what you do to be happy.
America was a great nation as long as people were free and had the means to pursue their goals.
That was the American dream, the dream of a better life for oneself and for one’s children.
Progress is made by individuals, not by nations.