This week I'll celebrate my first Independence Day as a full American citizen. The problem is I'm also British

America seems far freer on paper than it is in practice. Which makes the emphasis on the Fourth of July as a celebration of America’s freedom somewhat perplexing — particularly because it creates a sense of complacency

When you drill down into what opportunity actually looks like in the United States, you get a bit of a shock (Getty Images)

Tomorrow will be my first Fourth of July as an American citizen. But since I’m also a British citizen, I’m tempted to show up to work tomorrow as an act of protest — at least for a half day.

American independence is a confounding subject for me; partly because, as a Brit, I have no idea what emotions to channel in a celebration of independence. And partly because the Fourth of July is an ironic holiday, not least because Thomas Jefferson — who wrote “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence — was a slave owner.

The contradictory nature of the Fourth of July holiday is still evident, some 243 years after the Declaration of Independence was first read. On paper, America is a very free country, particularly when it comes to freedom of expression. Case in point: there’s far more latitude to skewer the political class in the US than in the UK due to stronger free speech laws in the former and strong libel laws in the latter. And yet America is 48th in Press Freedom (behind Papua New Guinea, Burkina Faso, and Great Britain which places 33rd). This seems ironic, particularly considering that freedom of the press is enshrined in the first amendment.

The first amendment also preserves freedom of religion — although this hasn’t stopped many states restricting access to abortion because it contradicts their particular religious beliefs. Ironically, despite having a state-sponsored religion, Britain has no similar zeal for religiously inspired legislation.

Perhaps press or religious freedom aren’t America’s thing after all. What about economic freedom? Surely a country in which big government is viewed with disdain and the private sector is held up as a panacea will fare as the most economically free country in the world? Nope. America places 12th in Economic Freedom (behind 11 countries — all of which have universal healthcare).

The good news is that there is enough economic freedom in the US to enable the American Dream to live on. Or is there? Actually, social mobility in the US is lower than in Europe. So I guess not.

America seems far freer on paper than it is in practice. Which makes the emphasis on the Fourth of July as a celebration of America’s freedom somewhat perplexing — particularly because it creates a sense of complacency, which feels out of place in a country that is never satisfied with the status quo. But when so many Americans are unaware of how the country benchmarks on key economic, social and political measures, it’s easy to see why freedom receives such emphasis.

Could the spirit of the holiday be extended to include another lesson from the Founding Fathers: recognizing hard truths? After all, this is what the 13 colonies did before they declared independence. Colonists recognized that the status quo of taxation without representation was giving them a raw deal and took steps to resolve this issue against the largest economic, political and military power of the day.

Similarly, contemporary Fourth of July celebrations can be an opportunity to recognize hard truths on how the country is faring on critical issues. For example, why is it that the US is yet to elect a female leader, but former military dictatorships — such as Brazil and Pakistan — have already achieved this milestone?

Americans’ optimism, can-do spirit and bold thinking are qualities that will help overcome any challenge. But these problems have to be recognized to begin with.