A remarkably cold, damp and dismal June has finally given way to July, and the onset of another one of New England’s glorious summers (maybe). Independence Day is here, with backyard cookouts, splashing in pools and rippling, booming fireworks displays.

It is also America’s birthday, the day we mark the United States’ declaration of independence from Britain, which 233 years ago was trying to brutally enforce the will of King George and Parliament with thousands of troops on these shores.

This July 4th comes in on a sour note. The country faces its worst economic climate since the early 1980s — and, quite possibly, since the Great Depression. Consumer confidence has plummeted, housing values have plunged, and bankruptcies and foreclosures are soaring. Federal budget deficits are exploding, and inflation seems ready to pounce. State governments face their own massive deficits and are raising taxes on citizens, many already struggling with rising costs and declining income. Iran, in defiance of President Obama’s respectful gestures, is crushing peaceful dissent and threatening its neighbors, and North Korea has promised to shoot a missile in the direction of Hawaii this weekend.

It’s easy to forget the blessings we do enjoy, which the founding generation bestowed on us and later generations helped secure.

We live in a free society, where we may robustly criticize the government, vote out politicians (despite all the advantages of incumbency) and seek something better. Most of us have food on the table and luxuries that would have seemed almost unimaginable a few decades ago. Our example of the benefits of individual choice continues to inspire people across the globe.

No system is perfect, of course. But we owe a great deal to those who signed the Declaration of Independence, risking their lives and sacred honor to carry on a long, bloody and costly war, and to the many soldiers who, then and now, have sacrificed to preserve our freedom.

We’ve come back from hard times before, and we will again.