Why everyone has a claim to the American dream

Last year, I spent the Fourth of July watching fireworks over the Washington Monument from a roof deck overlooking the Potomac River in Washington, DC.

This year I'll be in Beijing, watching distant broadcasts of the United States' Independence Day celebration on CCTV, or perhaps the Asian News Network.

I had hoped to set off sparklers from my balcony, but colleagues told me that do-it-yourself pyrotechnics are now illegal in Beijing, except during the annual Spring Festival.