RYAN FAZIO: Young Americans need to appreciate the good fortune they take for granted.

An old college professor of mine who was born under a communist police state in the Czech Republic used to preach to his American students studying abroad in Prague, “Yours is the country of individual freedom. You should be proud of what it has given the world.” He and his countrymen have now enjoyed decades of relative prosperity and freedom under the Pax Americana.

But, as we approach another Independence Day, why are fewer Americans proud of that legacy? And why do many of us often think what we have here — wealth, freedom and safety — is normal in the course of human history or even in the world today? A little perspective is in order.

Young people taking good fortune for granted is nothing new. What is new is how many of our young people have been indoctrinated against the very things that have made their good fortune possible.