Identity in America is complicated but it's also simple: it's about whom you identify with and who identifies with you.
Eric LiuHere's a proposal, offered only partly in jest: no resident of the United States, whether born here or abroad, should get to be a citizen until age 18, at which time each such resident has to take a test.
Eric LiuWhat does purpose mean? It means the deepest desire for our short lives to mean something. . . . To speak a language of purpose is to return to first principles and to be able to answer, in plain English, the plain questions of Why? Why should we chip in to help someone else? Why should we defer gratification? Why should we care about the long term? Why should we trust anyone who seems to be limiting our ability to do what we want?
Eric LiuMuch of our national debate proceeds as if China and America were locked in a zero-sum game in which one's loss is precisely the other's gain.
Eric Liu