CBS News poll on America at 250 — its successes and its challenges

Two hundred fifty years on, Americans generally see their nation as a success story — even if it's one that they feel still has work to do. A big majority say the nation has succeeded in achieving its founding ideals, at least a fair amount, if not a great deal. We, the people, think of ourselves — America's people — as the best thing about the country . Most of us like having a nation of many different ideas and cultures, and we share common views on what constitutes "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." And for a country that produced the light bulb and the internet, today it is still the ideas laid out in the founding that many offer up as America's best invention of all. Yet, Americans also see a nation facing challenges today: Almost half the country marks this milestone feeling that America's best days are in its past . The American Dream is seen under pressure, often unattainable. And just as economic opportunities are entwined with our political history, they're seen today just as defining as democracy itself. But those who think opportunity is only for a few feel democracy, too, is under threat. Views of the future and past are linked. Those who say the U.S. has done a great deal in achieving its founding ideals are the most optimistic about the future, and tend to think U.S. democracy is secure. Opportunity and the American Dream Americans today have skepticism about the availability of opportunity. …