The State Of Our Country

There was an interesting poll taken by the Wall Street Journal - NORC (out of the University of the Chicago) from March 1 through March 13, 2023.  The poll sample consisted of 1019 people and has a margin of error of +/- 4.1%.  62% of the respondents were employed, with 38% not employed.  That is a fairly typical employment rate.  

The survey asked for the respondents' political outlook.  10% said they were "very liberal," with 13% "somewhat liberal."  12% were "very conservative," with 16% "somewhat conservative."  47% described themselves as "moderate."

In a survey of values, the respondents were asked what was "very important," "somewhat important," "not that important," or "not important at all."  In that order, with regards to "hard work," the numbers were 67%, 26%, 3% and 3%.  Not too bad at all.

With regards to "marriage," the numbers were 43%, 27%, 18% and 10%.  A little disappointing.  "Patriotism" came in at 38%, 35%, 16% and 11%.  Very disappointing.  This sense of patriotism is no longer instilled in our public schools.  Instead, students today are taught about the evils of America - slavery, white supremacy, racism, sexism, gender bias, etc.  Without a love of country, it is no surprise that the U.S. Army was 25% off of its target for recruiting in the last fiscal year.  Who will fight America's wars?  If there are an insufficient number of volunteers, will the country will be forced to return to conscription?  

More importantly, how does a country survive if the population no longer believes in the basic goodness of the country?  And, in an indication of the direction American values are headed, a 1998 New York Post poll found that 70% said that patriotism was "very important."  Currently, only 23% of Americans under 30 said that patriotism is "very important," compared to 59% of seniors over 65. 

As for religion, the numbers are as follows:  39%, 20%, 21% and 19%.  Also disappointing.  And the NY Post poll in 1998 found 62% saying that religion was "very important."  In terms of attendance at religious services, 32% said never, 19% one time a year, 9% about twice a year, 8% several times a year, 3% about once a month, 5% 2-3 times a month, 5% nearly every week, 13% every week, and 6% several times a week.  Only 31% of young Americans said that religion was "very important," compared to 55% of seniors.    

Insofar as having children is concerned, only 30% said it was "very important," then 36%, 18% and 15%.  This is also disappointing.  Children are our future.  But many young people believe having children causes an extra burden on the environment.  By age, only 23% of young Americans said having children was "very important," compared to an also disappointing 32% of seniors.

Not surprisingly, Republicans supported traditional American values more than Democrats.  59% of Republicans said that patriotism was "very important," compared to only 23% of Democrats.  For religion, the percentages were Republican 53% and Democrats 27%.  And for having children, it was 38% for Republicans and 26% for Democrats.  

These declining numbers in traditional American values should come as a surprise to no one.  Not when "leftist" values have increasingly replaced "liberal" values in American society.