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“American Values” Are in Decline

“American Values” Are in Decline

Last updated on: April 5, 2023 at 6:00 am by Gene Veith

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“American Values” Are in Decline 2023-04-02T19:39:59-04:00 Gene Veith

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Values once associated with Americans and American culture–such as the importance of patriotism, religion, hard work, and family–are in sharp decline. But the importance of money is way up.

Those were the findings of a new Wall Street Journal-National Opinion Research Center poll, which has been tracking these values for years. The results have been published in the Wall Street Journal in an article (behind a paywall) entitled America Pulls Back From Values That Once Defined It, WSJ-NORC Poll Finds. The data for this year’s poll is posted here.

In 1998, 70% of Americans said that patriotism was “very important” to them. Today, only 38% say that.

In 1998, 62% said religion was “very important” to them. Today, only 39% think that way.

In 1998, 60% thought having children was “very important” to them. Today, only 30% think that.

In 1998, 50% thought being involved in the community was “very important” to them. Today, only 27% think that.

It isn’t just what could be described as “conservative” values that have declined–though these used to be shared by liberals and conservatives alike. As recently as four years ago, 80% of Americans considered “tolerance” to be very important to them. Today that number has fallen to 58%.

There was only one value that showed an increase over the years. In 1998, money was considered “very important” by only 31% of Americans. Today, money is considered “very important” by 43% of Americans.

And the decline in these values is even more dramatic for Americans under 30. Patriotism is very important to only 23% of this demographic. Religion is very important to only 31%. Having children is very important to only 23%.

The Wall Street Journal article on the study by Aaron Zitner quoted one of the researchers:

Bill McInturff, a pollster who worked on a previous Journal survey that measured these attitudes along with NBC News, said that “these differences are so dramatic, it paints a new and surprising portrait of a changing America.’’ He surmised that “perhaps the toll of our political division, Covid and the lowest economic confidence in decades is having a startling effect on our core values.’’

Black conservative columnist Star Parker responded to the study by quoting historian Arnold Toynbee, who said, “an autopsy of history would show that all great nations commit suicide.” [HT: Don Brown.] She observes,

The devaluing of marriage, children, and patriotism and the focus on “self-fulfillment” and money are, of course, signs of a culture sunk into egotism and materialism, with a loss of a sense of being part of something larger than oneself.

It is not an encouraging picture for a country that hopes to have a future.

Our health care and retirement systems depend on a growing population. Stagnant population growth means more and more retirees per each individual in the workforce. It’s why our Social Security system is bankrupt. . . .

There are also implications on national security of attitudes that devalue patriotism and national service.

We now have a volunteer military. This can’t work with a population of young people who feel no sense of identity and obligation to their nation. . . .

Our country is only the product of its citizenry. A free nation under God becomes less free, and less great, as the Creator is traded in for materialism and egotism.

What do you think caused this decline? Can values, once lost, be restored? How might that be done?

Here is a summary of what Arnold Toynbee, an expert particularly in ancient civilizations, was referring to:

When a civilization responded to challenges, it grew. Civilizations disintegrate when their leaders stopped responding creatively, and the civilisations then sank owing to nationalism, militarism, and the tyranny of a despotic minority. According to an Editor’s Note in an edition of Toynbee’s A Study of History, Toynbee believed that societies always die from suicide or murder rather than from natural causes, and nearly always from suicide. He sees the growth and decline of civilizations as a spiritual process, writing that “Man achieves civilization, not as a result of superior biological endowment or geographical environment, but as a response to a challenge in a situation of special difficulty which rouses him to make a hitherto unprecedented effort.”

How might this apply to the United States of America?

Illustration: “The Course of Empire: Destruction” by By Thomas Cole – Explore Thomas Cole, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=183045

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