A poll on American values in the Wall Street Journal last month has caused a stir. The poll, which the Journal conducted along with the well-regarded NORC at the University of Chicago, shows a marked shift in American values over the last 25 years, towards an apathetic detachment from the wider society.
According to the new poll, only 38% of Americans today say that “patriotism” is very important to them, compared to 70% in 1998. Only 39% say “religion” is very important, compared to 69% 25 years ago. “Community involvement” has also decreased in importance, as has “tolerance for others,” notwithstanding the unrelenting focus on “inclusion” in the media, elite educational institutions, government, and large corporations. “The only priority . . . that has grown in the past quarter century,” the Journal reports, “is money, which was cited as very important by 43% in the new survey, up from 31% in 1998.”
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