Report on a 2016 poll - a time at which 81% of Americans say they are extremely/very proud to be American.
The poll at the link above shows that 74% of Americans believe the country to be on the wrong track. 44% say it has been so for a long time - dating back to the Fifties.
Is this poll dispositive? I make no claims so. But the book I have been researching and writing for two years now indicates time and time again this waning of confidence in America over the past 60 years.
You wrote such a lovely piece. And then answered me with a one-sentence 'my poll is the be-all and end-all comment'. Disappointing.
My original post was exploring the point McConnell made, that "pride in America has fallen significantly". I wondered where that came from - was there data or did he just make it up. I found that indeed, there are polls measuring "American pride" with data going back 20 years or more. And that the measure of people who are proud or very proud has been remarkably steady, until Trump, at which point it fell. You expanded the discussion with some interesting observations, which are fun to read and think about, but which had little to do with my original point or the data from polls measuring American pride.
I think your original point about their being a difference between pride and confidence is the one overlooked.
You analyzed well why pride plummeted suddenly over Trump.
Confidence is different as you mentioned. American confidence in itself has dropped greatly since the Fifties, although as you pointed out it was revived nicely by Reagan.
But 9/11 was devastating. Bush’s immediate reaction notwithstanding and the outpouring of genuine sympathy and love from much of the world, Americans came to realize in short order how vulnerable they were, and in years to come how dangerous and unfriendly the world was. Americans want to be liked and this is always hard to achieve when you seek to be feared as well. The legacy of Cheney, Wolfowitz and their plan for a 21st century dominated by America is grim. And Trump was the piece de resistance. What a fool he was.
In any case thanks for the exchange of ideas. I think we were crossways between pride and confidence.
Okay, don’t believe it. Your feelings outweigh the data.
Are you really satisfied with such a flip answer?
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/americans-1950s-poll_n_580fcf0be4b08582f88c9575
Report on a 2016 poll - a time at which 81% of Americans say they are extremely/very proud to be American.
The poll at the link above shows that 74% of Americans believe the country to be on the wrong track. 44% say it has been so for a long time - dating back to the Fifties.
Is this poll dispositive? I make no claims so. But the book I have been researching and writing for two years now indicates time and time again this waning of confidence in America over the past 60 years.
You wrote such a lovely piece. And then answered me with a one-sentence 'my poll is the be-all and end-all comment'. Disappointing.
My original post was exploring the point McConnell made, that "pride in America has fallen significantly". I wondered where that came from - was there data or did he just make it up. I found that indeed, there are polls measuring "American pride" with data going back 20 years or more. And that the measure of people who are proud or very proud has been remarkably steady, until Trump, at which point it fell. You expanded the discussion with some interesting observations, which are fun to read and think about, but which had little to do with my original point or the data from polls measuring American pride.
Fair enough.
I think your original point about their being a difference between pride and confidence is the one overlooked.
You analyzed well why pride plummeted suddenly over Trump.
Confidence is different as you mentioned. American confidence in itself has dropped greatly since the Fifties, although as you pointed out it was revived nicely by Reagan.
But 9/11 was devastating. Bush’s immediate reaction notwithstanding and the outpouring of genuine sympathy and love from much of the world, Americans came to realize in short order how vulnerable they were, and in years to come how dangerous and unfriendly the world was. Americans want to be liked and this is always hard to achieve when you seek to be feared as well. The legacy of Cheney, Wolfowitz and their plan for a 21st century dominated by America is grim. And Trump was the piece de resistance. What a fool he was.
In any case thanks for the exchange of ideas. I think we were crossways between pride and confidence.