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 …
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.
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.