Startling changes on what it means to be an American citizen

In Hampton Roads, Va., a place steeped in American history and proud of its rich military tradition, patriotism and a commitment to the national character are points of pride. But recent polling suggests that the region may be an outlier compared to the rest of the country.

March polling by the Wall Street Journal and NORC, a nonpartisan research organization at the University of Chicago, discovered some startling changes in American attitudes that, per the paper, suggest that "patriotism, religious faith, having children and other priorities that helped define the national character for generations are receding in importance."

Researchers found that "38% of respondents said patriotism was very important to them, and 39% said religion was very important." When pollsters asked those same questions in 1998, the numbers were 70% and 62%, respectively.

Poll respondents also reported they felt having children, hard work and community involvement were less important than in previous iterations of the questions. Tolerance for others also sharply declined, from 80% who considered it important in 2019 to 58% now.

The one thing that increased in respondents' esteem during that period? Money, which 43% considered important, up from 38% four years prior.

John McCormack, writing for the National Review, said the new figures may be slightly misleading because of a change in the way researchers conducted the poll. He pointed to numbers from Gallup as more consistent, but that organization reported in June that only 38% of those asked said they were proud to be an American. That's a record low.

How does that stack up against other countries? Pew Research, in May 2021, found that 53% of Germans, 45% of the French and 41% of United Kingdom residents considered themselves proud of their country compared to 39% for the United States.

So a sharp decline in patriotism is cause for alarm. It is also very understandable.

Distrust of American institutions, both public and private, is at an all-time low. People deeply dislike Congress, the Supreme Court and, in recent years, whoever serves as president. They have been betrayed by banks and Wall Street, failed by religious groups and civic organizations, and see media outlets as partisan and untrustworthy. They are suspicious and wary of one another.

All of that contributes to a sense of despair, which is taking its toll on the public.

In a recent Financial Times column, John Burn-Murdoch reported that a sharp drop in Americans' life expectancy now sees them live, on average, shorter lives than the British, regardless of income. U.S. life expectancy is 76.4 years, the lowest in two decades.

Obviously COVID-19 skews those numbers, but life expectancy was dropping prior to the pandemic. And, as Burn-Murdoch noted in a Twitter thread accompanying his column, "One in 25 American 5-year-olds today will not make it to their 40th birthday."

But that's also not a one-way street. Discontented Americans need to recognize their power to affect change, through their vote and their dollar, to help build a nation worthy of their pride and inspiration. They cannot sit on the sidelines and hope for things to improve.