A concerning new poll shows Americans are abandoning their faith, their sense of community, their patriotism and a desire to start families at an alarming rate.
The survey — conducted March 1-13 by The Wall Street Journal and the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago — found those things are being abandoned while a desire for money has grown.
The expansive survey covered topics from the economy to tolerance of others. It also asked people about their own happiness.
“Taken all together, how would you say things are these days — would you say that you are very happy, pretty happy, or not too happy?” one question said.
Only 12 percent of the poll’s respondents answered they were “very happy,” while another 56 percent described themselves as “pretty happy.”
Thirty percent said they were “not too happy,” while an additional 1 percent declined to answer the question.
The fact that roughly one-third of the country is not feeling optimistic or celebratory is a sign of the times. But several truly jarring responses also stuck out from the survey.
When compared with how people felt at the end of the last century and how they felt during the third year of former President Donald Trump’s term in the White House, Americans believe things have gone off the rails in some key categories.
In 1998, 70 percent of those surveyed expressed a profound sense of patriotism, the Journal said Monday in its report on the poll. That dipped down to 61 percent in 2019.
In this month’s poll, a mere 38 percent of respondents said patriotism was “very important” to them.
A similar drop occurred when people were asked how important religion is to them, as only 39 percent answered “very important.”
That was down from 48 percent four years ago and 62 percent in 1998.
Likewise, in 1998, 59 percent of the country called having children “very important,” while only 30 percent in the latest poll viewed it as a key priority.
The question of “community involvement,” which increased from 47 percent in 1998 to 62 percent in 2019, was down this month as a major priority to 27 percent.
The only metric that really rose in the latest survey was the importance of money – a fact that many lamented on Twitter.
Astonishing and sad poll.
Will be covering this at the top of @OutnumberedFNC @FoxNews at noon. Join us! https://t.co/MF1wVPbRx0
— Kayleigh McEnany (@kayleighmcenany) March 27, 2023
In 1998, 31 percent of Americans called money “very” important to them. That number rose 10 percent to 41 percent in 2019. In the new survey, 43 percent of respondents put a premium on money.
The Journal/NORC poll surveyed 1,019 American adults and reported a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.
Naturally, the country’s misery index has been significantly high under the failed leadership of President Joe Biden.
Money is more important to a lot of Americans as they are keeping less of what they earn – thanks to the tax that is inflation. That could explain some of that question, as a mere 6 percent of respondents were not at all concerned about the cost of living.
Only 4 percent were not worried at all about inflation.
But the rest of the poll is concerning in that it tells the story of a country that has lost its way after having abandoned its values.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
