The Washington Post
We’re No. 1? Americans increasingly don’t think so.
A
new Pew Research Center poll shows that the number of Americans who
think the United States "stands above all other countries" has declined
from 38 percent three years ago to 28 percent today. A strong majority
of Americans (58 percent) say the U.S. is merely "one of the greatest
countries."
The
decline in American exceptionalism has even taken hold among those who
have often been the biggest proponents of it: Republicans. Just 37
percent view the United States as a singularly great country -- down 15
points from 2011.
Independents and Democrats have experienced smaller shifts.
But
the most distressing thing for the American exceptionalism lobby (that
exists, right?) has to be the age gap. Just 15 percent of Americans aged
18 to 29 believe in the United State's superiority -- down from 27
percent in 2011.
That's tied for the biggest drop ... with the next-youngest age group, 30-49.
This
doesn't mean that American exceptionalism will die alongside its older
adherents, but it does suggest America's youth are in need of a healthy
dose of patriotism. We suggest this:
Whitney Houston- The Star Spangled Banner from
Adam D on
Vimeo.
Or this:
If that doesn't work, we recommend watching
President Whitmore's speech from "Independence Day," or just staring at
a photo of Lee Greenwood.
Americans' declining satisfaction with freedom might be one of the causes for this decline in exceptionalism. In 2006,
Gallup found
that Americans were among the most satisfied in the world when it came
to their country's freedom. Now, the United States is in 36th place, as
their satisfaction has declined by 12 percentage points.
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