The historical collapses of once-great empires such as Athens and Rome began with a collective giving-up, a resignation among the people that it no longer really mattered to them whether their country survived or fell. Weakened economies, political instability, and cultural uncertainty were all symptoms of this ambivalence — symptoms that now trouble America.
The results of a new Wall Street Journal poll make our present condition clear: We are a nation unmoored, with no hope or sense of pride to bind us together. Indeed, it seems the only thing Americans have in common now is a love of convenience, ironically a consequence of the very hard work and innovation we now scorn. Alexis de Tocqueville warned that our selfish individualism would one day be our undoing, and it seems we’re determined to prove him right.
The associations and values that provided the unity upon which every society depends have been discarded by an alarming number of people. According to the Journal, 39% say religion is very important, compared to 62% just 25 years ago. Even fewer (38%) think patriotism is important, as opposed to 70% when the poll was first conducted in 1998. The family is likewise at the very bottom of Americans’ list of priorities, with just 30% saying having children is very important, compared to 59% of respondents a generation ago. Just 27% said community involvement is important.
This is a dire picture of a culture that has lost its will to live. Americans no longer like our country all that much, nor do we like each other. It stands to reason that there are many, many people out there who don’t much like themselves. Rates of depression, anxiety, and addiction continue to increase every year, and overall, the feeling of pessimism dominates public polls on everything from the state of the economy to America’s odds of withstanding a war with China or Russia.
As historian Arnold Toynbee once put it, “Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.” The United States is on the brink, and the next several years could very well determine whether the American experiment continues or crumbles. Though the Journal’s findings don’t give us much reason for optimism, they should inspire us with a renewed sense of courage: the courage to restore the values that many are too afraid to defend and a country that was once great and can be great again.