Survey: 82% Feel Proud to be an American

The American Culture & Faith Institute produced a report titled American Views on Patriotism. The report was based upon a October – November 2017 a survey that asked, “do you feel proud to be an American?” The results found that 46% answered “completely” and 36% answered “mostly”, for a total of 82%. Here is the breakdown on the “I feel proud to be an American” question.

Cultural view

• Conservative 65%
• Moderate 43%
• Liberal 37%

Political Party

• Republican 66%
• Democrat 43%
• Independent 43%

According to the American Culture & Faith Institute survey:

Beyond those designations, the [American Views on Patriotism] survey also revealed that most adults have lukewarm views regarding their other commitments and self-perceptions. For instance:

• Slightly less than half “completely” embrace the idea that they “feel proud to be an American.” Another one-third (36%) say that description is “mostly accurate.”
• Just three out of ten adults (29%) say are accurately described as wanting the government to stay out of their life.
• Interestingly, most Americans seem aware that their political views are not “clear and unchanging.” Three-quarters of adults recognize their ambiguity on political matters.
• Only one-quarter of adults (26%) firmly acknowledge their tolerance of different social and political views.
• Surprisingly few people (12%) strongly affirmed their standing as a “culture warrior.” In fact, a larger share of the public (19%) completely rejects that self-description.
• While the proportion of people who are proud to be an American is limited, only 10% say that preferring to live in another country is a completely accurate description of their views. Half of all respondents said such a label was completely inaccurate.
• A mere 8% said they always trust the government to do the right thing.

Why is patriotism important?

In an August 9th, 2017 Philadelphia Inquirer article titled Paying the price for breakdown of the country’s bourgeois culture Amy Wax and Larry Alexander defined America’s bourgeois (middle class) culture. Wax and Alexander wrote,

That culture laid out the script we all were supposed to follow:

Get married before you have children and strive to stay married for their sake. Get the education you need for gainful employment, work hard, and avoid idleness. Go the extra mile for your employer or client. Be a patriot, ready to serve the country. Be neighborly, civic-minded, and charitable. Avoid coarse language in public. Be respectful of authority. Eschew substance abuse and crime. [Emphasis added]

Politicians have wooed the middle class. Politicians woo those who are patriotic and seek opportunities to be seen in the company of the U.S. military. Politicians love photo shoots with veterans and their families. However, once elected politicians tend to favor the funding of social programs over funding the U.S. military (e.g. sequestration). 

Where did America’s patriotism go?

The U.S. military makes up less than 1% of the total population. In 2014, the Veterans Administration estimated there were 22 million military veterans in the U.S. population. This is approximated 15% of the population of the United States. During WWII, Korea and Vietnam the United States had a universal draft. According to Google:

U.S. military draft ends, Jan. 27, 1973. On the day in 1973, as the Vietnam War drew to a close, the Selective Service announced that there would be no further draft calls. … Nixon thought ending the draft could be an effective political weapon against the burgeoning anti-war movement.

In a column titled “10 Arguments In Support Of Bringing Back The Draft” J. Francis Wolfe found that U.S. Presidents and the Congress have deployed U.S. military personnel abroad 6.5 times more in the 40 years after elimination of the draft than the 40 years before.

The problem is few Americans feel the personal and visceral impacts experienced by those sent into harms way.

The draft provided three key functions to our youth:

1. It gave the youth an opportunity to serve the nation – service above oneself was the ideal. Today’s youth lack a purpose in life because they cannot understand what doing something to serve the nation means.
2. Those in the military learned team work, punctuality, how to abide by rules and present themselves properly while in uniform. These are traits sought out by companies both large and small in employees.
3. The military provided a vast number of marketable skills to America’s youth. Skills such as: maintenance of vehicles and aircraft, how to render first aid (corpsmen), plumbing, electrician, radio operator, computer operator, how to drive or fly a variety of military vehicles, the safe use of weapons, cooking, and on and on. Today some technical high schools try to fill this gap but not to the extent nor to the high standards of the U.S. military.

Click here to read Wolfe’s rational on each of these arguments.

If America wants to be its citizens to be patriotic, it must make every citizen feel the real consequences and pain of service above one’s self.

EDITORS NOTE: The American Views on Patriotism survey is drawn from a pair of national surveys conducted online during October and November of 2017 by the American Culture & Faith Institute. Each survey involved 1,000 respondents age 18 or older. The sample in each survey reflects the demographic profile of the US adult population. The questions shown are one portion of a larger survey conducted each month. These questions relate to the concept of patriotism in America.

ABOUT THE AMERICAN CULTURE & FAITH INSTITUTE

The American Culture & Faith Institute (ACFI) is a division of United in Purpose, a non-partisan, non-profit organization. The mission of United in Purpose is to educate, motivate and activate conservative Christians to engage in cultural transformation in ways that are consistent with the gospel of Jesus Christ. The organization does not support or promote individual political candidates or parties.

ACFI is under the leadership of veteran researcher George Barna, who serves as the Executive Director. The ACFI team includes several experienced research professionals who assist in the development and completion of each project. Much of the team’s research is accessible on the ACFI website, located at www.culturefaith.com.

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