Are you a “gloomy Gus” about the States?

As our nations (the Fifty States) approach the 250th birthday of the Union, the mood is surprisingly gloomy across much of our land.

A recent survey from Pew Research, for instance, found that just 17% of Americans believe the federal government can be trusted to do the right thing… most of the time. (We note that some of us might be surprised to see how high this is: almost 1 in 5?)

Only about one-quarter say they feel optimistic about the country’s future, and many Americans believe the United States is more divided than united. (Again, we are surprised to see that 1 in 4 are optimistic! Given the constant drumbeat of doom in the media (both mainstream and alternative).)

Those aren’t exactly the numbers you’d expect heading into a national celebration. (At least for those who do not remember what the first five and a half years of the 1970s decade was like. Fewer and fewer remember the Southeast Asia war, Watergate, the energy crisis around the 1973 Mideast War, massive inflation, and the Ford regime.)

But buried within the polling is something perhaps much more heartening. Seriously: again, because this is not what we hear constantly on the media, whether progressive (digressive), conservative, libertarian, or middle-of-the road. Despite frustration, almost 75% of Americans say they’re proud to be American. Most still describe the nation’s history as a source of pride. We’d like to think that propaganda like the 1619 thesis and Landback and the environists is not working as well as they hope and claim. But we find that some of the surveys reveal that even this (pride in America) shows a serious partisan divide.  Gallup tells us:

Libertarians are not identified, of course. Nor are “unaffiliated” people. (And this points out the fallacy of having pride in your nations (patriotism) tied to who is currently in office.) But it is telling.

In other words, Americans may be losing faith in institutions.  And from other places, we hear that those “institutions” include churches, schools, and more. And in politicians and other influencers and talking heads, to name a few. Are more Americans heeding the idea, “Put not your trust in princes,” than in the past?

But they haven’t lost faith in America. Contrary to the all-channels, 24-7 claims we have to live with. 

And we hope and pray that they also are not losing in their Creator. And indeed, that they might be growing in that faith.

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