Straight Talk About Politics

This is a cross-post from the Straight Talk About Politics Group. Original group can be found here:
https://www.meetup.com/straight-talk-about-politics-and-more/events/315187770/

Please sign up for the event in the original group, linked just above. The Zoom link will only be posted there to help guard against Zoom bombers. Thank you for understanding.

This July 4, our nation will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, or its 250th birthday. This occasion invites one to take account of the nation’s achievements, and that can and undoubtedly will be done on many levels in the coming days and weeks.

One way to do it is to ask the question: are we still proud to be American?
A recent Quinnipiac poll on the subject seems to answer the question in the affirmative. 73% of the respondents, after all, think so. This is consistent with the past polling, typically between 70 and 80% on this measure.

However, there is a significant difference between the feelings in this regard of Republicans (97-2), Independents (71-22) and Democrats(61-35), as well as of white (82-17), black(60-32) and Hispanic Americans(54-31). Perhaps most troubling is the apparent lack of national pride in younger Americans: only 56% of 18-34-year-olds consider themselves proud Americans.

Contradicting the relatively solid overall feeling of pride is the belief among most Americans that their nation is no longer living up to its ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness: 61% feel this way, while 35% disagree. This is close to an inverted picture of historical data, when a majority or near-majority thought the U.S. was living up to its ideals.

The finding is similar when it comes to Americans’ trust in democracy: 37% find it to be “working”, while 57% think it is not. Compare this to March 2024, when the opinions were much more evenly divided: 45% believed democracy was working, while 49% felt it was not.

So, are YOU proud to be an American? Should Americans be proud of their country? Come and share your opinion in a passionate, but respectful discussion. Or just bring your popcorn, sit back and listen to the others talk it over. We’ll have a designated speaker on each side of the motion giving opening and closing statements, and an open floor discussion in between.