On Monday we cited a Wall Street Journal/NORC poll purporting to show recent steep declines in patriotism, faith, desire to have children, and community involvement. Today the original Power Line poster - Steven Hayward - writes that perhaps we should be cautious about interpreting those findings as there were NORC methodological changes between 2019 and 2023 which could account for much of the decline.
Hayward then offers the Gallup organization's look at "pride in being an American" which is a decent avatar for patriotism. Gallup's methodology hasn't changed for 20 years, their figures also show a decline but not nearly so precipitous as those of NORC, take a look.
So it's likely our nation won't come to an end this week anyway, maybe not this decade or even this century. That said, the fortunes of nations rise and fall, and most eventually disappear. Vigilance is recommended.
