One Nation, Divisible

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http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/06/one-nation-divisible/277286/



The second annual Atlantic/Aspen Institute Annual American Values Survey of more than 2,000 Americans, commissioned for the Aspen Ideas Festival and conducted by Penn Schoen Berland with sister firm Burson-Marsteller between May 29 and June 8, 2013, shows that as America approaches its 237th birthday, it's feeling a great deal more "pluribus" than "unum." More than 60 percent of Americans say we are more divided as a country now than we were 10 years ago, with even higher percentages saying America is at least as fragmented now as it was during the Great Depression, Vietnam, and Watergate. (Those old enough to remember those eras say so with even greater certainty.) Nearly six in ten Americans rate the health of our democracy as weak, and only one in three thinks this feeling of disunity is going to get better anytime soon.

Perhaps most strikingly, one in five Americans doubts that America can remain united as one country. The poll asked which phrases of the Pledge of Allegiance ("one nation," "under God," "indivisible," etc.) apply to our nation today, and people gave their lowest vote, with only 45 percent, to "indivisible."

However, this pervasive sense that America is growing apart doesn't seem to come from the usual places. The economic news, while not great, is better than last year: While 59 percent of Americans think the economy is on the wrong track, that's down from 66 percent in 2012. And while a plurality of Americans (33 percent) says the economy and jobs are the most important issues facing the country, that's down from 52 percent in last year's poll, with more Americans now caring about other issues such as government spending, education, immigration, and the decline of the middle class.

Nor does our nagging sense of discord reflect any actually dramatic differences in our personal priorities. Americans of every age, gender, political party, and region overwhelmingly say that "family" is most important to them, far more so than religion, work, community, or politics. Interestingly, such devotion to family is actually 13 points higher in the "liberal" northeast than in the "heartland" Midwest.