A new study found that no matter how you break up America’s citizens into different groups, each and every one is proud to be an American…. except for progressive activists. (In more surprising news, the study also found that 2+2=4 and confirmed that the sky is blue).
The study “American Fabric: Identify and Belonging” was published by More in Common US, a nonpartisan nonprofit whose mission is “to understand the forces driving us apart, to find common ground and help to bring people together to tackle our shared challenges.”
The study found that despite the portrait of division painted by the media, there is common ground among Americans that creates a shared sense of identity, and most have a pride in that American identity.
When asked if they were proud to be American, a majority of every every generation, race, and people of all political affiliations said they are proud. One hundred percent of conservatives identify as proud to be American, compared to 60% of passive liberals. Meanwhile only 34% of progressive activists say they’re proud to be American, which is unsurprising to hear from the “American was never great” crowd.
While progressive activists were the only group to not have pride in being American, the study found that only 8% of Americans fall into the “progressive activist” category ideologically.
The same pattern is present for the question that measured attachment to America. In response to the statement “If I could choose to live anywhere in the world, I would still pick America,” progressive activists are the only group where the majority would rather live elsewhere (if only they would!).
Amusingly the percent of people who would remain in America if given the choice to leave is greater than the percent who say they’re proud to be American. So even a chunk of those who say they’re not proud to be American wouldn’t live anywhere else.
When it comes to whether America is a better nation overall when compared to most countries, only a majority of political moderates and conservatives agree (when answers are broken down by political affiliation). Only 1 in 10 progressive activists believe that America is no better than your average country, which must be news to the hundreds of millions of people around the world who want to live here.
As for some of the other questions surveyed, a majority of every demographic said they feel like they belong in America:
And every group says they’re worried about the future of America. Progressive activists report being the most worried, though the results would likely be somewhat different now because the question was surveyed pre-election (in July 2020).
Those who aren’t engaged politically are the least concerned about America’s future – but even 84% of them are still concerned.
It’s at least nice of the progressive activists to suddenly have concern for the future of a country they have no pride in whatsoever.
