A nationwide poll commissioned by the AARP Bulletin, a publication of the American Association of Retired People, conducted a few weeks before the July 4 U.S. Independence Day holiday, found that the percentage of U.S. adults who identify themselves as “extremely” or “very” patriotic fell in the past year from 72 to 57 percent.
The poll results, which have a margin of error of plus or minus 4.8 percent, include the following “Key Findings”:
- Men (61 percent) are more likely to say they are extremely or very patriotic than women (53 percent).
Photo: Bethany Malmgren - Adults age 50 or older (74 percent) are more likely to describe themselves as extremely or very patriotic than those age 35 to 49 (60 percent) or those 18 to 34 (32 percent).
- The proportions of likely patriotic adults 18 and over do not significantly differ by region—so much for the supposed “red state, blue state” divide.
- Those with more than a high school education (62 percent) are more likely to be highly patriotic than those with a high school or lower education (52 percent).
- Those with total household income of $50,000 or higher (67 percent) are more likely to consider themselves to be highly patriotic than those with household income between $25,000 and $50,000 (48 percent), or household income lower than $25,000 (45 percent).
In addition, the poll found that the one-year fall off—compared to a similar Gallup Poll conducted a year earlier—in the numbers of U.S. adults aged 18 or older who identified themselves as extremely or very patriotic was five percentage points for those over 50 compared to a sharp 22-point drop for those under 50.
Lower-paid and younger less ‘patriotic’
The poll results do not include breakdowns by race, nationality or citizenship status. But from the results reported, it is clear that lower-paid U.S. workers, especially those who are young and female, are far less “patriotic” than the wealthier sections of the population. It is also clear that this “patriotism gap” has widened substantially in the past year.
According to the report, entitled “How Patriotic Are We?” in the July-August AARP Bulletin, the results of its poll of 608 adults—conducted by the independent research firm ICR—are in line with other polls that have found “a souring of the national mood.” A May Gallup Poll, for instance, “found only 25 percent of Americans satisfied with ‘the way things are going in the United States at this time,’ the lowest total recorded in a decade.”
A 31-year-old roofer in Flagstaff, Ariz., who responded to the AARP Bulletin poll expressed anger with the federal government in a follow-up interview: “The one that really drives it home for me is FEMA dropping the ball in New Orleans. They had a chance to save a lot of lives, and they blew it.”
For other poll respondents, “dissatisfaction with President Bush and the Iraq war [is] central to those who feel less patriotic,” the AARP Bulletin article reports.
Nature of U.S. ‘patriotism’
Dictionary definitions of patriotism include “having or expressing devotion to and vigorous support for one’s country” or “feeling, expressing, or inspired by love for one’s country.” Such sentiments amongst those who have grown up in, or have immigrated to and seek to become citizens of, a particular country are natural and understandable. In countries oppressed by imperialism such as Cuba, Vietnam and the Philippines, patriotic feelings can and do play a progressive and even revolutionary role.
However, in an imperialist country like the United States, where the banking and corporate elite seek to plunder the resources of the world, “patriotism” usually plays a reactionary role. Through their control of or decisive influence over the mass media, schools, churches and other means of shaping public opinion, the U.S. ruling class long ago succeeded in perverting patriotic feelings into identification with imperialist aims. As a result, chauvinist and racist attitudes toward oppressed peoples became widespread, even though such sentiments conflict with the true interests of the majority.
And so it’s good news when polls like the one commissioned by the AARP Bulletin show a decline of U.S. “patriotism.” Although these polls don’t seek to discover it, the fact is that a new global patriotism is emerging, even within the United States. This patriotism expresses love for the planet Earth and all of its peoples and solidarity with progressive struggles worldwide to abolish capitalist exploitation and oppression. It aims to save the planet and all its inhabitants from the destruction that more and more threatens.
