By RECORD Set: More Americans Than Ever Say U.S. Has “Poor” Moral Values
by Selwyn Duke | Reprinted with permission from TheNewAmerican.com
A new study finds that a record number of Americans say “moral values” in the United States are “poor” and getting worse. The study makes clear as well, however, that Americans also don’t agree on what constitutes “moral values” and generally don’t know what “morality” is.
As Gallup reports:
A record-high 50% of Americans rate the overall state of moral values in the U.S. as “poor,” and another 37% say it is “only fair.” Just 1% think the state of moral values is “excellent” and 12% “good.”
Although negative views of the nation’s moral values have been the norm throughout Gallup’s 20-year trend, the current poor rating is the highest on record by one percentage point.
These findings, from Gallup’s May 2-22 Values and Beliefs poll, are generally in line with perceptions since 2017 except for a slight improvement in views in 2020 when Donald Trump was running for reelection. On average since 2002, 43% of U.S. adults have rated moral values in the U.S. as poor, 38% as fair and 18% as excellent or good.
Republicans’ increasingly negative assessment of the state of moral values is largely responsible for the record-high overall poor rating. At 72%, Republicans’ poor rating of moral values is at its highest point since the inception of the trend and up sharply since Trump left office.
At the same time, 36% of Democrats say the state of moral values is poor, while a 48% plurality rate it as only fair and 15% as excellent or good. Independents’ view of the current state of moral values is relatively stable and closer to Democrats’ than Republicans’ rating, with 44% saying it is poor, 40% only fair and 16% excellent or good.
What’s more, 78 percent of respondents say moral values are worsening. Adding perspective, Gallup points out that this number has averaged 74 percent since 2002, but was down to 67 percent and 68 percent the last two years, respectively. Read Full Article >
