Patriotism is at a Record Low

In 2018, Gallup reported that American patriotism was at a record low.

Liberals’ patriotism declined even when Barack Obama was president. Fifty-one percent of liberals were “extremely” proud to be American in 2013, but only 36 percent felt that way in 2016, with the number declining every year in between. Just 33 percent of 18 to 29-year-olds were “extremely” proud to be American in 2018, compared to 55 percent in 2013. It’s probably no coincidence that this is also the most “diverse” (non-white) generation in American history.

Still, declining patriotism shouldn’t be blamed only on non-whites. “The Great Awokening,” the dramatic shift leftward by white progressives on racial issues, is also part of it. More educated people were generally less patriotic.

In both 2013 and 2018, conservatives were still patriotic: In both years, 65 percent said they were “extremely” proud to be American. The number dipped very slightly during the Obama years before recovering when President Trump was elected. It never dropped below 61 percent. In contrast, the percentage of liberals who were “extremely” proud to be American never rose above 51 percent, and that was in 2013.

A new study shows patriotism has fallen even further. Just 42 percent of Americans are “extremely” proud of being American. Most Americans — 63 percent — are “extremely” or “very” proud, but this is still the lowest number ever recorded by Gallup. Just 24 percent of Democrats are “extremely proud” to be American.

While Republicans are more patriotic than Democrats, this year’s study showed something unprecedented. Last year, 76 percent of Republicans said they were “extremely proud” to be American, while this year, just 67 percent were. “This marks the largest year-over-year decline in the percentage of Republicans who say they are extremely proud,” reported Gallup.

Whites are generally more patriotic than non-whites. About half of whites are extremely patriotic, while less than a quarter of non-whites are. While 53 percent of those 65 and older are “extremely” patriotic, just 20 percent of those 18 to 29 are. The younger generations are also more racially diverse. Patriotism declines with education.

“Racially charged incidents involving police and the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement have increasingly contributed to a national discussion about the challenges blacks face in society and likely also factor into the decrease in American pride among nonwhites,” said Gallup. These “racially charged incidents” were promoted by media. It’s a manufactured crisis. Blacks and Hispanics benefit from affirmative action and preference in government contracts. President Donald Trump has given Historically Black Colleges and Universities permanent federal funding. Nonetheless, America’s most privileged groups are the least patriotic.

This isn’t surprising. Whites built America. Non-whites didn’t. America would have existed in the past, would exist now, and could exist tomorrow without non-whites. It would prosper. Without whites, America would exist only as a geographic expression. It’s not surprising non-whites can’t identify with figures such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, or Robert E. Lee. I may find Malcolm X or Marcus Garvey interesting, but I don’t consider them part of my heritage.

What about Republicans? CNN says “it’s not entirely clear” why they are less patriotic, but it suggests the President is to blame. Recent Gallup polling does suggest President Trump has lost support among Republicans. Last month he lost the support of 9 percent of Republicans. Many Republicans are angry at the President because he was not tough enough with rioters. Once again, he’s spoken loudly and carried a small stick. He talked tough but tolerated anarchy. Yesterday, President Trump signed an executive order promising “police reform.” This is hardly the “Law and Order” platform he ran on in 2016.

I think the decline in patriotism among Republicans has a deeper cause. Whites are beginning to understand that the System that they support does not support them. Many white Americans are watching their national icons desecrated, their flag burned, and their laws ignored. People do this with impunity. In his most powerful monologue yet, Tucker Carlson correctly said that Black Lives Matter proves “violence works.” Corporations are flooding Black Lives Matter and other leftist movements with millions of dollars and many looters just walk away with their loot. Soldiers and police kneel to them submissively. Who can be proud of such a government?

Just yesterday, the “conservative” Supreme Court that Republicans fought so hard to establish ruled that it is illegal for businesses to discriminate against homosexuals or transsexuals. Social conservatives who worked for “conservative” judges will face lawsuits from activists who insist that they betray their faith or go out of businesses. At the same time, whites, including some who thought they were progressive, are losing their jobs for not being sufficiently deferential to Black Lives Matter. A man who wears a dress to work has more job security than a man who who insists that “all lives matter.”

The Supreme Court also refused to hear the Trump Administration’s challenge to California’s “sanctuary state” law, which means that local police can be prohibited from detaining and transferring illegals into federal custody. No self-respecting country would tolerate this. While conservative white Americans struggle to pay their taxes and navigate a confusing legal system, they can’t help but notice that in some cases, non-whites have more privileges than they do. Non-whites certainly have more people who are willing to speak out for their collective interests. An illegal immigrant can organize and demonstrate for his interests in the United States. A white man may lose his job for doing so. Rather than white privilege, we have white dispossession.

Our system of government is anarcho-tyranny. Men such as Thomas Jefferson and members of the American Colonization Society saw this coming, because they knew blacks could not live under a government of institutions and laws created by and for whites. Now it appears that our laws and institutions will be radically transformed to accommodate blacks and left-wing activists. This is state conquest. It means the end of the constitutional republic that American conservatives took for granted. It also means that American history will be taught in government schools as a source of shame rather than pride. This is what the New York Times’s “1619 Project” is about.

Conservative whites may finally be realizing that they are chumps. While white Americans mostly pay the taxes, fight the wars, and obey the laws, non-whites enjoy the benefits of their sacrifice. The American flag isn’t “our” flag anymore. It’s the flag of a government that feels like an occupation regime. Some whites are beginning to recognize this.

This isn’t a majority opinion, of course. There is a real historic American nation, the nation created by the pioneers, settlers, and conquerors who tamed a continent. The American flag still represents that nation for most people. White Americans will never be able to break from that nation psychologically, nor should they. We cannot deny who we are.

However, the nation is not the government. The US government is not “America.” The political entity known as the United States of America was created by secession and regime change, but the nation existed before that. “The Revolution was effected before the War commenced,” said John Adams. “The Revolution was in the Minds and Hearts of the People.”

Perhaps we are seeing another peaceful “revolution.”. We are like those police officers in hostile cities who are starting to wonder why they bother babysitting people who despise them. A 2019 study from the Police Executive Research Forum already found that non-whites don’t want to be police officers or stay with the force for long. If whites walk away, police departments collapse. The same will happen on a larger scale if whites stop identifying with the Washington regime.

This probably won’t happen soon. However, America’s Cultural Revolution will continue to gain strength, especially because the Republican Party doesn’t oppose it. One wonders if the capital city will even be named “Washington” for much longer. Certainly, Andrew Jackson’s place on the $20 bill is in danger. Stacey Abrams, one Joe Biden’s leading VP candidates, wants to destroy the Confederate memorial on Stone Mountain. Mount Rushmore may come after that, sharing the fate the of the Buddhas that once stood in Afghanistan. Perhaps even the American flag will be changed. I suspect the rainbow flag or the green-black-red black-nationalist flags have greater significance to many “Americans” than the national flag.

What’s left when the symbols are shattered? America’s powerless and unrepresented white majority may finally realize it is dispossessed. Many white Americans think the country has gone crazy in recent weeks. They don’t recognize their country anymore. What they don’t fully understand is that it’s not their country anymore. White advocates know this is the culmination of something that was building for a long time. The sooner other whites catch up to this realization, the better.

Patriotism is a two-way street. It’s noble to love your country, righteous to fight for it, honorable to die for it. However, doing such things for other nations while ignoring your own is perverse. Our nation is our people, the real America, and it is that for which we must work and sacrifice.

Our last king, George III expressed this well. John Adams was our first ambassador to the Court of St. James’s. In their first meeting, King George, implicitly hinting that Adams should favor Great Britain, said that Adams wasn’t known for his attachments to France. Adams said this was true, but added that he had “no attachment but to my own country.” “An honest man,” said King George III, “will never have any other.”

Perhaps patriotism isn’t really declining among conservatives. Honest men are simply realizing that they aren’t attached to a government that isn’t their own.