A Pew Research poll found that 36 percent of Americans between the ages of 18-29 think other nations are greater than the U.S.
The poll also found that overall, most Americans think the United States is the “greatest country” (24 percent) or “one of the greatest” (55 percent.). Twenty-one percent say that “there are other countries that are better than the U.S.”
The breakdown by age is telling. The older the American, the more they believe the U.S. is the “greatest.”
Pew found that 24% of 30- to 49-year-old Americans think other countries are greater than the U.S., while 14% of 50-64-year-old Americans feel the same. Only 9% of 64 and older Americans believe other countries are greater than the U.S.
The partisan breakdown — even though expected — is still shocking.
And almost half of young Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, at 47%, say that there are better countries than the U.S. About a third of Democrats ages 30 to 49 believe this as well. This compares to the 19% of young Republicans who say other countries are superior to the U.S. and the 4% of Republicans 50 and older who hold the same view.
If you spend 16 years being told every day that America is rotten, that many of its (white) people are evil and out to oppress others, and that our history is a lie, what are we to expect when these robotic, propagandized automatons are asked if they think the United States is the greatest?
“The American education system—especially colleges and high schools—have fed the rising generation an endless stream of biased and incomplete lessons that paint the United States as an evil empire rife with horrific injustices,” Brown said.
“It’s a shame that people around the world—such as the freedom fighters in Hong Kong—do a better job of acknowledging our precious freedoms that are taken for granted by educators here in the United States,” Brown added.
They are slapped down if they think independently. They are ostracized — or worse — if they demonstrate patriotism. It is unsurprising that so many have such a poor understanding of the world we live in.
There is plenty to criticize in American history. The United States was, after all, created by imperfect human beings who brought to the task of birthing the country all their biases, their fears — they were products of their imperfect times.
But the wonderful, glorious thing about America that is never acknowledged by the deterministic professors who lead the charge in “educating” the young about America, is that as free people, we haven’t been encumbered with the cultural baggage that European democracies still suffer from. We can — and have — reinvented ourselves on a regular basis. This ever-changing, ever-evolving nation of ours is imperfect to be sure. But that’s because more than most other nations, our imperfections aren’t hidden away; they are brought out and examined, discussed, debated and usually made better.
All of this takes place, to one degree or another, in the context of the Constitution that, despite being torn and battered, still inspires those around the world seeking freedom.
Freedom fighters in Hong Kong, the streets of Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and the oppressed everywhere know that America’s young are full of it.
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