Making Patriots

In a few weeks, Americans across the country will mark the nation’s 250 th birthday. A time of celebration, yes, but also a time to reflect on the founders’ contributions and how their work informs us today. To this end, AEI inaugurated the “We Hold These Truths: America at 250” initiative , with symposia and volumes of essays on important aspects of America’s revolutionary heritage. As part of this initiative, AEI is also releasing a new public opinion survey on how Americans view our history and what our nation stands for. This is the final blog post in a series of five blog posts with highlights from the survey. See the full report here. For many years around the Fourth of July, pollsters have asked Americans how patriotic they are and how they feel about their fellow citizens. AEI asked both questions as part of the new America at 250 survey. 50 percent of respondents described themselves as very proud to be an American and another 28 percent said they were somewhat proud. In another question, 60 percent said people were more patriotic when they were growing up than they are today, 11 percent less patriotic, and 27 percent about the same.    42 percent said it was absolutely essential for the public schools to teach kids “to be patriotic and loyal toward the nation” and another 35 percent said this was important but not essential. Younger generations were less likely than older Americans to say this was essential or important, but still a majority of Gen Z (62 percent), said it was essential or important. 51 percent of all respondents in the new survey said they would consider a person who makes it a point to never stand up when the national anthem is played during public events to be a bad citizen (46 percent disagreed). 37 percent of members of the Gen Z cohort said this action would mark a bad citizen, compared to 63 percent of Baby Boomers did. See the full report here. The post Making Patriots appeared first on American Enterprise Institute - AEI .