On July 4, 2023, the United States of America will celebrate its 247th birthday. Those who won life’s lottery by being lucky enough to be born here don’t seem to appreciate the value of the gift bestowed on them.
In 2001, nearly nine out of every ten Americans, 90 percent, expressed pride in hailing from the United States, according to a survey conducted in the wake of 9/11.
Just two short years later, in 2003, this figure slightly decreased to 87 percent.
However, by the onset of the pandemic, American pride had experienced a significant drop, with only 63 percent of respondents stating they felt proud to be American.
A survey unveiled last Thursday reveals a modest uptick in Americans professing extreme pride in their nationality.
Just ahead of the Fourth of July, 39 percent affirm their extreme American pride, a one percentage point increase from last year’s record low of 38 percent, as reported by Gallup.
This increase comes despite President Joe Biden’s pledge to rejuvenate the nation’s spirit and ensure its future prosperity.
A cumulative total of 67 percent of respondents expressed being either extremely or very proud, a modest increase from 65 percent last year, according to UPI.
This recent survey was conducted throughout the initial three weeks of June, showing 22 percent of adult Americans identifying as moderately proud, seven percent as somewhat proud, and a minority of four percent as not proud at all.
When the survey debuted in January 2001, it reported 55 percent of U.S. adults as extremely proud to be American.
These numbers climbed to between 65 percent and 70 percent from 2002 to 2004 before experiencing a dip in 2005.
Since 2018, the proportion of those feeling extreme pride has been consistently low, averaging about 42 percent.
The survey findings, released on the eve of Independence Day, also highlighted the influence of political affiliation on expressions of American pride.
For 2023, 60 percent of Republicans, 33 percent of independents, and 29 percent of Democrats claimed extreme pride in their American identity.
