The Colorado Springs Gazette
Americans unwilling to take part in society, study says
The Boston Globe WASHINGTON - Public trust in politicians and goverment is about as low as it can go, and neither good economic times nor some encouraging social trends are getting Americans off the sidelines and into the action of creating a more civil society, a new report says.
The National Commission on Civic Renewal, a high-powered panel of academics, business executives, and Washington insiders, issued a failing report card Wednesday on the nation's moral health and concluded the state of American civil life is as depressed as it was during the 1920s.
"This should be a time of hope for Americans,",the report said. "And when we consider our economic eircumstances, it is. But when we assess our country's civic and moral condition, we are deeply troubled."
William Bennett, co-director of Empower America, a conservative think tank, and author of the morally prescriptive "Book of Virtues," co-chaired the commission along with former Sen. Sam Nunn, a Georgia Democrat. They said they overcame their political differences to agree that lack of civic participation is weakening the country.
"Corrosive cynicism has crippled our civic spirit, and a sense of helplessness has zapped our civic strength," said Rebecca Rimel, president of the Pew Charitable Trusts, the philanthropy that sponsored the 18-month study of declining citizen participation in the U.S. political process.
The result of these ill feelings, the commission said, is that Americans have become a "nation of spectators" who, instead of taking individual responsibility for their communities and families, stand on the sidelines and whine or sit in front of the television, mindlessly clicking the remote control.
"Too many of us have become passive and disengaged," the report said. "Too many of us lack confidence in our capacity to make basic moral and civic judgments, to join with our neighbors ... to make a difference. Never have we had so many opportunities for participation, yet rarely have we felt so powerless."
That's not all: According to the panel, which studied social trends over 25 years as well as new survey data, Americans fret about weak families but don't work to strengthen them, deplore public schools but won't help their children with homework, worry about out-of-wedlock births but won't condemn them, complain about vulgar TV shows but don't turn off the set and re-elect leaders they say they distrust.
"Americans claim they are busier than they have ever been, that they are stressed, stretched, and under extreme pressure for time," said Bennett, who was President Reagan's education secretary and President Bush's drug czar. "Yet what we found is that Americans have more leisure time than they ever have. They watch more television than they ever have.
"So the question about time is how are Americans spending it, and are they giving up civic things in order to keep the boat, or the second house, or fourth motorcycle?" Bennett said.
RENEWAL PLAN
The National Commission on Civic Renewal recommends that:
* Individuals join at least one civic association.
* Neighborhoods institute crime watches and clean-up projects.
* Schools offer instruction in good citizenship and historic documents.
* Individuals do something about any problems they see.
Back to Alpha Aerie's "Politics" Newsletter
Home | Info Tidbits | Politics | Feedback | Feedback Index