Younger people have different values today

A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released last Sunday had some surprising, and maybe some not so surprising, results. It found that younger Americans place much less value on what their counterparts of 20 years ago  did. A poll conducted in 1998 found that hard work, patriotism, religion and having children were top priorities among younger Americans. Things have changed today.

The most recent poll found that just a half a generation later many younger people in this country have a value system that looks a lot different. Hard work is still at the top of the list of important values, but patriotism, religion and having children have been greatly devalued.

The 1998 poll found that 70 percent of Americans thought patriotism was important to them. The 2019 poll said only 61 percent thought patriotism was important.

In 1998, 62 percent of Americans said religion was important. This number dropped in 2019 with only 50 percent saying it was important.

In 1998, 59 percent said having children was important to them and this year only 43 percent said it was important.

The poll this year found these changes were the primary result of values held by younger Americans. Only 42 percent between the ages of 18-38 thought patriotism was very important, fewer than one-third considered religion important, and, what is most disturbing, only 30 percent of young people today believe having children is very important. Apparently they are uncertain about the future.

While these poll results are alarming, they should not come as a surprise to any of us. Patriotism is waning because it is not being taught in schools today as it should. Revisionist history is vilifying our past Civil War heroes on both sides and even condemning some of our Founding Fathers because some were slave owners. The Pledge of Allegiance is being dropped as a requirement to start the school day. Historical murals are being covered in schools. We could go on and on.

Our nation’s churches are being filled with mostly older people as pastors struggle to fill the pews on Sunday. Families no longer consist of the traditional mother and father and children going to church on Sunday. Young people today are seeking to believe in something, and often end up believing in anything but the true, living God.

Living together outside of marriage today has lost any stigma it may have ever had as more young couples tend to live together rather than get married. Children would only complicate their carefree lifestyle. They may not choose to bring children into a climate-changing world with an uncertain future, if they believe in such a thing.

The world has certainly changed in the past 20 years with the advent of so much technology in such a short period of time. The more we get connected with cell phones and social media, the more we get disconnected from face-to-face human interaction. Now we are bombarded with the advent of artificial intelligence moving into our lives.

Where will it end?

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