Rock Bottom
Rock Bottom
A shocking new poll from the Wall Street Journal outlines grim trends in America
A new poll by the Wall Street Journal asked Americans how they feel about patriotism, religion, having children, community involvement, and money. The results are grim reading.
The full article is worth reading if you have a WSJ subscription. There are significant response gaps along political and generational lines. Even if you don’t believe in the veracity of polls in 2023, these trends are disturbing.
Without patriotism, a shared narrative for our national journey, we have nothing in common and no reason to exist as a country. There’s plenty of good and plenty of bad in American history, but surely we can agree on a unifying story? Without children, America goes away. And without vibrant communities, we become a hollowed-out wasteland addicted to our screens. In concert, this is national suicide.
And religion? Going to church is an individual decision but the data show that states with higher churchgoing have fewer deaths of despair than those with less.
This from a country experiencing an epidemic of deaths of despair (alcohol-, drug-related, or suicides).
This despair is also afflicting our youth.
Ad Astra believes all this misery can be summarized by declining US lifespans.
Our health, economic, and information systems are killing us. Ad Astra would have responded differently to this survey but we don’t blame our fellow citizens for being disgruntled with a system that is killing them.
To escape this malaise, we must adopt Ad Astra’s 5-point plan:
5-point plan to restore the American Dream
1. Level the playing field (inequality)
2. Make the US worker competitive (economic competitiveness)
