The End of US Exceptionalism

Based on the results of a recent Pew Research Center survey, almost half of white Americans say the US becoming a majority nonwhite nation would "weaken American customs and values.” The survey, however, leaves us to guess what "customs and values" mean as the term isn’t defined.

News ID: 444190

Date: 07 April 2019 - 14:19

RNA - The US Census Bureau also predicts that the county will become “minority white” before 2050, so the survey sought to gauge Americans' views about the political, economic and societal changes that could come by that year.

For the most part, they see a country in decline economically, politically and globally, even though a majority (56 percent) more broadly express a measure of optimism about the future. In other words, their outlook becomes more negative when specific subjects are raised, such as America's place on the world stage.

On that note, Americans expect the standing of the US internationally to weaken and the influence of China to grow. Just over half of all adults expect that China definitely or probably will overtake the United States as the world's main superpower during the next three decades.

It is a view that fits with the Donald Trump administration, which sees the containment of China, labeled a "strategic competitor," as a major foreign policy objective.

The majority of Trump's Republican party seems to believe that he will, at least make some headway. A little less than half of Republicans predict that China will move ahead of the US but that number grows to 59 percent among Democrats.

However, Trump would do well to first look into the mirror at home. The report found that the majority of Americans have little confidence that their government and elected officials are up to the job of handling the challenges of the future. More than 80 percent say they are worried about the way Washington works and about the ability of political leaders to solve the nation's biggest problems, particularly in its relations with the Muslim world.

Strikingly, on some issues, the gap across major demographic and political groups narrows. Pew said that 73 percent of all Americans expect the chasm between the rich and the poor to grow over the next 30 years, reflecting large majorities across these groups. Majorities of both political parties also believe that the country will be more politically divided in 2050 than it is now.

When it comes to race relations, a very narrow majority (51 percent) overall expect things to improve. "A slight majority of whites (54 percent) predict that race relations will improve in the next 30 years, while 39 percent say they will worsen," the report said. "Blacks split down the middle: 43 percent predict better relations between the races and the same percentage predict they will be worse. Hispanics also split roughly equally, with 45 percent expecting improved relations and 42 percent saying they will get worse."

This new survey offers a snapshot of Americans' thinking, and what it reveals is not just a divided country that expects more division but pessimism in their expectations for a weaker economy, a growing income divide and a broken political system that will take them nowhere globally.

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