DO YOU THINK the United States is on the rise as a civilization or is it on the decline?
On the decline, 57 percent.
On the rise, 31 percent.
(Fox News Poll, Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), August 19-21, 2012, 1219 registered voters, margin of error 3 percent)
Democrats say "on the rise," 56-29.
(I am surprised that modern Democrats accept the premise that America is a civilization -- the modern heart of Western Civilization, to be more precise. The editorial-page editor of our local newspaper used to joke about Western Civ: It's a nice idea. We should try it some time.)
Republicans say "on the decline," 82-11. Tea Party sympathizers are even gloomier, "on the decline" by 86-6.
All age groups are declinists. The gloomiest age cohort, surprisingly, is not old folks (declinists by 57-28) but folks in the middle of their productive lives, ages 35-54. They're declinists by 60-31.
And no wonder. They see their prospects being snuffed by their parents -- profligate, self-reverential Baby Boomers -- who borrow from China and electronic printing presses at the Fed, then send the credit-card statement to the kids.
In addition, both all income groups (under 50k, 50k+) and education groups (college, no college) are declinists.
The only optimists about the future of American civilization are liberals (49-36), Democrats (see above), and nonwhites (52-33).
The first two groups provide the brains (loosely speaking) and and political and bureaucratic muscle for President Barack Hussein Obama's fundamental transformation of America --which is to say, the deliberate dismantling of the America that worked.
A disproportionate share of the third group imagines itself the beneficiary of this transformation. They are instead the principal victims.
The real beneficiaries are liberals and Democrats. Their tribe gathers at the watering hole known as Washington, D.C., and grows fat with power, above-market salaries, and the corruption associated with crony capitalism.
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