Dakota Beacon

Most of us hold an opinion regarding the state of American culture in the 21^st century. Many of us formed our opinion based on sources other than the dominant, albeit sinking, news media.

This week The Passing Scene was inspired by a piece appearing on a respected website, The American Thinker (https://www.americanthinker.com). Without debate, a decline in American culture may be measured. For the purpose of metrics, consider the following.

  -- The nuclear family in the US wanes as indicated in a Pew Research study. Almost one-fourth (23%) of children in the U.S. under the age of 18 live with one parent and no other adult -- the highest in the world. (https://financesonline.com/single-parent-statistics)

  -- Astronomical debt cannot be sustained. In 2021 our national debt was over 28 trillion dollars -- 122% of the gross domestic product (GDP). Investors worry about default when the debt-to-GDP ratio is greater than 77%, the tipping point. For perspective on magnitude, the sun is less than half a trillion feet away from the Earth. (https://www.thebalance.com/national-debt-by-year-compared-to-gdp-and-major-events-3306287)

  -- Tens of millions of Americans are functionally illiterate. More than 30 million adults in the United States cannot read, write, or do basic math above a third-grade level. (https://resilienteducator.com/news/illiteracy-in-america)

  -- But our adversaries can read. In 2015 China awarded 1.2 million bachelor's degrees in science and engineering according to the National Science Foundation. This is six times the number in the United States. The ratio of Chinese to American science and engineering graduates has grown since then.

  -- We're not sustaining our population level. We’re shrinking. America's total fertility rate fell in 2020 to just 1.67 births per female, the lowest in history, and well below the replacement level of 2.1. (https://americanmind.org/salvo/import-americans)

  -- And those of us who do have kids are often the poorest. In 2017, the birth rate in the United States was highest in families that had under $10,000 in income per year, at 66.44 births per 1,000 women. As the income scale increases, the birth rate decreases, with families making $200,000 or more per year having the lowest birth rate, at 43.92 births per 1,000 women. (https://www.statista.com/statistics/241530/birth-rate-by-family-income-in-the-us)

  -- When it comes to elections a conservative voting bloc is disappearing. From a 2018 article: "Among those aged 18 to 29, support for capitalism has plunged 12 percentage points in just two years. Among that age group, 51% say they have positive feelings about socialism, compared to just 45% for capitalism." (https://redoubtnews.com/2019/01/millennials-love-socialism)

  -- The US military cannot find enough recruits to fill the ranks. The Heritage Foundation (another good website at https://www.heritage.org) found that 71 percent of young Americans between 17 and 24 are ineligible to serve in the military. There are many reasons. 1) Health problems particularly obesity and other physical factors including vision, asthma, diabetes, and mental illness exclude potential recruits. 2) About 10 percent of possible recruits have criminal records that prohibit them from joining. 3) Inadequate education.

  -- Here's a statistic for woke people who whine about slavery and social justice. (https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/countries-that-still-have-slavery) Slavery is a system in which principles of property law are applied to people. Forms of modern slavery include slavery by "ownership" ("chattel" slavery), government conscription, forced prison labor, forced migrant labor, debt bondage (slavery until debts are paid), sexual slavery, forced marriage/child marriage, child labor, and forced begging. These are the top ten countries for modern-day versions of slavery. India 7,989,000; China 3,864,000; North Korea 2,640,000; Nigeria 1,386,000; Iran 1,289,000; Indonesia 1,220,000; Congo (Democratic Republic of) 1,045,000; Russia 794,000; Philippines 784,000; Afghanistan 749,000. Nor is the US free of modern versions of slavery. Modern slavery can be difficult to detect and recognize because slavery has moved underground. According to one source, "in the United States, it [slavery] has reached epidemic proportions. Victims are trafficked to the US from at least thirty-five countries and are held in bondage in every state working at a variety of jobs.”

  -- Last, but not least, Americans follow the hedonistic pleasure principle to the extreme. We've had 700,000 drug overdose deaths in the U.S. since 2000. (https://drugabusestatistics.org).

Other metrics can be identified. However, space constraints limit the list. But then, how much is “enough” to make the point? American culture is on the decline.

Dennis M. Patrick can be contacted at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).