Chapter 2: Broken Moral Compass
Welcome. This is a nonpartisan, no-nonsense assessment of the State of the Nation. The authors are two patriotic, everyday Americans with no hidden agenda or personal axe to grind. Our interest is the preservation of the American Dream for future generations.
In these chapters, we present and analyze critical issues with the goal of stimulating grassroots debate, discussion, and action. We invite your participation.
Do note that Medium’s algorithm sometimes presents chapters “out of order.” Simply scroll to the bottom of this page to find a brief synopsis and links to other chapters.
By: J. Chris Davala & Jack T. Scully
“I have spent my life judging the distance between American reality and the American dream.” — Bruce Springsteen
In 2018 America, Gridlock and Greed pose existential threats to The American Dream. In fact, polling shows 80% of us believe The American Dream is in grave danger.
During our three years of research and interviews, we encountered citizens of all ages and from all walks of life, who believe the nation has “lost its way,” that America’s Moral Compass is broken and in desperate need of calibration.
Social Equality: Still Just a Dream
Racism — overt as well as covert — is alive and well in 21st century America. Despite changing demographics, the Population Reference Bureau’s Report, Racial and Ethnic Minorities, finds America has yet to end racial, sexual, and class intolerance. This — despite passage of landmark voting rights, civil rights, and equal opportunity legislation over the past 60 years.
The report cites a spike in “hate crimes” and “continued discrimination against racial and ethnic minorities in employment, housing, criminal arrests and prosecutions…”
Enduring prejudice is prevalent against “ethnic minorities and members of the LGBTQ community.” At the same time, injustices such as cyberbullying, online pornography, and sexual trafficking of children and teens are escalating.
Crumbling Cornerstones of a Highly Functioning Society
Deviation from America’s collective True North is further evident in:
- Governance
- Civic Responsibility
- Organized Religion, Spirituality, and Morality
- Family
Cornerstone #1 — Governance
Recent decades have witnessed a staggering number of Washington misdeeds that arguably diminish lawmakers’ ability to make We the People their top priority.
In his InsiderGov article, The Biggest Congressional Scandals in History, Alex Greer offers shocking examples of bad conduct in high places. They range from money laundering and mail fraud to sexual abuse and public corruption.
A Pew Research Center Study, Beyond Distrust: How Americans View Their Government, found just 19% (a historic low over the last 50 years) of Americans expect government to do the “right thing.” Only 20% believed federal programs are well run. More than 55% of those surveyed say “ordinary Americans” would do a “better job of governing than elected officials.”
Cornerstone #2 — Civic Responsibility
When it comes to casting ballots, many of us often choose to stay home rather than trek to the polls.
From its highpoint in the 19th century, voter participation in presidential elections is down by 30%.
In the tumultuous 2016 general election, only half of eligible voters (disproportionately those of higher income, who are older and who are self-described as “opinionated”) voted.
Across America, school classrooms, once viewed as incubators of a committed, informed citizenry, are under fire. A Tufts University Study, Civics Education Testing, found that:
- Government studies are mandatory in only nine states,
- In 42 states, there is no standardized testing in civics,
- Forty-one states do not require a pupil to pass a social-studies test to graduate from high school.
Surveys compiled by the American Revolution Blog found a majority of college graduates are illiterate in American history.
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A 2014 Nation’s Report Card discovered 70% of eighth-graders fail standardized history, civics, and geography tests.
This knowledge deficit raises a fundamental issue: How can we effectively govern ourselves without knowing our history and its guiding doctrines?
Cornerstone #3 — Organized Religion, Spirituality, and Morality
Religious beliefs helped shape the Republic. While avoiding the trap of publicly favoring one religion over another, the founders embraced biblical values and spirituality. For them, universal truths “speaking to man’s soul” gave moral authority to government. For all of their constructive influence on human behavior, though, organized religion, spirituality, and moral values are in sharp decline.
According to a Hartford Institute for Religious Research study, Fast Facts About American Religion, only “20% of us attend religious services regularly.”
A Pew Research Center Demographic Study, America’s Changing Religious Landscape, found “the number of religiously unaffiliated adults (atheist, agnostics, or ‘nothing in particular’) has jumped by roughly 19 million to approximately 56 million since 2007.” That is almost one-fifth of the U.S. population.
The decline of organized religion and religious education throughout America is seen by many as mere signs of the maturing of our secular society. Their loss, without replacement, however, has deep societal implications. Specifically,
- A majority of young Americans now face the moral challenges of life without a spiritual support network.
In one of the most widely referenced passages of his Farewell Address, Washington cautioned against the notion that “national morality can be maintained without religion.” He said: “Of all the dispositions and habits that lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.”
Cornerstone #4 — Family
Family, once a Foundational Pillar of an emerging nation, is similarly undergoing major changes, especially during the last 50 years. This is true, in part, because of the broadening of the definition of Family by the U.S. Supreme Court’s Decision (Obergefell v. Hodges). It affirms same-sex marriage to be protected by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.
As a result, the New Millennium Family includes many single and multiple cohabitation arrangements, only one of which is a single male and female united in marriage to form a Nuclear Family.
The Population Reference Bureau’s Report, Changing U.S. Family Patterns Pose Policy Challenges, notes that these changes in marriage and parenting relationships have created “complex family relationships” virtually non-existent before the 1960s.
In all levels of society, marriage and parenting no longer go together, nor is “marriage necessarily viewed as a life-long commitment.”
The Report applauds the heroic efforts of divorced and other household arrangements (single moms, dads, blended and extended families, same sex, and adopting parents).
At the same time, it cautions that “families and policymakers” have yet to come to grips with the long-term effects of, what it characterizes as “unstable living arrangements” and “non-marital childbearing,” especially among disadvantaged racial/ethnic minorities and those with lower levels of education.”
The Report’s conclusion presents conundrums with huge impacts on our society:
- More and more “children are at greater risk of growing up poor,” without skills to be contributing members of society, and
- More and more “adults are reaching old age without a spouse or ties to adult children (i.e., a safety net) to provide care,” and moral support in their old age.
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Synopsis of the Full Essay and Links to Chapters
In Chapter 1, Introduction, we cite four critical challenges (Broken Moral Compass, Congressional Paralysis, Fiscal Insanity, Unsmart Outsourcing and Deindustrialization) that, we believe, pose existential threats to The American Dream.
In Chapter 2, Broken Moral Compass, we shine a bright light on where, in our judgment, the country has gone astray. Failure to put racism behind us and to end sexual discrimination loom large. Using a broader brush, we paint a picture of other troublesome deviations from America’s collective True North.
In Chapter 3, America’s Moral Compass, we offer a model for a calibrated Moral Compass that can work for almost everyone in our multiethnic, multicultural society.
In Chapter 4, Congressional Paralysis, we begin an analysis of America’s 2nd critical challenge — Reforming the U. S. Congress.
In Chapter 5, Reform the Congress, we sample multiple approaches to transforming Congress.
In Chapter 6, Fiscal Insanity, we address the nation’s soaring debt. We caution that annual debt interest payments will inevitably lead to higher taxes, or slashed funding for critical national priorities.
In Chapter 7, Deindustrialization, we discuss the pain inflicted by inequitable trade on America’s industrial base and the middle class.
In Chapter 8, Saving Jobs & Our Middle Class, we call for the development of a National Strategy to address imbalances in global manufacturing and the deindustrialization of our country.
In Chapter 9, Conclusion & Call to Action, we draw conclusions for your consideration and issue A Call to Action.
