A new Pew Research Center study found 53% of U.S. adults rated Americans’ morals and ethics as “bad,” making the U.S. the only country surveyed where that view prevailed.
Trust in other people underpins everything from civic life to everyday cooperation, so broad skepticism about neighbors’ character can shape politics, institutions and social cohesion.
Pew’s findings add an international benchmark to a long-running American debate about polarization and whether people see opponents—and even fellow citizens—as acting in good faith.
I feel like lawlessness really ramped up during COVID. Underlying tension and lack of enforcement probably, but COVID is long over and people are still doing bonkers stuff. I saw people driving on the sidewalk because they wanted to left turn out of a lot and cars were in the way, people shooting the wrong way down the street to skip past a long line of left turning cars, and most of all people stopping at a red then deliberately running it because nobody else is coming.
Ah, shit, I feel called out. I feel that one’s defensible in certain circumstances. The stupid underground magnet sensors never seem to detect me, it’s nearly midnight with a traffic rate of 20 cars an hour, and I can sit at that intersection for 10 minutes without the light changing…
Even without those circumstances though, stopping at a red light, ensuring the way is clear, and then proceeding seems responsible enough.