Amitai Etzioni, founder and director of the Communitarian Network has a new study that I saw blogged on the Putting Family First web site.
It’s titled American Society in the Age of Terrorism and since, like Andrei Codrescu, I’ve been a little bit cynical about whether America has changed for the better since 9/11, I found it encouraging.
There is a silver lining on the cloud that terrorism has cast over America since September 11. Our society has become significantly more communitarian, though not quite in the expected ways. Our main findings are:
- Americans have become more committed to family – and not just in lip service.
- Americans have become more spiritual – but not more active in organized religion.
- Americans have remained tolerant of people who are different – including Muslim Americans.
- New safety measures have increased Americans’ support for personal rights and freedoms – far from undermining their rights.
- Trust in government – especially the federal government – has increased, surprisingly more so among Republicans than among Democrats.
- Americans have become more public-minded and have shown increased respect for professions that serve the public (and not just firefighters and police) – but not for athletes and entertainers.
- Americans have expressed great interest in volunteerism, though this interest is being dissipated due to insufficient opportunities.
- Americans have shown stronger feelings toward nation and community than toward political parties or religious groups, and are expressing higher levels of patriotism.
See his entire report, as well as the The Ripple Effect special report by American Demographics on which it was partially based.