How much we've changed since our 200th anniversary celebration

Unless you are over 60 chances are good you don’t remember much about our nation’s 200^th anniversary celebration in 1976.

Jim Holshouser was in his final year as Governor of North Carolina. A young Jim Hunt had a landslide win as Governor and Ronald Reagan upset President Ford in the Republican primary. Jesse Helms and Robert Morgan were our US Senators.  As a part of our state’s bicentennial celebration, we buried a time capsule (to be opened at our tricentennial) containing a Bic pen, Salem cigarettes, cellophane tape, razor blades, L’eggs pantyhose, Goody’s headache power and other objects invented or made in our state.

President Gerald Ford spoke at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. New York’s harbor was filled with tall ships and Queen Elizabeth came from England. There were many community gatherings with parades, picnics and fireworks displays. We were united in celebrating our history and this country.

Pew Research recently documented how we’ve changed in the intervening 50 years. The nation has grown by more than 120 million people, but we have also aged; the over 65 population more than doubled from 10 to 18%. The white population has declined from 83% to around 57% today. The percentage of foreign-born residents has more than tripled to almost 15%. And many people moved; the Sunbelt (the South and West) boomed as 6 out of 10 of our 350 million residents now live in those two regions.

Fewer of us are likely to be married (69% to 50%) and the birth rate has declined from 1.74 births per woman to 1.54. Fewer children live in two parent homes. College Educated adults, led by a boom in women graduates, went from 11 to 37% of our population. Poverty has declined but so has the number considered middle class, however the percentage of upper income citizens has increased.  

But there are more notable, more significant changes that have occurred over the fifty years, starting with the mood of the country. In 1976, we were optimistic about our nation’s future, whereas today we see a widespread crisis of confidence and trust. 59% of us believe America’s best days are behind us. 44% are pessimistic about our future; only 28% are optimistic. We are more polarized, more secularized, decentralized, and uncivil.

We’ve gone from three TV networks to a world of unbounded sources of information and entertainment. The advent of the Internet and the 2007 iPhone, coupled with the ubiquitous adaptation of computers, has opened the world to us. But as our world of information and entertainment expanded, we disengaged, dropping out of churches, civic clubs and community groups. We are lonelier. Almost simultaneously we’ve forgotten or discarded our manners and respect for others, opting instead for self-expression. It is our First Amendment right to say anything we want to anyone we want using any language we want. Not only do we not like a lot of others, but we don’t trust them.

In May, Pew Research reported that we’ve lost confidence in basic institutions. While 70% professed trust in small businesses, 62% expressed confidence in the nation’s military and 52% had confidence in our judicial system, confidence and trust in most other systems dipped below passing. Only 45% trusted the police, 32% the church, 32% the medical system, 29% public schools, 27% the Supreme Court, 30% the presidency, 30% banks, and 10% Congress. Even more worrisome is how we get our news. Only 17% trusted newspapers and 11% had faith in television news.

As we approach the 250^th Semiquincentennial on July 4^th we are far from being united and celebratory about this milestone. The question we ask ourselves is not just how we got ourselves in this state but, more importantly, what will help us climb out of the morass we perceive.

Those of us with some age will remember we have had periods of “malaise” before – The Great Depression; the 70s with Viet Nam, Watergate and Nixon; 911; and periods of inflation or recession. During all these times a leader emerged to help lift us out of our funk. FDR told us that the only thing we had to fear was fear itself. Ronald Reagan painted a picture of America being a “shining city on a hill.” Their optimism, accompanied by our American spirit, helped us restore our vision of being a beacon of liberty, hope and opportunity.

Our biggest problem is leadership.

In a little less than five months we select new leaders. Let us look for candidates who will encourage us, inspire us to better days and exhibit the leadership we need to rise above our current situations.

We need to make good decisions at the ballot box in November.

Tom Campbell is a Hall of Fame North Carolina broadcaster and columnist who has covered North Carolina public policy issues since 1965.  Contact him at tomcamp@ncspin.com