Quote:America is a beautiful place for so many reasons. Beautiful cities, scenery, and people. The beauty of the American people is that, while we are all very different, we like to believe there are certain things — certain values and ideals — that are important to all of us. But are there really? A new poll may offer some surprising, and some not-so-surprising, answers.

A new Gallup poll asked 3,000 U.S. adults between May 12 and 22 of this year about the values Americans share and which ones the country needs most. Given a list of 12 values, 76 percent identified at least one they believed was shared by most Americans, regardless of politics or background. Fifty-nine percent identified at least two shared values, while 46 percent identified three or more.

As for which values Americans believe they still share, disturbingly, things like honesty, integrity, and even courage came in at just 13 percent each. Not so surprising, in the age of social media, where Americans put their entire lives on TikTok, humility came in even lower at 10 percent. What also may be problem number one, a result of not just social media, but at least two generations of Americans being taught in public schools that "diversity is our strength," 79 percent said that it is more important to respect different values, with 19 percent saying it is more important for Americans to share the same values. Among Democrats, 84 percent said it was important; 81 percent of independents, and another troubling statistic, 72 percent of Republicans.

As you might expect, when things get broken down by political party is where things got really interesting, and also tell you a whole lot about where the country is, and it's not good. Asked which three values the country most needs today, Democrats selected honesty, responsibility, and integrity at 32, 24, and 29 percent, respectively. Responsibility and integrity are understandable for people who want the government to take care of them from cradle to grave, and integrity is a problem when you are okay with dead people and illegal immigrants voting in elections. Those values came in at 38, 41, and 33 percent, respectively, among Republicans.

Problem number two is this, and it is serious: Just six percent of Democrats named patriotism among the three values the country most needs today, compared with 46 percent of Republicans. What is most important to Democrats? Equality at 44 percent.

Even though the poll was conducted in May, six months before the midterm election, it may as well have been conducted last week. Democrats have embraced Democratic Socialist (communist) candidates who appear to have no love for the country, and their well-telegraphed agenda, should they regain power, contains nothing but impeachments and investigations, nothing that will help Americans. Republicans, on the other hand, know what is at stake if those candidates get elected.

In a heated election season, many people are skeptical of polls. But if the data in this poll is accurate, America's problem is laid out in stark terms. If our placement on the importance of values is that far apart, surviving another 250 years could be problem number three.