Are America's best days in the past or moving forward?

NEW YORK, N.Y. — PRN - GHN News Editor - The Harris Poll conducted a survey of Americans to
find out  how Americans view the future of their country and learned that what made the country great will be of less importance in the future.

 3,084 adults were surveyed online between October 11 and 18, 2010 by Harris Interactive.

These are the results:

• Americans
  feel that various forms of diversity, openness and inclusion made
  America great in the past but fewer believe so today.—two thirds


• Additionally,
  despite many Americans relying on technology to lead their daily lives,
  fewer adults say that frequent technological innovations and industrial
  know-how and scientific progress will be as major a contributor to
  making America great in the future.


• One of the most
  surprising changes, is that, despite some Americans’ sour feelings
  regarding jobs being sent abroad and the notion that our country is
  falling behind other nations, the majority of Americans say hard working
  people and free unlimited education to all qualified will be less
  important to America’s future, than it was in making America great in
  the past


•  More Americans say that being able to get along
  with other countries will be a major contributor to making America great
  in the future (47%) than say it was a factor in the past (43%).


• More
  Americans say that outstanding political leaders will be of greater
  significance to making the country great in the future (41%) than said
  so about the past (33%).


• Lastly, America’s recent financial
  crisis which resulted in taxpayers bailing out several big businesses
  and many Americans losing their jobs, might be the catalyst for more
  people saying that a government that regulates business abuses (36%) and
  one that looks after the less fortunate (35%), will be more important
  going forward, than they were previously (31% and 34% respectively).
  Those percentages, however, remain significantly less, however, than
  other factors cited, thus the values placed on them by comparison are
  not as great.

The following graph details the specifics:

TABLE 2B

MAKING AMERICA GREAT IN THE FUTURE

"In the next 10 years, do you think each of these items
will be a major contributor to making the country great, a minor
contributor or hardly a contributor at all?"

Summary of those saying “major contributor”

Base: All adults

	Total 1975*	Total 2010	Generation
			Echo Boomers (18-33)	Gen. X (34-45)	Baby Boomers (46-64)	Matures (65 )
	%	%	%	%	%	%
Living under a system of guaranteed individual freedom	83	68	54	64	74	83
Hard working people	78	65	48	66	72	81
Allowing people to own private property	82	60	42	58	67	77
Industrial know-how and scientific progress	86	60	44	57	66	78
Frequent technological innovations	NA	59	46	59	64	74
Giving people the chance to go freely from one place to another	80	58	42	54	68	72
Military strength to keep the country from being invaded and conquered	73	57	38	51	67	78
Giving every race and creed an equal chance to get ahead	76	57	47	53	61	68
Having a system of free and uncontrolled views, media and communication	74	53	42	51	57	65
Rich natural resources	79	52	35	50	60	70
Free unlimited education to all qualified	75	52	43	51	54	66
Having high quality products and services for the people	64	52	39	46	57	69
People of different racial and religious backgrounds	58	50	41	46	55	59
Living in a healthy physical environment	74	48	33	46	55	62
People of different ideas representing the rights of others	77	48	43	46	47	60
Being able to get along with other countries	77	47	38	46	51	59
Having industry and business under private control	67	47	36	44	49	63
Allowing the mass of people to share a high standard of living	67	45	34	43	49	56
Success in fighting wars	61	41	31	41	45	52
Outstanding political leaders	53	41	33	41	41	55
Developing an interesting, exciting, and creative cultural life	48	36	32	36	35	44
Having a government which regulates business abuses	65	36	30	36	38	42
A system of government that looks after the less fortunate	53	35	28	37	35	42
Allowing unions to raise workers’ living standards	42	28	25	32	26	31

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to
rounding; *In 1975 these questions were asked via telephone; NA

signifies this was not asked that year.