I have a couple of thoughts on this chart from Pew Research:
(Click to enlarge.)
As it shows, the U.S. is the only country among the 25 they surveyed where the majority rated their fellow citizens as not having good morals and ethics.
First, it's too bad Pew has never asked this question in its surveys before, because I really want to know how the answer for the U.S. has changed over time. As they noted in the write-up,
Democrats and independents who lean toward the Democratic Party are much more likely than Republicans and Republican leaners to rate fellow Americans as morally and ethically bad (60% vs. 46%).
I wonder if that would have been true in 2015 or earlier. I would be willing to bet money it was not. (It seems fair to think that if 30–40% of your fellow citizens are willing to vote for Donald Trump once or twice, despite everything he's done, you might feel as though there's a problem with their morals and ethics.)
Second, I wish the survey had included Russia, because I really want to see how Russians would score their fellow country members. My thought is their ratings would be even lower than the American percentages.
Third, what is it like to live in a country where 80% or more of people think their fellow citizens are morally and ethically good? Wow. Envious.
How would you answer Pew's question, if you were surveyed? Despite all that has happened in the last 10 years, I think I would have said "somewhat good."
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I note that Turkey and South Africa appear to be about tied for the highest percentage of people who replied "Very bad," while India has the highest percentage who replied "Very good."


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