A gun-free zone signage is seen near Times Square in New York, the United States, Sept 1, 2022. (PHOTO / XINHUA)
Multiple factors of instability in the United States could further intensify the social divide, experts said after a recent Gallup poll found that 54 percent of US adults surveyed consider the overall state of moral values in the country to be "poor".
That marked an increase of 4 percentage points since last year and the worst rating seen by Gallup in 22 years.
The poll, released on Friday, found that 33 percent of US adults think moral values in the country are "fair", 10 percent rated them as "good" and 1 percent said they were "excellent".
The survey was conducted from May 1 to 24 and interviewed 1,011 people age 18 and older. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
When Gallup asked voters what they think the main problem is, the top answer was: "The way people treat each other, or lack of consideration for others."
Republicans and Democrats alike think the other side does not respect citizens. The parties are divided in a way that the country has never seen, with little to no overlap on important subjects, experts said.
The US is witnessing a worsening of gun violence, major setbacks for women's and children's rights, and increased social conflict due to racism and social inequality, said Sun Xihui, an associate research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' National Institute of International Strategy.
"All these problems have worsened US moral values," Sun said.
In addition to rating moral values in the country worse than before, a record-high 83 percent of respondents said they thought the situation was getting worse. The previous high of 82 percent was recorded in 2007, when 44 percent of US adults rated moral values as poor.
"The US always labels itself as a country that respects individual freedom, but as we know, 'absolute freedom' without limits usually means to only consider an individual's own interests and not care whether one's action will harm others," Sun said. "Such value has an intrinsic effect of destroying social order and morality, leading to a poor state of moral values."
Pessimism about moral values edged up in the past year across party groups. A record 97 percent of Republicans said values are worsening, while 73 percent of Democrats and 80 percent of independents thought the situation was getting worse, the poll found.
"The polarization of political parties in the US, mainly the bipartisan conflicts, has made the US government dysfunctional," Sun said. "Intensified conflicts between the US government and Congress have rendered the US government impotent in the face of many social problems, thus making Americans see no hope of solving current problems."
yangran1@chinadaily.com.cn
