Today, we dive into some eye-opening statistics that reveal how Americans perceive morality, particularly about their neighbors. Shockingly, a survey found that 53% of us think our neighbors are morally bad, making us the only country in a 25-nation study to arrive at such a conclusion. I was genuinely taken aback by this number and what it says about our collective psyche. As we dissect these findings, we also explore the paradox of our attitudes towards certain behaviors—like marijuana use and gambling—where we seem to adopt a more relaxed stance, even as we hold strong beliefs about issues like infidelity. It raises the question: why do we judge our neighbors so harshly while being so lenient on personal choices? Join me as we navigate this complex landscape of American morality and what it reveals about us as a society. An intriguing dive into societal perceptions unfolds as we grapple with a striking statistic from a recent Pew survey: 53% of Americans view their neighbors as morally bad. This revelation sets the stage for a deeper exploration of what this skepticism says about our nation. I can't help but reflect on the implications of such a belief; it feels like a mirror held up to our collective conscience. How did we arrive at this conclusion, and what does it reveal about our values and self-image? As we dissect various behaviors that were rated morally, it's fascinating to see the stark contrast between our views on marijuana and gambling versus those on infidelity. While a mere 23% of us see marijuana use as wrong, an overwhelming 90% condemn marital affairs. This dichotomy not only challenges the stereotype of America as a judgmental society but also raises questions about what we truly value. Join me as we sift through these societal norms, explore the evolution of our moral compass, and consider what it all means for the fabric of our communities.
Takeaways:
The recent Pew survey revealed that 53% of Americans consider their neighbors morally bad, which is shocking.
Despite being viewed as a judgmental nation, Americans are surprisingly lenient on issues like marijuana and gambling.
A striking 90% of Americans believe that marital infidelity is morally wrong, showing a strong value on commitment.
Interestingly, while we don't moralize about personal choices like smoking or gambling, we hold marriage to a high standard.
This episode highlights the paradox of American morality, where we are lenient on some behaviors but strict on marital fidelity.
The conversation today challenges us to rethink how we classify morality in light of cultural expectations and behaviors.
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy
Transcripts
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Leave him a comment on jamesabrown.net this is the Daily Note.
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Welcome back to the Daily Note Live.
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I'm James A.
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Brown.
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Thanks for joining me.
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If something hits you about what we're talking about today, I want to hear about it.
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Call me or text me.
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I listen to every message.
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I read them all.
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So we've established a number.
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53%.
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Pew asked us how we felt about our neighbors, and we felt that 53% of them were morally bad.
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We were the only country in the 25 in this schedule the study to come to that conclusion about our neighbors.
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So I found myself transfixed with this number.
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How do we come to this conclusion?
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How did we come to believe this about ourselves?
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And what does that say about who we are as people?
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As, As a.
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Look, I, I don't expect us all to have a.
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A Pollyanna view over who we are as people.
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People do bad things.
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We don't.
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We don't all.
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You know, there's not many Mother Teresa's among us, But I didn't expect things to be this bad, this quick.
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Even with all the divisiveness in our society, I thought that maybe we had a bit more faith in each other.
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Now, Pew asked people in all 25 countries about nine specific behaviors, And the different behaviors got different scores.
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For instance, marijuana.
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Only 23% of Americans say using marijuana is morally wrong.
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I bet that number, if we checked it 10 years ago or 20 years ago, maybe 30 years ago, that'd be very different.
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In most of the other countries Pew surveyed, that number was over 40%.
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We're in a country with a reputation globally for being judgmental, but not.
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Not when it comes to pot.
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In pot, we've evolved, we've changed our stance.
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To be, you know, let's.
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How shall I say, focused on how people handle that in their bodies.
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It's not just on marijuana, on gambling.
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We're also se.
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We have similar stats there.
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Only about 29% of us believe that was morally wrong.
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And that makes sense.
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I mean, if you, if you watch our media these days, our media is full of gambling ads.
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You can pull up your phone right now and bet on tonight's game.
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You know, I'm going to be watching UFC this weekend, and as I do that, I can bet in between rounds.
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Most of the world looks at that and thinks, what the hell are we doing?
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Some substances in personal risk we're libertarians.
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We don't moralize about what you smoke or that you place your bets.
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And that's not exactly what I expected, honestly, from a country that just told researchers that its neighbors are morally bad, that one out of two people we see are morally bad.
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Because if you think the people around you are terrible, you'd expect to find a country that is harsh about everything.
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They thought us to be judgmental about everyone and all our actions, and we're not.
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But we're not that way about everything.
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There's another one that I found very interesting affairs.
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90% of Americans say that a married person having an affair is morally wrong.
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That's almost Everybody.
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And it's nine out of 10 people in a country that can't agree on what day of the week it is.
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Nine out of ten of us think that if you cheat on your wife or you cheat on your husband, you're reprehensible.
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And that got me thinking about Coldplay.
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You probably remember that CEO that got caught on the Jumbotron in Boston with the HR boss of his.
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His company.
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And then it made me say, okay, I understand now why that was such a big deal.
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I understand that.
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That in America we care more about sort of.
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Commitments and the idea of marriage and family being a solo connection than other nations.
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I just did not expect this.
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And look, we're not completely alone on it.
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We're just on the extreme edge of it.
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About 77% of people in about a half of the country surveyed felt strongly about this, but it wasn't as strident as we are.
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So think about what that means.
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We don't care if you gamble.
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We don't care if you smoke.
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But we care deeply about keeping your word on your marriage.
