America's Crisis of Confidence

The modern American Crisis showed early warning signs just years after penning of the Powell Memo. Jimmy Carter described this crisis in a televised speech on July 15, 1979, which he called A Crisis of Confidence. This ABC News Special Report interrupted regular television programming with the kind of urgent energy as one would expect in a time of war or national crisis. And perhaps that is precicely the type of energy it demanded. Because it made salient points that are even more true today than when he originally spoke them.

“We are at a turning point in our history. Too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption. Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns. This is not a message of happiness or reassurance. But it is the truth, and it is a warning.

After listening to the American people I have been reminded again that all the legislation in the world can’t fix what’s wrong with America.  So I want to talk to you right now about a fundamental threat to American democracy. I do not mean our political and civil liberties. These will endure. I do not refer to the outward strength of america. The threat is nearly invisible in ordinary ways. It is a crisis of confidence. It is a crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit of our national will. We can see this crisis in the growing doubt about the meaning of our own lives and in the loss of a unity of purpose for our nation. The erosion of our confidence in the future is threatening to destroy the social and political fabric of America.

Our people are losing faith, not only in government itself, but in the ability as citizens to serve as the ultimate rulers and shapers of our democracy.

As you know, there is a growing disrespect for government and for churches and for schools, the news media, and other institutions. This is not a message of happiness and reassurance, but it is the truth and it is a warning. In a nation that was proud of hard work, strong families, close-knit communities, and our faith in God, too many of us tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption. 

Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns. But we’ve discovered that owning things and consing things does not satisfy our longing for meaning. We’ve learned that piling up material goods cannot fill the emptiness of lives which have no confidence or purpose. 

The symptoms of this crisis of the American spirit are all around us. 

The growing disrespect for government and for churches and for schools, the news media, and other institutions. This is not a message of happiness or reassurance, but it is the truth and it is a warning. 

These changes did not happen overnight. They’ve come upon us gradually over the last generation, years that were filled with shocks and tragedy. 

What you see too often in Washington and elsewhere around the country is a system of government that seems incapable of action. You see a Congress twisted and pulled in every direction by hundreds of well-financed and powerful special interests.