<'!

Everyone Is Talking About

The QW-America Told the Truth

THE "An extraordinarily exciting book-shoddng, informative, and disturbing in many of

ita implications. A true speUbiDderl" -Nallwliellkanden. Ph.D.

DAY
"Everybody talb about ethics but theBe two authon did lOIDething about iL The book
is a winner."
-Liz Carpenter, former White HoWIe spok.eapeaou.ledurer, and author of
Gdting Better Al,,. Time

AMERICA
"In milleDAia to come, students of our era will find invaluable insighta in this book into
. what we really were as opposed to what we daimed to be. For todays reader, it
provides that rMest and mOil disturbing of experienus: the truth."
- John O'Tool~, praideRt, American AuociatioD of Advedising Agencies, Inc.

TOLD
"Fresh, fascinating, stimulating ••. Wbars new in Amerka in the '9Oe-and what
endures-will fascinate anyone aHlCemed with aNIUIlunications in our nmon today;
and should be required for those deeply concerned about our nation's future."
-Rjdwd s. lWtJeU, director of MMbting Communication&, Eutman Kodak Company

THE
liVery revealing, nut eodly what many of us want to hear, but very believable. This
resurch ,.hould serve as a challenge to all of us to tackle the problems disdosed and

TRUTH

capitalize on the great strengths confirmed"

-C. Aim MacDonald, presideDt & CEO, Nestlt Foods Corporation

i
1"Patlenon'li a present-doay Polonius, helping ua to know ounelves in a rapidly
changing world." -Mel Goodes, prePlent " CEO, Warner Lanlbert Com.,.oy

What People Really Believe About

I,
,
HReader8 willle<lrn surprising f<lcts that will shape their conversations and even their
Iivelt in the J99&."
-Robert L Dilenschneider, praident &.: CEO, Hill and Knowlton, Inc.,
Everything That Really Matters
! Intem.atiwW Public Relations Cowwe1

"Social researcb has never been used more imaginatively or with such urgent
JAMES PATTERSON
purpose.... '(he book is It Dlor.u fitness guide for aD of US who De ready to give our
AND consdence a workoul." -David f. Webb, president &.: CEO, Lever .Ba:aahers Company

PETER KIM
"A marvelous barometer especially in these Stomly times. It allows us to meaaure our :
secret attitudes and fedinSS, helps us move from shame and confusion and onlo I

-D'~i

creating new and ch.dlenging penpedive8."

-Melvyn Kinder, Ph.D., author of Guing Nuwhere fusl
New VOl!. I Unt.!Ufl IUhJlIlU ~ydllCy Tuk yo
 1

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A New Moral Authority in

America: You're It!

It's the wild, wild \\est all over again in America, but it's wilder and
woollier this time. You are the Jaw in this country. Who says so? You do,
pardner. .
In the 19506 and even in the early 1960&, there was something much
clotier 1.0 a moral consensus in America. It waB mirrored in a parade of
moralizing family 'IV progr-.uns: Ozzie and Harriet, lUther Knows Best,
Du,mu &ed, Leave It to Beaver, and even Bonanza.
TIlere is absolutely no moral consensus at all in the 1990&.
e'veryone il; making up their own personal moral codes-their own len
ConlJlllllKill1t:nts.
Here are ten extraordinary commandments for the 1990&. 1bese are
real commandments, the rules that many people actually live by. (The
percentage of people who Jive by each conunandment is included.)

1. I don't see the point in observing the Sabbath (77 percent).

2. J will steal from those who won't really miss it (74 percent).
3. I will lie when it suits me, so long as it doesn't cause any real
damage (&I percent).

2S
26 THE DAY AMERICA TOLD THE TRUTH
4. I will drink and drive if I feel that 1 can handle it I know my limit
(56 percent).
5. I will cheat on my spou~ all, given the chance, he or she
will do the same (53 percent).
6. I will procrastinate at work and do absolutely nothing about one
full day in every five. It's Btandard operating procedure (50 percent).
7. I will use recreational drugs (41 percent).
8. I will cheat on my taxe&-to a point (30 percent).
9. I will put my lover at risk of diaeaae. I Bleep around a bit, but who
doesn't (31 percent)? '
10. khnicaUy,I may have conunitted date rape, but I know that she
wanted it (20 percent have been date-raped).
Almost all of us have highly individualized moral menus like that today.
\\e decide what's right and wrong. Most Americans have no respect for
what the law says.
JHE19SOs
In order to fully underSland the decline of moral authority in the United Slates, it
is useful to compare the Amerlc.1 of the 19!1Os to the America of the 1950s. In the
19505, America as a nation was at the zenith of its power. It had just won a World
War, the result of which was to make the United Slates the ~t powerful and
weahhiest Oiltion in the history of the world .
.The 1950s Wili a decade of optimism, belief in the future, belief in the nation.
Conformity to external moral authority was central.
PoIiIIcaI CoIIfomIiIy. Anyone who varied from the political orthodoxy of the
time Wili defined as un-American. The House Un·Amerlcan Activities Committee
was one of the most powerful committees in Congress.
CanformII, at w..n. This was the age of the "organization man." The Individu­
alistic entrepreneur was replaced by this orpnizalion man, whose principal
loyalty was to the corporation.
Conformity at..... This was the age of the traditional husband-breadwinner
famity. The situalion comedies of the 19S0s showed neatly identical middJe.class
families with professional fathen and suburban, mlddle-dau lifestyles. Most
ceiebtated the supremacy of the American vall of Hfe.
CanfonnIIy III die C......., Martr.etpI.ce. It was the age of "keeping up with the
Joneses. H It was a time when the mOlit common advertisinl sellinl theme was "If
you're Uke most people .•."
Indeed, belief in the American wlIf was so strong in the 1950s that some social
~cienlists began to speculate that a new civil religion of Americanism was emerg­
ing. Of this period, George Gallup and Jim Castelli wrote that there Wili emer,ing
". . . a shared public failh in the nation, a faith linked to people', ew=rydll( life
through a set of beliefs. symboli:.r:ed rituals that contained religious elements and
overtones but _re not formally assodated with any particular reli&ion."
THE lEAL MOlAL AUTHORITY IN AMERICA 27
A woman lawyer from Wclshington, D.C., said, "1b be perfectly honest,
some laws seem to apply to me, some I disregard. Some tenets of the
Catholic Church add up, others are absurd, or ewm insulting. I don't
need the Alpe, the press, 01' some lowly cop to teD me heM to live my life.
That's the way I honestly see it, and I don't think I've ever actuaUy
verbalized the thought before."
As a consequence, Americans of the 19908 stand alone in a way
unknown to any previous generation.
When we want to answer a question of right and wrong, we ask
ourselves.
What we don't do is what people have done fOl' a long, long time: take
counsel and advice from our religious and political authorities, from the
press, from our schools.
AMERICA IS VIRTUAllY LEADERLESS IN THE 19901
Our leaders are still giving advice, but we are nOl listening. America's
leadenthip no longer leads anyone.
\\e asked peopJe to give Jetter grades of A to F to leaders in four
categories: religion, politics, business, and education.
The highest grade that any kind of leader got was a C + for religion.
All of the others got low Cs or even a grade of D. C - was the combined
grade average for leadership in America!
Why? One reason is because they have lied to Us-over and over and
over. Our leaders have told the most bold-faced lies.
So who are our moral leaders now? \\\ill, the overwhelming majority of
people (93 pen:ent) said that they-and nobody else-determine what is
and what isn't moral in their lives. They base their decisions on their own
experience, even on their daily whims.
In addition, almost as large a majority confessed that they would
vioJate the established rules of their religion (84 percent), 01' that they
had actually vjoJated a law because they thought that it was wrong in
their view (81 percent).
W! are the law unto ourselves.
\\e have made ourselves the authority over church and God.
~ have made ourselves the clear authority over the government
~ have made ourselves the authority over laws and the police.
The fact il» that whites are much more likely than others to fOllow their
28 THE DAY AMERICA TOLD THE TRUTH
THE REAL MORAL AUTHORITY IN AMERICA
29
A NAlIONAL REPORT CARD: HOW WE GlADE OUILEADERS
LIES WE'VE IIHN lOLD IY THE VERY IIfST
Instiaution Gtade IlIIIIitulion GtiMle
ie ". want you to know ... that • h;we no intention whatever of ever walking """ill'(
Religion C+ Business C­
from the job that the Amerian people elected me to do for the people of the
Education C Politics D United States."
*' ......former Presidentllidwd NilIon, durinl Waterpte
The Unprecedet.... Slide ill Our CGnftdence . . . l.udenWp PnMded br Our

ill
NatiouIIIIIIitutionI

InstitUlion
Orpnized religion
FifNIla.1 institutions
J974
49~
I'efanu,e
bpressin, Coniidence

42 0 •
,.
22~
19
1efcr:nlAfe
01
ChMtJe
-55~

-55

• I.
"A litde hyperbole never hurts. I all it truthful hyperbofe .•t's an innocent form
of ellaggeriltion."
--OonaId Trump, IIusineunan
.

OrgMlized liAbor 18 9 -SO "If anybody wants to put a tail on me, 80 iIhead. They'd be very bored."

ill Eduution 49 30 -39 -Gary Hall, former presidentbil GIIdicUIe

The press 26 17 -35

Executive branch 29- 20 -31

I I.
U.S. Congress 23 0 17 -26 "One hundred pet'cent ipple juice."

Major companies 31 24 -23

U.S. military 40 32 -20 -The lleech-Nut Nutrition Corpoq&jon. They ew!IItuai/y recanted iU they
pluded 8 uilty 10 Oller 200 felony counts for shippin, jMs of "lOll percent
ill ·'97) apple juice" lor lllilbies (!he main insredienl WiU beet SUP).

··1977

I
•
• ". had little knowledge ..."

"I've known What's going on lhere, as iI matter of fact, for quite a long time, a

matter of yeilrs. It was my idea."

personal sense of right and wrong. So are .Jewish people and Catholics.
The saDle goes for college graduates, liberals. and those earning $45,000
or more a year.
The poople who rely most on religious or political authority (that Is,
laws) are blacks, ProteStaJlts, people who did not graduate from college,
conservatives, and those who earn less than $10,000 a year.
There are important implications that follow from all of this. FOr
example, most of us are not prepared-as so many others were in earlier
generations-to sacrifice our lives for our country. Or for anything else,
it seems.
When we asked what beliefs people would die for, the answer for
almost half (48 percent) was "None."
Here is the meallure of Americans' alienation from the traditional
authority of God and country:
• Fewer than one in three (30 percent) would be willing to die for God
-former President Ronald Rapn, speUl"Ion two separllt! occasions ~I
his knowtedge of I,an mRS shlplllllntS
However, the baby boomers (people between the ages of twenty-six and
forty-four) are more willing to die for what they beJie\e (56 percent) than
is any other group ofAmericans, including eighteen- to twenty-four-year_
old children of the Reagan era (SO percent), middle-aged Americans
between the ages of forty-five and sixty-four (49 percent), and thOtie of
us over the age of Sixty-five (42 percent).
Men are more willing than women to di&-or kill-f0l' their beliefs.
Liberals are more willing to kill than conservatives are. 'The young are
more willing than older people are to die, and they are especially more
willing to kill.

and religion under any circumstances.

• &en tewer(24 percent) would die for their country.

30 THE DAV AMERICA TOLD THE TRUTH

IV IfGION: WHO'S REAlLY WILLING TO DIE AND kill fOIl THBI \/AWES

(For a map of America's regions, see Part I.)

WilliNG 10 DIE (Nation'" Average: 52'){,)

l'elcenu,e hrcenu,e
Resion W;JtinS 10 Die Re,ion WiUin"o Die
Old Dixie 57% L.A.-MelC 51'){,
Pacltim 57 Metropolis 49
New England 47
Granary
New South
Rust Belt
55
52
52
Marlboro Country 45 America's Number One

WILLING 10 KILL (National Average: 35%) Rationalization and Its

I'efCenur,e
~
l'ercenl.,e
Willin, 10 ICJII
42%
Resion
New South
Willif18 10 Kill
33%
Number One Result

Granary
Pac: Rim 41 Rust Belt 30
Metropolis 40 Marlboro Country 2'J
Old Dixie 34 New England 21
L.A.-t.'\elC 34

"If everybody's doing it, why shouldn't I? If everybody is breaking the

rules, am I a complete jerk to play by them myself?"
This rationalization has begun to take hold in aU areas of our lives.
Once woven into the fabric of our beliefs, it is where our most serious
troubles begin. \\e no longer can tell right from wrong.
It all>O raises fear and doubt, which oflen lead to depression: Did I do
the right thing? Does it matter anymore? Does anything matter?
Doubl comes with freedom as surely as ash follows fire. Americans in
the 1990s haw more of both freedom and doubt-and of depression too­
than did any previous generation.
In interview after interview, we saw men and women grappling with
the cOl1l>equences of their new freedom to define their own moral codes:

• If no one I can trust is available to counsel me, how can I be sure

thal what I'm doing is right?
• Is the other person-my lover, my business partner-playing by
some set of reasonable rules?
• What are the rules't My rulcs't Their rules? No rules at all?

31
 THE DAY AMERICA TOLD THE TRUTH
THE REAL MORAL AUTHORITY IN AMElICA 33
32
PERSONAL DOUBT
Americans wrestle with these questions in what often amounts to a
moral vacuum. 'The religious figures and scriptures that gave us rules for As to their private lives, half of adult Americans said that they had
so many centuries, the politiCal system that gave us our laws, all have lost been in situations that caused them to seriously doubt the morality of
their meaning in our moral imagination. something that they had done or were thinking about doing. \\e asked
Most Americans (83 percent) now look back to their parents' day as a those people to tell us about the events that bad caused those doubts.
time when people were more likely to be moral and as a time when Their answers give us a unique insight iitto what actually troubles the
people clearly knew the difference between right and wrong. moral conscience of Americans, what falls in the gray area between the
In addition, we believe that our parents' generation was much more clearly right and the clearly wrong.
ethical than our own. \'k see most moral issues in shades of gray, not in
black and white as our parents did. \'k'ye become wishy-washy as a
nation. Some would say that we've lost our moral backbone. Did I Do the Rilhl ThinBll'm Not Sure.
What follows is a sampling from our interviews that re\'eals the
"I fER STRONGLY EITHER WAY AIOUT THIS ISSUE"
difficulty people have in deciding what's right and what's wrong.
We ~5ked people if they see ~ 5t!t of currenl public issues ~5 being mor~lIy "gray"
01 a5 dear case» of right ~nd wrong: • A businesswoman from the Southwest. in her twenties, married.
,., Issue l'elcenUfe Who See Gt.y
Petcenr.,e Who See
I/i,ht .nd Wrona
recalled: "I had sex with a stranger. \Wy good sex, too. I changed
my name to hide my real identity from him. I don't know what's
Rights of criminals 57'"
43'" really right or wrong in this age."
54
46
Affirmatiw iIClion
48
• A store manager from the Southwest, in her twenties. married:
Teat:hing Cre~tionl5m in schoob 52
52 48 "Driving my car under the inftuence of drugs and alcohol. Also, sex
Premaritill sex
The rllht to die .... 5b with a stranger in a motel in S1. Petersburg. I guess they were both
,.1 School busing .... 5b wrong things to do. I'm not sure."
Homosexuality 43 57 • A \'kst Coast sales clerk, in his twenties: "Because of my religious
38 62
Flag burning beliefs, I'm supposed to believe that having sex with someone of the
Pomography 38 62
37 63 same sex is wrong. "Et I do it frequently. What's frequently? Almost
The death penally
35 65 every day of my life. The guilt Is still there. though."
Homelessness
,.1 fighling poverty 33 fi1 • It's the consequences of sex that severely troubled a teacher from
Alcohol abuse 33 67 the Midwest 1n her forties: "Advising my daughter to have an
31 69
Women in the clergy
abortion led me into a long, suicidal siege. I'm not over it yet. I can
30
70
Anti-Semitism picture a baby who never even existed."
()M)rce 29 71
n • A woman from the Northwest, in her fifties, looked back to a time
,., Book banning 28
The drug prublem
27 73 when she strayed during her first marriage: "My first husband was
Prayer in Khuols
27 73 lazy and mentally abusive. 1 thought I was getting even when I
Birth control 27 73 strayed. 1 hurt myself more than him."
Communism 26 74
Abortion 25 75
And many American men look back in doubt on what they did in war:

• ··In Vietnam, I had very serious doubts if what I was doing was
moral," said a ~st Coast post-office clerk, in his forties. "Right now,
I have even worse doubts about it."
• A simUar thought process look back a retired manager from the
34 THE DAY AMUICA TOLD 'HE nUTH

Northeast almost 50 years: "I wonder about the bombing I did during
\\brld War II. TIle country said it had to be done. I'U go 10 my grave
wondering if I'm a killer or not...

SOUle pt.'opJe broke lhe lU~. or laws, for whal at the time lieemed a
good reasou-al k:iUit to lhem:

• A banker from the Southeast, recalled: ". forged my mom's signature

when il WiUi ~ ~. impol'laOt tOr me to do so. Otherwilie•• went to
jail"
• Au adnUnililrator frona the EWit COilIil. in her twenUes, wasn't both­
ered about ciwatillg on a &n.d exam: ". had a copy of the exam with
lbe au~wer& iu haud when 1 look it. Does it matler? Do exams really
anatle..?"
• ".lit:d to Social Servicea Il1O J could feed my children. because their
rub are uufair to while Americana," IHlid a Southwe~ern mother,
divorced aud living atune.
• A yi«,.c-preaJdent of a service company in the East: ". rationalize
liteaiu." from OlY wmpany because they have iCrewed me royally.
'nley look thouliiUlds frolll me. I took lhouliIIKlti from tllt:m. Who's
'0lia)" who'" dghl ur wrong? Nut them, lhal'" for sure."

Some 'old lies (or Idlll'ulhii uutold) to protecl others or themtidvcb:

• "Ilicu ilhuul my husband bcill" wiUucd by lhe law," said a church­

goi.n~ Nonbea6tem woman.
• "lliCLI Lo lbe police auu said I Willi driving, when my hUlilwld was
arI'etiu~d lur OWl Idriying whOO intoxicaledJ. lie WiAS the aClual
driver," said an office manager fronlth.: \\bl Coul, iu ht:r lwenUeti.
• A Noa'lhMStem WUllWl whu woeb Wi a &lure managt:I, illllt!1 t:4U"ly
laftieb, a fCgulilr churchgoer,lMlid. "I eill out of Iuutie food_, et cetera,
around tht: IIoton:. I'll opeu packages, bnack, tlJt:ll move Ull about auy
busiue8s."
• A truck driver aduailh~d: ". was a hit-and-run driver. '10 lbib day, I
don', know il'the pt:1Wll J hil Wi45 boldly hurt,"

What'!; right? Whal'& wrouK? W1Jt:n you are making up your own
rult:b. your own moral t:udc..>fIi, it can make 11lt: world a confulOiuK place.
Mobl An.cdcalllli arc Yt:r) cuutu~ ..boUl lht:ir pcrlllOual &nun":; ri~ht now.
 4

--=====:- --~- -~-~- -~=-=~---:~~-~~~~===~----:=- =

American Liars

I low did we aclui&IJy gel the truth from people?

l\:ople lJciu~ iulerviewed knew lhat their answers and IiIOriea were
anouymous aud liilfc. They cuuJd finally unburden Ibemtielvea and Bay
what lIaey fell. IU m05t people, it Wil8 exhi1araUn,lO be lhemaelWII for a
l.:haugc.
Aud 'his calhartic process was probably dae onJy way we could have
golleu at 'he trulla .uound the country.
AmcdcilIllii lie. "Ilaey lie Inure than we had ever abougiat pc••lbIe before
tbe study. &Il they auld us dae truth about how much &hey lie.
JUSr AHOU'f EVERYONE UES-9J PERCENT OF ~ UE REOO­
1..AIlLY.
The majority or us find it hard to let lhrough a week without lying.
Out: in live l.:an't make it through a single dtly-and we're llIIking aboul
COUtiUOUS, pn:mt=(!ilalcd liai. In lact, the Wily IlODle peupIe talk ilhout
U-Ylug '0 do without belli, you'd tbink that lbey were smoken lryinK to
gel through il day without a Cigarette.
When we relhun Iromlying, i"» leu often because we think it's wrong
(uuly ·1:') percent) thau lor a variety of other reuons, anlong tbem t.be
leal of IJClIIg L:ilught ( 17 fJCn:cut).

4S
46 THE DAY AMERICA TOLD THE TRUTH PRIVATE LIVES: ETHICS, VALUES, AND DILEMMAS 47

\\e lie to just about everyone. and the better we know someone. the • The poor lie more than the rich.
likelier we are to have told them a serious lie. • Uberals lie more than conservatives.
Of course there are white lies and trivial fibs. and the lies we tell to
spare someone's feelings. There is some good news about aU this lying: Lying is something we
Then there are serious falsehoods, and 36 percent of Americans. outgrow. (Or truth is a privilege of age.) In any ewnt, people lie less, in
confess to telling that kind of dacker lie, which several people referred to every age group, from eighteen to twenty-four on up through the decades.
as reallie5. Those 65 and older lie less than half as much as those who are less than
We asked people to define what they meant by a serious lie. Their half their age.
answers tell into four categories: Serious lies. they said, are those that
hurt other people. Setious lies violate a trust. Serious lies involve crime
or It:gal consequences. Serious lies are totally self-serving. are about who WHAT IS THE ONE LIE 'K>U WOULD TAkE BACK IF 'K>U COULDl
and what we are. masking the real truth.
Everyone lies. but some people lie much more than others. • A construction worker from the East: '''ielling this woman, nice girl,
I loved her just to get what I wanted."
• A woman from the South who lives with her lover: "I told my mother
WHO LIES THE MOST IN AMERICAl I hated her-it was a lie. "
• A secretary in her fifties from the Southeast: "That I didn't do it-in
• Men lie more than women. school-with a teacher, when really I did."
• ~ullg men lie more than older men. • A man in his thirties from the East Coast, bisexual, married: "'leIling
• Gays and bisexuals lie more than heterosexuals. my mother I'm not a transvestite."
• Blacks lie more than whites. • "That my husband is not the father of our first child."-a WOOlan
• Catholics lie a bit more than Protestants. and both lie more than from the East Coast. in her forties.
Jews. • ..Jlow many men I had sex with before we mel There were a good
• Unemployed people lie more than those with jobs. dozen. And maybe a not-so-good dozen."-a woman from the East.
who said that she has bt..oen faithful to her husband during their
marriage.
• ". had a social disease and. later, she found out anyway."-a retired
WHO TELLS THE MOST SEllOUS LIES" IN AMElICAI man from the Ealltt, who reported four aftilirs during his marriage.
iI I "Men (40 percent) Vi. women (11 percent)
"
Homosexuals/bisexuals (52 percenl) vs. heterosexuals (31 percen!)
BloJCks (51 percent) n. whites III percent)
"
•
Catholics (36 percent) vs. Protestants (34 percent) Vi. Jews (25 percent) THE POWER Of A LIE
•
Unemployed (42 percent) vs. employed (34 percent)

Liberals (37 percent) Vi. Conservativeli (29 percent)

" "Lying is a wilY of pining "a-r owr other people through mmipul.illting them in
ill • AlP=s l8-l4 (SO percent)
iI vilrious ways. This is something that children Ie.illm. They .so learn to keep
Age~ 25-.... (34 percent)
secrets. Sometimes secrets ilre deceptive, .iIInd sometimes they are not. If we are
Ages 45-64 (29 per<.ent)
ITlt1ture, we have 10 unlearn any enjoyment of th.illt "a-r.
Ages 65 and older (19 percen!)
"You have to know th.illt lhe "a-r Is there, and then you h.iIIYe to see If you can
• I\:ople e.illrning less th.illn $10,UUO .iIInnu.illlly (49 percent) Vi. those milking $45,000 possibly live without it. Th.illt doesn't mean you never get into a situation where
01 more III percent) lying might be necessary but, on the whole, you try to Ie.illd your life so that you
iI I "Serious lie~ ilre lieltlill hUll people, ~Ie iI tru~l, have legil (oMequ*,nlI!S, or .rl! IOl.&lly iI cummuniule with other people without Irying tu ITlt1nipulate them."

IoeH·,*,I\'inll· -Si~SI!la Bok, philosopher

48 THE DAY AMERICA TOLD THE TRUTH PRIVATE LIVES: ETHICS, VALUES, AND DILEMMAS 49­

~ asked people about the most serious lie that had ever been told to
WE LIE THE MOST TO THOSE WE LOVE
ill them:
AmeriQOs confess to ~ing regularly lied to the following:
I'erson to Whom Liel Ate Told I'M:etIIIp 01 r.opIe Who tie • A man from the Northwest: 'That a child was mine and, three years
116%
later, it was proved he wasn't by a blood test."
Puent
friend 75 • A woman from the Southeast: 'That my ex-husband wasn't having
ill Sibling 73 sex with my daughter. "
Lover 73 • A woman in her twenties from the Northeast: "My husband stole
Spou~ 69 $1,000 from me and then bed. I found out the truth six months
Boss 61
later."
Child S9
Best friend sa • A man from the Midwest: "Being told my biological mother was
ill Co-worker 56 dead, when she liYed a few blocks from me."
NelBhbor 49 • A woman from the South: "My IIeCOnd husband told me he was not
Grandpuent 47
a gambler, never gambled. In fact, he was a compulsive gambler.
Work subordinate 4S
What a pig!"
OoctQr 32
Accountant 22
ill Clergyman 21 As further confinnation of America's distrust of authority, 32 percent
Lawyer 20 think that they've been lied to by a clergyman. The same applies to
accountants (34 percent). And in the case of lawyers, people say it in
•.• AND THOSE WE LOVE UE 10 US
spades: furty-two percent believe that they've been lied to by attorneys.
Petson Who Lies to Us I'eIRnu,e Who Alree
Friend 84""
ill Child 13
Co-worker 80 WHAT WE LfARNED ABOUT LIARS
Sibling 80
lover 80 What are we to make of all of this lying? Here are some observations that
Spouse 78 we made, based on thousands of interviews:
Parent 7S
Itl Boss n • Most of our lies are relatively harmless.
Work subordinate n
Best friend 68 • Most Americans are not trying to hurt other people with thm lies.
Neighbor 67 • Lying does empower many of us. It allows us to be people we aren't.
Grandparent 49 It gives us the illusion of control.
Lawyer 42
• There are more seriuus liars right now (liars who do hann) than at
Itl Accountant 34
Clergyman 32
any time in our nation's past.
Doltor 31 • Inside many liars is an honest person trying to get out. In our
interviews, we let some of those people out-for a day, anyway.
• Lying has become a cultural trait in America Lying is embedded in
our national character. That hasn't really been understood around
the worJd. Americillls lie about everything-and usually for no good
reason.
• The majority of Americans today (two in every three) believe that
there is nothing wrong with telling a lie. Only 31 percent of us
belicve that hOllcsty is the best policy_
 MEN AND WOMEN IN THE 19905 107

14

\\bmen still wonder, and worry whether a man can be sensitive and
nol be a wimp. This is consistent in both rural and urban parIS of the
country.

WOMEN ARE THE MORAL SEX

One thing isn't contusing anymore, not to women, nor to men:
\\bmen are the more moral sex. That's one of the only propositions
What Men Really Think
that the two sexes absolutely agree on.
\\bmen he less, steal less, fight less, do drugs less, are less often drunk
About Women;
on the road or on the job. \\bmen are more responsible, more loyal at
work, more faithful in th~ir relationships. \\bmen make better citizens,
What Women Really Think
bellel' team players.
Yet it's still a man's world. Half of the men and two-thirds of the women
About Men;
said that men have the easier life. (On lhis issue, as on many othetB,
blacks parted company with whites. Most blacks believe that women have
it easier.)
and the Real Truth
rorty-five percent of men say that their best friend is a woman.
Only 31 percent of women find their best friend in a man.
About Both
MalTiage has been an institution that supposedly protected women
from the consequences of male tomcatting. As you might expect, women
do not fully share the view that marriage is on the rocks. That marriage
"till death do us part" is outdated, that the institution itself will be
obsolete by the year 2000, that most marriages will end in divorce: These
are all opinions held by some women but by many more men.
On the other hand, the proposition that "parents have an obligation to
Ttll:: sexual revolution of the 19605 and 1910s has left American men and stick it out in a bad marriage for the sake of the children" got the
women of the 1990~ in Iitlparate world!;. nley stare at each other with agn!emellt of 41 percent of the men vs. only 26 percent of women.
indifference or, often, hObtility.
What do men honesdy think about women?
In OUI interviewb, it was t:Videllt dlat the majority of men btUl bet!
women through the leub of traditional stereotypes. \\blllen art! St:C11 as WHAT WOMEN SAY ABOUT MEN IN THE POWDER ROOM
pUltSycalb, 0 .. at least as catb; lheir Liulogy is their destmy; they nebt; \\\! thought that it would be an interesting experience-for men
they shop; they cry for no discernible reatiOn. Nonnan Mailer onl:e said, c!>pedally--lo h~ar what some contemponuy women really say about
"You dOll't know anythiJlg ahuut a woman until you meet her in l·mul." tHen whclI they talk alllong themselvcs.
Sylwstel' Stallone has lx.>t:1I l4uutt..-d ab lohlying, .., have alJ the rCillOt)/l in the The Sl:cne is an otlice IJuildillg in a metropolitan dty. The partiCipants
world to be a misogynist." arc all professional women, college graduates, with an interviewer.
What do women really think abuut men?
\\Umen see men as predators; bullies; boys; the primary provider; even
as meal tickets. Most women express some fear and COllcem about the
pll~sical (or viujent) side or Ameril:du men.

106
 MEN AND WOMEN IN THE 1990. 109
108 THE DAY AMERICA TOLD THE TRUTH
I iI
l'etcenu,e
Activily Men Women

I
iel WOMEN: THE HONEST SEX Shoplifted 26 16
PEOI'LE WHO B£L1EVE THAT IT'S ALL RIGHT TO LIE ... Used an ellpeOse account to entertain a personal friend 19 5
Why Men Women Took a kickback or bribe 15 4
63~ 52%

To protect oneself
iI WOMEN: THE MORE DILIGENT AND PERSEVERING SEX
To avoid person.. emtJ.rrusment
56 48

56 35
,..",.,.
ie I To keep one's job
To make oneteIf look better 2& 19
Who Ape
To gain a ramal! amqunt of money 25 15
8eIieI MM ~

To get even with someone 16 8

The Ym( to get ahead is by politics, not by twd MH'k SK 42~

I expect to compromise values to get ahead 32 20
PEOI'LE WHO HAVE STOLEN ... iI The only w~ to get ahead is to cheat 19 8
FIOIlI Whom Men Women
iel
27% 17%
WOMEN: THE LESS ADDICTED SEX
Store

2S 11

Pilnmt

Str.nger
20 6
Who~
19 7
.AddicCioII MM Women
Friend
iI
Bo5~
15 8

13 8
Alcohol 32~ 18%
ill Lover
IIIept drugs 26 19
11 3

Neishbor
Gambling 12 5
10 1

Co-worker

Clienllcuratomer
10 3

Work subordinate
9 2
WOMEN: THE GENTlER SEX
Child
7 J
iI
~e
iel People Who Have Ever • •• Men Women
WOMEN: B£TTER WORKERS
Gotten into a shoving match 61% 3O'JI.
#'efCtml. ."

Challenged someone to a fight 56 26

AcliWly Men Women
Gotten into a 'is,fight 54 20
Pilrticipated in unethical p••ctices lit work
23%
38
14%

32

... Hit someone with m object

Sent someone to the hoipia.!
15
19
29
5
Took office supplies

ill
Lied 10 boss
27 18
Threatened someone with a knife 13 6
lied to co·worker
19 13
Thre.tened someone with II Bun 13 5
W.~ dlunk at work
15 4
~ut someone with II knife 10 3
Uraed drugs at work
12 4
Shot someone with a Bun 8 2
leit work early without tefling lInyone
19 11

Hlid an ai/air with a co-wmker

13 6
... I'etcen~e
Stole valuable company property
6 1
WflpOn CMried Men Women

*' Goofed uff at work

WOMEN: TtiE LESS lARCENOUS ~X

35 30
knife
Gun
15~
12
4%
4

""",,,,,.," ... WOMEN: lHE MOKE SUSPICIOUS SEX

Men Wumtm
~ htcen~
Itl Cheated on a test or exam
4J% 27%
AaMly . lien Women
Lil!d on ~ job application
40 26

16
Searched spou~eJIover'5 wallet/purse 34% 56'"
Burro~,J moll~y without repaying it
.JO
:lI
S«retly gone through spouiellover's mall 28 46
Cheated on i'l(;ome t.xes
29
27 14
Lhe<:ked up on ,pouiellover's whereabouts 40 4S
ElWlSl\er,ued un an insurance dlIim

110 THE DAY AMUICA TOLD THE TRUTH MEN AND WOMEN IN THE 1990. 111
PelCent18e WOMAN #3: "Understanding." When you talk to a woman, she listens,
Atliv;'y Men Women and she hears what you're saying. Whereas, when you talk to a man, it's
iI
Se~rched child's room 28 43 just what's there. You don't get any more. I think men do not hIM! the
Questioned spousellover's friend 35 42 feel for the way our needs change. With a man, it's like being in a time
Secretly gone through child's mail 23 38
warp. It's as if he's saying, "w,ut a second. '«>U just got me bent all out of
LilOtened in on spouseJlover's phone call 19 28
Li~tened in on child's phone call 17 25 shape because you were crying. n And the woman says. "Ob, that's past.
Secretly fol"-d spousellover 22 22 I've gotten rid of that" The man goes off and has a heart attack, and the
iI
Secretly followed child 18 16 woman has totally gotten it out of her system.

ill WHAT WOMEN WD AIOUT MEN ACI05S AMERICA

iI I ANIMAlS WE ASSOCIATE WITH THi OPf'OSITE SO

Things that women ~id to us about men:

o "How dumb they ~re ... they're not brain surpons, not _ the brain
ANIMALS MEN ASSOCIATE WITH WOMEN: surgeons."-a youns saJeswomm from the wt, never muried, lives with
l'etcentl8e her lover.
if
AnirMI 01 Men o "I think Mick Jager had ~ rare insight: 'Men ~re busts of burdenl'''-a
~rried WOIniln from the East Coast.
ill C~tIkitlen 41"'­
o "The best man, tmt r~re keeper, gives good check... · -m EHI Coast woman,
Dow/bird 6
~rried twice.
Deer/doe 4
o "I think men hiwe a Ireat sense of fairness. If you keep everything on that
umblsheep 4
~sis, they respond very -'1,"_ psychologist from the West Coul,
iI married.
ANIMALS WOMEN ASSOCIATE WITH MEN:
• "How well can he perform'''_n educator from the South, in her flftIes,
ill hrcetl,.,e never married, lives alone.
AnirMI 01 Women o "Tmt they can be Iyinl asshoIes."_ nlneteen-year-old laborer from the
Dog 23% Midwest, never m~rried, IMls with ~ roommate.
Pr~tor Illonlti~er) 21 • "Give me nice biceps. 1'\1 jump on tmt myoid time."_ Wesl Coast widow
GorilWapelmonkey 8 if in her late twenties.
Donkeylhorse 5 • "Perverts, by and larse. They are ~H ~er one thing."_ mvried woman
Wolflfox 5 trom the Midwest. In her euly twenties.
ill
Bull/ox 4 • "Need ~ mother 10 tell them what to do. Sometimes, I like that too."_
Wetiells~kelr~t 4 West C~st budget assistant. in her thirties, married.
o "How they are in bed and the size of their dick. For talk and companion­
ship, I've lot lots of girl friends."_ married wom~n from the Southwest,
if
in her late thirties.

INTEIlVIEWt:R: Please write down the first thing that popli into your
mind when I say "women."
WOMAN # 1: "Superior Race." I just think that women are baliically
beller than men. I think that they're more interesting, more emotional,
inwKhtful, have a lot more depth to their character, are more open, are
more caring, are not that limited. They're emotionally more open than
men, alld intere1iting and loving and limart.
WOMAN #2: "(;rcat and imerebtillg." If I think about peuple I know
and the people I care about, aud the people 1 think are bpeCial, I tcnd to
have many more women than men who fall in that category.
The talk eventually turns to the real role of men in their lives:
WOMAN # I: 1 don't have any friends that are men. I mean, it's about
sex lor me. I lee! very fulfilled in all other areas. 1 really think I've built
up a lite where I can almost function Without a man.
WOMAN #2: I feel like I'm not valkJated without a male partner in
some ways because I was brought up that wJ.y. You know, very strict,
Catholic. Hut there's the other tiide of me that is completely validated
withuut them. 1 do matter in this world Without a man.
112 THE DAY AMERICA TOLD THE TRUTH
WOMAN #3: That's an issue that a lot of women feel the same about. I
think you just said it. A lot of women in their late thirties who are not
paired off with somebody have that exact feeling, like they feel very good
and accepted in other aspects of their lives.
WOMAN #2: Bul they're not validated.
WOMAN #3: Yeah.
WOMAN #4: It's like you have to take care of men. It's not two strong,
equal individuals who are coming together at the same place. I feel like
the woman is more intigrated and stronger and bas been through more.
And then here comes this guy who has needs and speaks with a forked
tongue and acts like he's liberated. But he's not liberated, and he doesn't
really want you to be independent either. It's ... I don't know. I just
think they're not as evolved.
WOMAN #5: I think the only successful relationship I've ever had was
with the first man who wasn't threatened by my career. And that's the
man I married.
WOMAN #6: Think about the times when you're away from home on
business. I find that men are completely helpless when we're not around,
and you see another side of them all of a sudden. He's like a very strong,
macho man, who can do everything. And you go away on business for
two weeks, and they fall apart. It's like they don" know what to do wilh
themselves.
WOMAN #5: 'abu know what else is interesting? When spouses die,
almost within the year, men will hook up with somebody and remarry. I
think they need a pill·tnCI" no malter. I think women are much stronger
and don't need to jump into the next relationship.
WOMAN #6: Actually, a lot of widows become amazingly euphoric,
even if they loved their husbands.
WOMAN #4: See, I wish sometimes men could just act like women.
WOMAN # 1: The whole idea that the man is supposed to be the strong
person in the relationship and the provider, we're criticizing all of these
things about guys-and then, on the other hand, when they're not that
way, it'!> sometimes perceived as a lack of strength.
INTi:RVIl-:WER: 'That's a point. A lot of women I know break up relation­
ships if the guy's wimpy.
WOMAN #2: So we're saying, "Why can't they be more like women?"
\\bmen an: unden;tandin~, women arc emotional. women are vulnerable.
Then, when we find men like that, we don't WolDt them.
WOMAN #4: I used to ha\'e male mends, but they're never as good as
female friends.
WUMAN #2: AU my male liicnds arc gay.
INTl-:RVII-.WER: Wheu II)ClY lhe word "mcn," write down a word.
MEN AND WOMEN IN THE 19901 113
.. "MOMMY"
"I love intelligent women. I love to go home md talk to women who want to talk
about politics or birth control or, God forbid, baseball. forty years ap, my
mother didn't go to college, she didn't go to high school. She was one-dimen­
sional, raised the kids. And one night, the night my father died, I stayed up until
five o'clock in the morning with our two friends, drinldna beer with my mother,
tr which I had never done in my life. And I found out that here was a woman that
WiS incredibly talented, an incredible brain. I thought of her as Mommy. Then,
aU of a sudden, she's telling me she listens to Itzhak Perlmvl and all these things
when my father wasn't in the house, because he felt threatened that she liked
something he didn't understand completely. And I think that was very typical of
.. that generation. And what a damn sNme. And it's too bad we don't spend more
time understanding who women really are, and they don't do the same really
finding out about who we are."
-Man, in his Nte forties, white, f<IIher of IWO, coIIqe pilate, busineu
executive.
WOMAN #1: "Boys." I don't think of women as girls. But I do dUnk
about aU these little boys running around. They're big children, and
incredibly needy.
WOMAN 112: \ery needy.
WOMAN #3: "Self-centered." When you meet a guy for the first time,
it's amazing how little they ask about you. '*>u'll sit and you'll spend two
hours having dinner with them, and they'll tell you everything about
themsel\'es. And they won't ask a thing about you. I don't think the key
to a mau'l> heart is through his stomach. It's through your ears. Because
llhink that men will fall in love wuh you if you're a great listener.
INlt:RVIEWER: What would you say is the greatest area of conflict
between men and women?
WUMAN #4: Control. Who's going to sit in the driver's seal
WHAT MEN SAY ABOUT WOMEN IN THE LOCKER ROOM
The participants now are all professional men, friends, drinking bud­
dies. I Jere are the kinds of' things men say about women over a few beers.
INT~RVIEWER: Just teU us the farst word that pops into your mind when
you think of women.
MAN III: "l':rratic." My mother was erratic. My sister's err-me. I think
nne uf Illy duwnlalls is uupn:dil:lablc and erratic women.
MAN #"2: "\Uluptuous. II
 THE DAY AMERICA TOLD THE TRUTH
114
MAN #3: "Ambivalence." \\bmen have two personalities-modern-day
women anyway, the ones I deal with. They have this necessity to prove
themse!vt:s in the business world, or to prove themselves the equivalent
of men on a lot of levels. But underneath it all. there's this driving desire
to make a nest. So paIt of them is constantly fighting. ~ can meet the
most qualified woman intellectual, and underneath that, when you
scratch the surface, you lind SOIlleone who wants to build a nest.
MAN #2: I think when a girl is coming up the street, men look at her
MEN AND WOMEN IN THE 19901 115
MAN #3: I think women have more difficulty dealing with men's
idiosyncrasies than men do dealing with women's idiosyncrasies.
INTERVIEWER: Are women more honest than men?
MAN #5: I think they are, yeah. They think they're more honest, see.
They blurt out stuff that we can't understand.
MAN #4: One pussy hair has got more power than a church full of
saint!). I wish I could say it in Italian. That's women's power and their
strcngth. That's the only way they can control the male.

tits. Nobody looks at &heir minds. And that's all they say: "What's the

matter? Why don't you look. at my mind?"

INTli:R~Ili:WER: Which sex has a better fix on the needs and priorities
ONE CONCWSION
of the oth~r sex? A bad altitude exists right now between American men and women.
MAN #-1: \\Vmen are more perceptive about life in general. Plus they
TIlis attitude is conUibuting to the problem between the sexes.
spend much more time thinking about certain things than men do. Men A majority of men believe that women expect men to undel8tand
are in buliiness doing this or that. \\bmen have more time to do it. They women's emerging needs but that women aren't willing to reciprocate
spend half their life doing that. with men. They don't try to understand the problems of being a man.
MAN #3: People came in and made women aware that they had brains
Men feel that the situation has become completely unfair and weighted
and tha'e was something better in life than just raising children. \\ell, against them. "Men die earlier," one man said. "and I don't think women
that may be right and may be wrong. But it still goes against everything have stopped to think about why that's so. Most men have the pressure
in nature. of responsibility thrust on them, and it goes from cradle to early grave."
INTERVIEWER: What do you think are the ground rules today? Thi!) bitterness is widespread, and it rum deep among the men we
MAN ;;3: I belieYe tllere are new ground rules. 1don't quite unde[t;land
talked to. It surfaced in interview after interview, when men began to
them, and that's why I stay wilhout a relationship. talk about what they really think and belie\'e. It's creating a counter­
MAN #2: I think there are instincts deep down with women,
trcnd tuward the past: the old TBtA (tits and ass) syndrome is returning.
MAN # 1: They're unlJelievabJe.
It also hilt; the potential to spawn a rtM>lution among men-a men's
MAN #2: \\bmen tlUllk-no, they Imow-we're providers.
movement.
MAN #-1: The need to have a lJaby is unbeliev-olble. TIley have no control

\\Umen have changed during the past couple of decades; that is clear
over it. Something inside them is saying, "\bu got to reproduce. 'lUu have from our interviews. w'men are more confident about tllemsehes, more
only so many more years. Reproduce! Reproduce!"
outspoken, much more involved in the work force. 1be previous docu­
MAN # 1: \\bmen are captives of their bodies.
mentation of this a(;curately matches our data: W,men's superiority in
MAN #2: Of course they ate.
moral!; and ethics, while suspected by some, is o\'elWhelming.
MAN #4: It'l get married again (I got married twice) 1 wouldn't marry
The rhetoric or the women's movement, however, seems to have helped
a woman that works. I don't want to get involwd with women that work.
to l:reate caricatures of men, stereotyping, and bigotry. Alleast, it came
It intericres with life. I like to play a lot of golf on weekends. And if you up often in our interviews. As necessary as this stereotyping may have
can't hack that, don't get involved with me. That's my opinion. been as a catalyst 10 change, it bas now become another obstacle to
IrHUtV1EWf.tl: Do you think it was better the way it was, when women
Il!l:ondliation bet ween the IieXe8.
stayed home? Hut stereotyping is happening with both sexes right now. Most men
MAN 112: \\bmen ar!!n't dedicated to business the way men are. 111ey
and women seem to have little experience that results in an understand­
come in at nine, they work until five. In my opinion, I think thal,
ing uf the oppotOite sex. Their views are largely shaped by myth and word
basically. they're looking lOr a husband. They're not going to go and (If IIlCluth frolll I'licnds. Listening to American men talk about women is
!;UplJOll the family--,·at !caslllOl if tlwy have a choice, like h~Lellill~ to them talk alxJUt world VOUtics. They know very little, but
MAN # 1: I ieel a ll'cmenduus amount of cOII,'ulSion in my gcncration.
 .'.

116 THE DAY AMfllCA TOLD THE nUTH

iI WHAI MEN ACIOSS AMOICA SAID AIOUT ~N

• "They'.e In!ed)" 1e5M!f peopIe."~ deipr from &he We~t C~t, in hi~
Ihiniei, newf ........ itId.
• "Mt!n oUtI ~,io.r 10 WOIIltIn. The proof is ewrywhere. Who runs the
world'''---an t.ro& eu..t nloUl, in hi.l~le thirties, 1IW',i¥d.
tI
• "They Kt Met drew lUG much like men, ret they newe, pick up lhe
ch«k."-in E••, CuMI mnwnne" in hil Menliel, A_r m,mied, liveli
alone.
• "Sure, WOr1WII IlKced Ihe j~.,., bul at leilil men made an clio,. to under­
sund whitlhear neeldi .re. Wonwn .t..cotype men iInd
Undef5tilnd."-40 E... eo.ul wklwnan. IIW'ried.
.nak.
no effort tu

• "They're a hull. pain in !he "$ bul nice 10 Iwve around. -an unemployed
II

iI min from ..., t ..., in hili Ihirlifi, dillUfced.

• "They •• e only "uod 11K one thinS; two, if $he an cook."~ Soulheln cop,
in his fortie., ",.,ried.
o "T~I they ... :.urry bitches iInd only lood 'or one thing."-il Midwestern
Wllldltr, lwetlliclt, IMMtr married.
• ". know why m)' wi'. like;; modern dinee. I love il lhat .he doe•. She',
made no di~1I Iv urWt:.liund why ltuve the thinp I du."..; Ioiwyef 'rURI
iI
the South.
• "TheY'fll COWVlt. Yuu willk intu Mly k·MarI in &he counlly, you'lI ..e nothinl
bUI LOWI, Isu.fotnle. il."-.", It.ilion OWVRer 'rurn abe MidM:ltl.
• "This _'I ~uund velY elllishilmlld uf me, bul ii', Kc.:ur.le. When ~ man
m~'rle~ a WOIfI"", two thing' ~n; One, lhe wom.1Il c.:hinKelt; two, ~hll
Irio!l 10 dl4l1~ yuu. AllllUltt 1111 Ill." will diwK,t:e with Itwl."-il mltd;,••
tI dtA:tOl OR &/11: Weltl C.,.)l.

what Ihcy know. lhey'l'c ;adamant about. \\bmen uncn tlllk about mcn
Wilh Ill&.! saUte lack uf real uudcn~talldillg. Aud "aey'r.: iu'h:xilJlc about
llitlir views ill> wcU. lu iutcrvicw ailer illterview. bulh :;CXCIt werc cu·
trcndacd in lhei.r ~c..cutyfltlb and prcjudiccb ahoul the wher sex.
Ahuu:;l hlllf uf alll11cu dUlik uf WUUM:ll ab IJUtllllli.
AJiuu:.1 half of .ill \~UlUcu lhiuk ul' meu a:. dO"b ur pn.'.tIatocb.

21
have of them.
Modern American
see why.
Business: Greed at the Top
Much has been written on the loss of world market share by American
businesses and why we can't seem to compete the way we used to.
According to thousands of workers and bosses, one very important and
underestimated reason is clear: The perceived low ethics of management
is a major cause of our problems in the business world.
Greed in American management is out of control. Never have !iO many
taken su much, right otl" the top.
It I THl ROUIU WITH IUSINISS TOOoW
"The trouble with the rat race is tNt ewn if you win. you're ilill a
-lily Jumlin
When we asked about their business ethics, American executives
pointed a shaking finger of guilt-at themselves.
'Illey know that they're doing wrong. The managerli' viewli of their
146
WORK 147
own actions, their own morality, is even lower than the one their workers
In addition, modem American managers show little loyalty to their
companies, to their workers, or to the public that buys those products.
American workers reply with absenteeism, petty theft, indifference,
and a generally poor performance on the job.
The American business system often creaks and grinds to a halt, and
it's the ,Japanese or Europeans who get the next order. The syndrome
has gotten worse every year of the past decade. Let's start at the top and
THE BOSSES
FUmier NCAA chanlpionship basketball coach AI McGuire once 0b­
served, ". think the world is run by C students." McGuire has pretty high
standards, and he keeps being disappointed by the leaders he meets.
The consensus is that our business executives are enrtching them­
selves beyond any kind of acceptable level, while impoverishing America.
As a direct consequence, there is no loyalty in many companies. The
very idea iii scorned: "You want loyalty? Hire a cocker spaniel'" one of
our iDlerviewees told us.
Other thoughts we heard:
• "GM isn't what it was, and they were never all that great to us. "-a
GM worker.
• '1'here used to be a sense of family around here-not since the
buyout."-a General Rxxts manager.
• "You want to be loyal, you wdnt to belong to something better than
It AMEllCA AND JAPAN: THf D1FFUENCE IN UKUTIVE PlIVILEGE
"Tht! income gap between American and Japanese busine55 executiws is astound·
ing. . . . There is no w~ that 101 Japanese executive) coutd expect to equal the
luxuries enjoyed by American eXKutiYes. Mr. Matushita, probably the wealthiest
nwn in j.lpan, when traveling abroad with his secretary, uses regular commerciill
r."" It
llighb. HiVing .. private pWle is simply out 0' his realm 0' consideration.
",An Americanl corporate chairman with whom I am acquainted complained
thaI he has no use for all the money he receiws. His company is doing well, and
his income is in the muhi-million-dollar-a-year range. His children ;are all,rown,
.1Ild he ..nd his wife already hiVe ViKation villas, a yacht, and .. private airplane.
Ue ~id they just have no w~ to spend any more money on themselves."
-Akio MDril~, Chilirm.llll of Sony Corporation
It
148 THE DAY AMERICA TOLD THE TRUTH WORK 149

yourself, but they make it impossible. "-a Shearson Lehman execu­

tive. • A NEW YOIUC EXfCUTIVE TELLS HOW THE SYSTEM \\OIlS

• "Everybody is for themselves now. Nobody's for First National
Bank."-a First National Bank of Chicago employee.
• "They lie to us ev~ry single day. "-a ronner Ykndy's employee.
• ".Jameli Brown it; in jail while Ross Johnson walks free. Something's
wrong here. "-a tunner RJR worker, a black woman.
TEN \,a:RY LARGE GOlDlN PARACHUTES
·1
"Not every but too many senior executives hiM! their price. That's why there are
these exorbitant salaries at the top of a lot of companies. We won't admit It, not
even to ourselves, but we'lIt! been boupt. If we deliver profits, at almost any
cost, then we set ludicrous bonuses--millions of dollars.
• "This is how the system works and it's repeated in most companies: Money Is
put on the table fof lop executiw!s, especiIUy the top dot- A lot of money.
Enough money to make it impossible for the exewtille not to do what Is
'necessary.' Let's yY it's $15 mU110n if the numbers are ~"I jf they
aren't. That kind 01 money can cause someone to rationalize a lot of decisions,
especially when it comes to cutbacb. In a sense, the bi8 money packaaes create
a conflict of interest for the executive: '00 I do the right thins by my peopIel Or

NiIme MId Tirle ComfWlY

Re~
kKLe~";n8
To/al DolIN
Pad.age • by the bottom line (Including my bottom line)l' An incredible amount of ration­
alizing goes on. 'This is for the good of the company; it has noth"" to do with
John M. Richman, Vice-Chair,.,.n Philip Morris Retired $22,400,000 my $15 million.' That kind of interior dlalosue.
Robert M. Price, CEO Control Data Resigned 13,500,000 "I'd like to say I could rationalize what l'lIt! done in terms of people in my own
., R. Gordon McGovern, CEO
G4lrth H. Drabinsky, CEO
Cimpbell Soup
Cineplex Odeon
Resigned
Resigned
11,100,000
7,400,000
company. I can't. I was bought."
-Man in hI5 mid-Iorties, white, _ned, urns .ax- $5IID,IIOO it year plus
Joseph G. Temple, ExKulive
Vite-President
Dow Chemical Resigned &,500,000

5,800,000
• bonuses.

Terrence D. Daniels, Vice- W.R. Grace Resigned

Ch.tirman

., Jan Lo:!schly, President

Myron I. Gottlieb, Vice-Chairman
Horst W. Schroeder, Pre)ident
Squibb
Cineplex <>deon
Kellogg
Resigned
Resigned
Resigned
5,400,000
4,500,000
3,800,000
ill lOSSES vs. WOUfIS

~of ~of
Kenneth J. Thyger)on, Chairman Imperial Corp. Resigned 2,bOO,000 Question MatYam Who -"11ft Wottm Who-"llft
Who works harderl
SouK"; BU5ineu Wee,\;. ~y 7, 19'JO
Workers 43'" ~
~n~gers 31 18
·1 Who is more ethicall
Workers 37 37
Several workers told us about the unethical things they'd actually seen Managers 13 19
executives do. The misc.leeds 1II0l;t often wimessed: intimidating and
threateniug employt..-es; violating job safety standards; discriminating ., Who i~ more greedyl
Workers 10 15
against Wacks, Hbpanks, or Asians; discliminali.llg against WOllltm; Manclgers 61 53
sexually l....rassing womeu; oven criminal actions; making products that
Who is more trustworthy I
endange.· lives. Workers 32 ..0
On w..U Street and ill HoUywood, two places where the sharks are ~n~8er5 14 14
especially thick, there's .1 common feeling that the younger carnivores .1
are even more voradous than their elders. Who takes credit for another's workl
"It's like Lord oJ tile Flies, with the yuppies in middle management," Workers 18 23
~nagers 50 51
said one husinessmall we spoke to. ··It's emotiouaUy draillillgjustto LOUIe
to work illlhe morning." Who cares mosH
The movie busilless wali never particularly noloo lor its business
morality. But .Jere IJcllshaw. a produl:cr who's bt!cn around for thirty
., Workers
Molllagers
2&
29
41
24
years, tuld the to:> Allyt"it:!) Time!) that the new breed of lloUywuc.x.I
 ,.,

150 THE DAY AMERICA TOll> 1 HE nUTH

executi~ has tumed the perwuaJ ,rUtillhal ulied to govern d~aI-making

into a joke,
"The older hands g~t dePl'etibed," IJemJUlw said, "Ther~'s a lack of
moriility ...uong the ),uuugt:r SCl. L~illg 1).1110 lJecuna.: il WiAY uflUe. What's
fruSll',lliug is that I dUll" ~ any uWilziw'aWe rt:waN fur hOllt.'St), or
fortlulghulCSS, ..

."
~. ETHICS: Ull ",)lkt.~' Iltl'OlT

Thint percenl oi Alnt:1 h:iln \WI kim. wr II.... Iht:il enlf*Jyel ellg~e~ ill oAt 1,,4»1
one u, Ihe 'oIlowins "iIllJ~ ul un"lhkoll Alivilie,,;

• ~""r
hie ""'''&'' ul
"'''I\'",i,''a
Inlimw.les oImJ 111I".aI.,II" enlplu)'ec~ regul...1y
VioI.le» job wiel)' »1......... 1.1.
OiSt li...in~es "Iain!>1 bI.al.k~, I th"oIniu., 01 ~UII"
..
I~i""

11
(liM. fllninile" "lIain~ """~II 01 >cll...alI)' h.., ..~»C,. diem II
• I Ln",1iC' in nimill.al alli~ihal~ 5
..uke,. prodLK:b Ih.l e"ll.&lIlI':' hUAloIIi live,; ..

• I IIUSINtSSfUUO IN lilt Nt ws
---_._------ --------------­
~usille"~ stori", It.." Ih,,~e .al" ~u \.UllullUlifJl.ale t...J.a) It loll tlK:)' ullt:n dOl... ellCIi
....... c the "UlII " ..ge ul "UlII""'p~I':

"lhe Gene.'" EI"'-IIK. Cl.lllliWlt)·, wtlll.h w~ 1.1.Il1vil.l~ in .. jury 1II.II.I'I.Ivcn I""H'

It inl Ih... Army lUI • Lwuld.dd """'pule' ~)~Ielll ...1I.e"... )'e,leld." Iu JloI), une til
lhe 1.1l1e1~t fint!~ e>t!f ")~t!l>!oc" 1<11 lJelroAudillll,he I)elc..... Ucp.ulmcili. t,. 1. \\,111
P"Y ~11>.1 millioH III uilll"'.! 0111". ivit '~Iwllie).
"lhe Norllul.lp l:or"ul.liun oIwe~ lu IJol) $1711l1l1iun 'u, 1.aI,ilyillK Ito" dollol un
UJrnlklflenb 01 11M: (1U1~eI lIIis,jlto .ntllhe 1i0l1lK:1 ~I, the 1.I'lIl')1 fI .."loIIY I100u.1
~"IlI"lIIelll WoA~ 'coAlh".' ill I~. wh.!11 Ihe ~wMhlroHtd l.I.IIPOI",I"'1I IUI<.I ) ..;
mil/lUll 'Uf l.I~cllHlhllg Ihc ••1)Vl'III,"CIIII.., nll'n",,) t""~"fe."
• ./IM!" hHi ,,,",,,, lui) !t, 1'rAJ
 WORK 155

THE TRUTH AS WORKERS SEE IT

22
The so-called Protestant ethic is long gone from today's American
workplace.
W>rkers around America frankly admit that they spend more than 20
percent (7 hours a week) of their lime at work. totally goofing off. That
amounts to a foor-day work week across the nation.
Almost half of us admit to chronic malingering, caBing in sick when
we are not sick. and doing it regularly.
One in six Americans regularly drink or use drugs on the job.
American Workers Get to
Only one in four give work their best effort; only one in four work to
realize their human potential rather than merely to keep the wolf from
Tell the Truth
the door.
But then, why should we? After all. half of us genuinely belieYe that
you get ahead not through hard work but through politics and cheating.
About one in four expect to compromise their personal beliefs in order
to get ahead on their current job.

CAN'T GET NO SATISfACTION

Only one in ten say that they are satisfied with their jobs. Only three
in len Americans tMly tbat they are loyal to their companies.

IV REGION: MODliN AMERICAN WOUfI5

ill
(For a map of Ameriu's reSions, see Part I.)

VERY SATISFIED WITH JOB (National Average: 20%)

Re,ion I'e~ llegion ~!*fe
Here is the quid pro quo ill the American workplace today.
American workers are as disloyal to their jobs as their bosses and ii' M.ulboro Country
Old Dixie
35'"
33
New South
Pac Rim
19%
18
compauies are perceived to be disJoyalto Ulem. Granary 2S Metropolis 17
Over their life span, Ule averaKe American worker will spend 76,900 L.A.-Mex 22 NewEnstand 12
Rust Belt 19
hours on UJe job. That's a big part of their liveli-hy far the biggest
waking activity. PUT TOTAL EFFORT INTO JOB (National Awerase: 45%)
But to heal" person after person tell it, Americans make poor use of ill
Re&iOll ~e Resion l'ettenu,e
thot>e working hoon;.
Marlboro Country 65% Metropolis 43%
New South 52 Old Dillie 40
Q: How many people work in your office? Granary .q Pac Rim 39
A: Ahout half of them. l.A.-Mel( 46 New Enstand 27
ill Ku~t 8elt 45
That uld joke hm', far frum the truth in lhe 1990s.
154
156 THE DAY AMERICA TOLD THE TRUTH
Americans are happiest and do their best at work in Marlboro Country.
New England is at the opposite pole: Its residents admit that they are the
least satisfied with their jobs and the least willing to give work their total
effort.
Few of us are willing to put the public interest above our pocketbooks.
Most people told us that they would quit their jobs before they would take
a pay cut so that the following problems could be fixed:
• DiSCrimination against women, blacks, or Hispanics
• ProduLtion of products that endanger human lives
• Prevelltion of employee layoffs without sufficient notice
• Pollutiull of the environment
The reason they would quit is key: Americans don't trust the managers
who make these financial decisions, supposedly for the common good.
They believe that managel"S make decisions with only their own interests
at heart. Why then should workers be the ones to sacrifice?
Many American workers say that they cannot trust their co-workers
(43 perceut) or subordinates (38 percent) in the cunent business envi­
ronment. Maybe it isn't surprising when you listen to what people say
about their jobs.
WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT THEIR WORK
In the boardroom. "\\e were all millionaires, yet we thought it
compassionate that we took no bonus at a time when thOUsandlli were
being fired in our compauy. That's how out of touch we'd become."
Stealing. "Our night manager steals from the company nightly. \\e
caD him The Burglar." "Everybody steals supplies out of the warehouse."
"Co-workers take money out of the cash regititer," "My boss has taken
money and giveu mercha.ndise aW'tly."
l¥iDg. "Bosses often ask someone to say a job's done when we haven't
even started." "'There's constaut lying to clients about completion of
quotas," "We all lie to clients, everyone of us, to everyone of our clients."
Cheating. "Cheating people out of pay." "Leaving work without fin­
ishing the job." "Shameful misuse of company materials and company
time." "Cuver-ups for jobs not done." "Hdsification of a lot of ~i~u-in
sheets which gel billed."
Sex. "Secret meetings in the closet. ... My girl friend is botling the
boss durill~ lunch." "Employees loving each other in the store alter we
close." "Sexual harassment by our gay bosli. He hits on the men ill his
departmeul. "
WORK 157
It THE lOP fiVE OFfICE CRIMES
1. Takins office supplies and equipment
2. LyinS to a boss or co-worker
3. 5tealins company funds
4. Affair with a boss or co-worker
S. TakinS credit for work not done
It
Doctoring document•• "Falsified reports." "Shady accounting."
"Signing someone else's name." "Altering of many official recorda,"
"Signing by other people, not the applicant." "Using false company
names." "People falsifying forms for leave." "Incorrect work turned in to
fiU quotas. Everything we do down in South America!"
OFFICE CRIME
It's not surprising that we see so many locked doors or that companies
are turning to what's called "integrity testing" in rising numbers. These
are tests (not including lie detectors, which are banned by law) that are
given to job applicants in an effort to screen out would-be tbiew:s. This
kind of business testing is growing by more than 20 percent a year.
Super D Drugs, a chain in the Southeast, turned to integrity testing
after a dramatic rise in what they called "shrinkage." The company's
Vic:e-President for Loss Prevention said that the tests are already saving
$400,000 in stolen goods.
The New South, where Super D Drugs operates, ranks second only to
Metropolis in its rate of unethical employees. Old Dixie is close behind
those two.
You don't have to bolt the door quite so tightly in New England and
Marlboro Country, where workers' ethics are strongest.
The Case for Hirinl Women O\<er Men
Our current ethics at work are low, but they'd be a lot lower were it not
lOr the great number of women who've entered the work force irl recent
years.
When we compared the answers given by the two sexes, we confirmed
that women in thi!> country simply behave more ethically than men.
On every question we probed, American women in the workplace held
to a higher moral standard than men did.
158 THE DAY AMERICA TOLD THE TRUTH
.. IOSSlS AND WORKERS: THE GlOWING GAP
MBelWeen 1981 and 1969, the net worth of the Forbes 400 richest Americans narly
lripled. Corporate executives also made strides in this area. In 19110, corporate
Chief Exec:utive Officers made roughly forty times the income 01 iM!raae 'iCtory
workers. 8y 1919, CEO, _re makin, 93 time, ill much."
.. -kvln Po PhIllips, aulhor 0' The I'oIiIia 01 aIch MId Poor. We.1hh MId the
Ametian aectorite in the ItuBMllJtemlillh
Most women-but only a minority of men-are loyal to the company
that pays them (60 percent vs. 46 percent).
Less than half as many women as men believe that the only way to get
ahead is to cheat, and not as many believe in politics rather than work as
the way to success.
In addition, women are much less willing to compromise their values
to get ahead and somewhat more willing to quit as a matter of principie
if they learn that their company is engaging in illegal activities.
I.ook for the ~
In their on-the-job behavior, women are less likely, usually by pretty
big margins, to take office supplies home, to malinger, to lie to bosses
and co-workers, tu leave early, or lO goof off. Management is much less
likely to find a woman drunk at work or on drugs. If valuable company
property is stolen, the thief will be a man six times in seven.
At work, as in private life, women set a higher standard of ethics.
AMERICA'S BUSINESS FUTURE
High-school seniors proved even more cynical than aduh business
executi\cs. If you listen to our high-school seniors today, greed will be
even morc prevalent when they are running American industry.
On each of a dozen questions, seniors held lO a lower standard of
ethics-usually much lower-than did the adults whom they would one
day succt.:cd.
Buildih~ beuer mousetraps interests the seniors even less than it dOt:S
those Willi run Americall industry today. The statement, "Prime objective
of bUliinl':'s ilt to fJl'Ildun: the Ix!st product for the lowest PI1CC." wuu the
agreement of one-third of the adult bu!;inelts people Vlt. only '2.7 pcl'l;cmt
of the hlgh-sdlOOI students.
WORK 159
*
WHAT MIDDLE CLASS KIDS MISS: THE lOY Of GIVING
"One of Ihe most incredible things to me, really, is to see the typical middle class
kid who'. given everything he wants, except the privilege 01 service, the privilege
of 5elf-5oKrifice, and the joy of being a giver. We've become a pa5sive soc:iety that
iees everything in terms 01 our open mout~fill it with something I The idea that
*
we can actually do things for something broader__ community-i$ lost. "
-Willard Wylin, bioelhicist
Someone doing business with these high-school seniors is well-advised
to get paid in advance:
"Do you think that a company which is going bankrupt has a moral
obligation to repay its debt?" "Yes," said 56 percent of business execu­
tives. "No," said a larger majority (62 pt!rcent) of the senion.
Similarly, almost all of the adults "would replace a faulty product made
by Ilhdl'} finn even if under no legal obligation to do so." Fewer of the
seniors would do the right thing if they weren't under the gun of the law.
The kids on lying and cheating in business? They were twice as willing
as the adults were to do one or the other in the course of business.
\\buld you "consider lying to achieve an important business objective
of lhe firm'!" "Yes," said two-thirds (66 percent) of the seniors vs. less
than one-third (29 percent) of the adult executives.
"U a building is damaged by a stOlm, (would you) include all damages
covered by insurance, even though not caused by stoml?" "Yes," said half
of the seniors vs. one-quarter (26 percent) of the grown-ups.
THE 'lICE Of SUCCESS
"Success can be defined in so many ways. Right now people ask, how high is
your po~itiofl, how lIlany people work for you, how high is your salaryl When
you get into that kind of yuppie version of success, you're gains to sacrifice
things along Ihe w..y. There's not enough commitment to the ground rules of
civic virtue. The yuppie is the constituency that makes it okay. They're the people
who appl.lud success, who allow an Ivan Boesky to say, 'Greed is good: and not
be hooled down from the stage. They're the people who wrile book5 on how to
win by intimidation and who can get on every TV show to teach people how to
do that. Of course, this yuppie mentality is not really people, iI's an approach.
It'~ Ihe philosophy ui me.lsurlllg our lives by whal we get, what we acquire, who
we know. II'~ .I very shallow kind of life. People find that out in time_ But during
III<' !,eliClt! when thdl philU'o"phy flourishes, we SiluifiLe a lot."
··-MllI.,u·' ',~cf1h~"\, CUltl i~1
160 THE DAY AMlRlCA TOLD THE nUTH

"\\buld you cheat on a highly important business certification test?"

"Yes." said more than one-third (36 percent) of the seniors VS. 14 percent
of the adults.
More than twice as many &enion said they thought lhal it was ethical
to accept gillS- of $500 cab. ur it vacation. ur a Chri&tnliUi "resent wurth
$100 "'. uwre--trwn a DUwIh:r with Wbuul tbey were doing bUliineslt.
~ than twice ilti lIlany (44 percell' of the aenion Vii. 21 percent of
lbe ildultlt) did ,hal Ultly wuu1d "'11. a d'* if tbe1r brother·ju·loaw hili
an lnIidc: Up that h_CUlUIJiAIlY iii beulK add. TIler., is no Woly you can gel
caughl buying and iid.bng lbe IliWCk tOr a taandaiome prOOl. ..
t.bIt oa'the &t:lliorli {59 percenl) Iiilid lilat they would "cunsider making
a dt=al thal Is Ixmt.:diue ilh:pl bUl Iit4Uld to lUake $10 million. and
puniaillilltlut hi waly lliix muntlhi' probation." Half ilti IIWIY adult.. (24
percent) agreed.
What au~ we to.Dike of all thili?
1aken ill face vll1ue. il telb us that when thetie YOUII" people are
running the show. tbey will probolbly speud tlteir lim&: gambling Wilh
other peuple·s money whde Ule American economy ..tides t"urthtlr down
and we haw to ~o to GennallY or .);lpan to find a moullelriip lhill works.
IVrlunately. there'lt IiUWe widellce UlOtt lhUi is not the liltit wurd, wen
on how Lbutie IiiUDC tlC1Uorit will bt:tlOtYe when lhey are in the ,·eat buatUlcltlt
world. They're not Iht:Hl yea, IiO what lhey liay loday Ui biltied nol on
expt!l1ence but 011 lIlt:ltloagtlD dley gel hum our currtlUI leadeni illld
cultun:.
 24

----------
------------ -==-========----
- ----------------- --------------- =------------------
-------------~ ----------- ­-

The End of the Hometown

in America: The End of
Community

Somewhere in America's past, there is this wonderful, neiU'ly perfect

:;malllUWIl.
W!'ve S~1l it piclured in the ftlms of Frank Capra. in abe paintinp of
Nurmau Rockwell. \\\l'w: heard about it in Ol&Iuhutlu.d and ew:n in Bruce
Spriuglilccn's sungli.
lu lhat lOWll, everybody knows their neighbors. 'hn Sawyer-style
misc.:hief iii aLout as dOtie alii the town IMtf' IelS lu real criDlt:. 1.. lime of
~I'i:.il:i, everyone pild~ in, IiO no one in luwn ja reaUy alone.
That lOWIl walt lhe AmW'icau idt:a1 cunulJullily. It hi a1su il1~ dream
now.
Then~ arc very ,ew. If ilny. hometowns 1e1\ anynMN'e. More important,
thea'c Is lJl·.U;lI~ally 110 ben~ 0" community to be fOund anywtat:re in lhis
l:uuulry.
A va1"iety of lac.:ls supporllhib sudulogical change in Americallliving.

169
170 THE DAY AMERICA TOLD THE TRUTH COMMUNITY LIVES 171

WE DON'T GET INVOlVED ANYMORE

It WHIH PICKlT fENCES
'" love white picket fences. I think some of this country's greatest hours were the
late 19405 and early 1950s, when there WoiS some sort of fantastic mood thilt I'Ye
neYer seen again. Things seemed sotid and dean and newer, and there was oil
depth of whoIeIomenes5.••• Life went to hell in a band basket after thilt. Little
kids 10IIIere mooting heroin, not knowing where their mother was."
It --OiMd lynch, direaor of Twin Peaks wad Blue VeIve'
WHAT HAPPENED TO HOMETOWNS
As long as people respected the life and property of others, the social
and public order somehow hung together.
Now Americans are losing respect for private property. Three in four of
us confess to offenses against private property. ~ take things from work
(60 percent). ~ steal a towel from a hotel or health club (50 percent).
\\e don't repay loans (almOlit 25 percent). \\e shoplift (29 percent). \\e
even steal from our spouses (9 percent), parents (21 percent), and friends
(13 percent).
So here is what our current average neighborhood looks like. Here's
what has probably occuned in your neighborhood in the past twelve
months:
Americans today have tittle or no sense of belonging to a community
that is important to their lives. The thousands of people we interviewed
averolged out their level of community involvement below three on a scale
of one to ten.
And other measures of our alienation from community include:
• 1Wo-thirds of us haw never giYeJl any time at all to community
activities or to the solving of community problems. Not surprisingly,
more than two-thirds of us cannot name our local representative in
Congress.
• More than half believe that they haw no influence on the decisions
made by local government
• One-fourth admitted that they don't really give a damn about any of
their neighborhood's problems.
CHARITY BECINS M HOME
\\e are not a charitable people right now. The average American gives
conSiderably less than 1 percent of his or her income to charity. Nearly
one-third of all Americans have neYer given money to any charitable
cause!

• Home burglary (48 percent of us have reported a "neighborhood"

il BY REGION: WHERE
burglary recently) CHARITABlE DONATIONS AlE MADE
• Car theft (35 percent)
(For a map of America's re&iotts, see Put I.)
• Drug dealing (27 percent)
• Murder or attempted murder (23 percent) GIVEN MONEY TO A CHAItITABlE ORGANIZATION (National Ave,.: ~)
• Rape (9 percent) l'etcen,.,. Who ~ Who
il Resion DonaIe '0 ChMiry R.,;ott aon.te 10 CIMmy
Here's what your neighbor!; are afraid of: New Soulh 75% Rust Belt ~
New Enlland 75 Marlboro Country 62
• Being burglarized-we lock our doors (44 perct!nt) Grarw,), 71 L.A.-Mex 62
Metropoiis 70 Pac Rim 57
• Being raped t2.J percent) OldObde 69
• Tht!ir cars being stolen (34 percent)
• Being murdered in the vicinity of their own homes (14 percent)
•
As you travel the country. though, there is a signiftcant difference,
rcgiull to rc KWIl, in our wiUingness to giw. Charitable fund-raisers'
lJJ'o~pecl:; a.re best in the New South and New England, poorest in the
Pac Rim and L.A.-Mex.
172 THE DAY AMERICA TOLD THE TRUTH

WHO ARE THE PEOPLE NEXT DOORI

~ don't know our neighbors, either. The great majority of Americans
(72 percent) openly admit that they don't know the people next door:
25

• Have neYer spent an evening with them (45 percent)

• Have never borrowed the proverbial cup of sugar, or anything else
(42 percent) ,
• Have never been irnJide their homes (27 percent)
• Don't even know the names of the people who live next door (15
pen:ent)
America's Real Crime

Statistics

lit I WHO'll CAlE fOR THE UDlILYI

Inside our communities, how ..oout the elderlyl We uked our respondents,
"Who!ie responsibility is it 10 cilre for the elderlyl" Their heilrtfell respon!ies:

Whose Responsibility I'elt'enl4lfe

The children 54%
lit 21
Government
The elderly them!ielves 20
Chilrililble organizations 3

We asked people if they thought lhilt lheir children would take care of them in
lheir old ale. Forty-six percent 01 tho!ie asked Silid ·'No."
lit

America's official statistics on crime are somewhat misleading. According

to our research crime is underestimated by about 600 percent
Thirty-nine percent of the people in America have some kind of
criminal offense in their past, and a sizable number seem to actually
draw the lighUling of violence on themselves.
Crimes of violence were confessed by enough of OUI respondents to
persuade us that the proportion of our population prone to violence is
much higher than any national statistics released to this point
In this land of violence. it came as no great surprise that only a
minority of us (32 percent) feel very safe in our neighborhoods.. The rest
conless that "we live with continual fear ...
Our fears are grounded in the facts of our daily lives, the real crime
statistics that come from our own experience.
More than half of all Americans (60 percent) have been the victims of
crime at It:ast once in their lives. Of those, more tl&an half (58 percent)
ItULJt: been victimized twice or moTe.
The statistics uf violence in our poorer neighborhoods are familiar fare

171
174 THE DAY AMERICA TOLD THE TRUTH
• OffICIAL STAIISTICS UNDERESTIMATE CliME BY fIOO PERCENT
COMW&ISON OF OUR CRIME STATISTICS WITH OffiCIAL CRIME STATISTICS
The dimensions of the crime problem in Ameria are very big indeed. According
to tbe U.S. Bureau of Crime SUtistics, there were 20 million personal crlmei (that
• is, crimes against individual Americans) in 19118 alone. This means that in 19811,
there were 100 personal crimes for every 1,000 Americans I
As ~ as these fi&ures may seem, they underestimate the relll crime threat to
most Americans. Crime sLltistics are calculated on a yearly basis, meaning that
the official sutistics only report tbe chances that an individual American was
victimized in one given year.
We decided to take ,) different approach, asking Americans if they h~ ever
• been the victims of a criRie. We were liure that the number would be much hi8her
Ihan the official single-year averages, but we were unprep.ired for the revelation
that fully 60 percent or 600 in every 1,000 adult Americans have been the victim of
at least one crime.
Thil> figure is six times greater than the single-year official estimates. We further
found that 350 in every 1,000 Americans have been the victims of at lea.t two
• crimel> I].S times the sinllle-year estimate) and that 200 Americans in every 1,000
have been the victims of at least three crimes.
For the record, the 100-in-1,000 otficial crime-victimization rate corresponds
almost exactly to our eslimate of the number of Americans who have been the
victims of four or more uimes in their lives.
in our newspapers. What surpris(:d us is the expt:rience of crime reported
by pcopl~ who Uvc in America's upper-middle-class and rich neighbor­
hoods:
III our Heverly Hills-South Bronx study, for example, we found that
the people uf Beverly Hills are almost as likely (53 percent vs. 55 perccnl)
to have been victims of crime as the people of the South Bronx; the
pt:OiJlc of l1t!Verly Hills arc almost as likely (12 pert"ent vs. 14 pen:elll) to
have experienced a crime of violence themselves. People in Beverly Ilills
are also more likely (50 percent vs. 48 percent) to know someone who
has bt..'Cn struck by violtmce.
TKUE CONFESSIONS Of CRIME
AU kinds of peuple conJessed small-scale crimes ill the privacy of our
intervIew:. :
• A ball).. leUt!r li'OIIl J\1clrupulis: "Lots oj' pelly theft whcn I was a
leenager. Now I wurk iu a bank, right. ..
COMMUNITY LIVES 175
• A Rust Belt lawyer: "Drugs and theft right up to the present time. I
sometimes steal at our office...
• A Southern cop: "I've stolen many items. Little here, little there."
• A receptionist from a rural area in the Northeast: "When I was
younger, I stole from department stores. I occasionally hit the malls
now."
• A high-school coach from the East: ". stole a leather jacket last year.
Every couple of years, I steal something big."
• A young woman from New England, who is a fitness instructor:
"Attempted larceny. Also, stealing gasoline from cars in the neigh­
'borhood."
• A meat cutter from the Midwest: "Dope-stealing from work...
• A Midwestern woman, who owns a manicuring business: "Stealing
in stores and buying drugs."
• A Midwestern woman, who now is president of a small company:
"Stole paper goods, pens, smaD machines from a fonner employer."
• A broker for the federal government: "As a teen, working in a camera
shop, I stole a lot of equipment."
• An Old Dixie factory foreman: "I steal packs of cigarettes off our
lunch wagon."
• A realtor from the ~st Coast: "Smoked marijuana and committed
petty theft in convenience stores."
• A mother of two from the Rust Belt: "Stole cosmetics at a Mary Kay
show."
... MAMA TRIED
" 'This is the nineties, man. We're the type of people who don't uke no for an
ansWt!r. It your mom says no to a kid in the nineties, the kid's just going to
laugh'-,) twenty-one-ye..r-old surfer called Road Dog, who said his family owned
a chain of pharmacies.
... "He and his friends shouted in appreciation as another gang member lifted his
long hair to reveal a tattoo on a bare shoulder: 'Mama Tried: ..
-Nt:w rOTA Times, April 10, 1'J'JO
Other:; (;onte:;sing to regular stealing: a college pl'ellident, a telephone
illterviewer, a licensed practical nurse, au auto mechanic, an insurance
salcsman, a market-research interviewer, a waitress, the owner of an
IIISllrilllCC agellcy, a postal supervisur, a filmmaker, a mailman, a carpet
illsla.ller, a llIarkt:l consultant, a home health aide.
176 THE DAY AMERICA TOLD THE TRUTH
More serious cJime is committed by a disturbingly large number of
people we talked to.
Fully 2 percent of our nationally projectable sample admit to having
pushed drugs; another 1 percent each to robbery, car theft, and assault.
That's a lot of people acrotiS this country who have been involved in
felonies.
• THE PERENNIAL VICTIM
One American in ten has suffered four or more crimes in his or her
lifetime. \~ decided to take a closer look at perennial victims. Why do
some peovle seem to walk under a raineloud?
TIleY au! not people whose circumstances make them more vulnerable
than most. Something else is going on, something that has to do with
who they are as human beings.
That's the conclusion we were led to when we discovered who the
perennial victims are not:
COMMUNITY LIVES
177
WHAT AMERICA REALLY BELIEVES ABOUT THE DEATH PENALTY
Americans kill each other at a far higher rate (currently, more than
25,000 homicides reported each year) than do the citizens of any other
industrial country. Maybe it is natural that sentiment for the death
penalty, abolished throughout \\estern Europe, is making a comeback in"
the United States.
TIle number of prisoners on death row rises each year, and public
support for the death penalty is increasing. Here's what people be1ieve
right now about the death penalty:
\\e found that two-thirds of our respondents (68 percent) favor legal
execution.
A number of Americans go beyond that in their desire for legal
vengeance, or some kind of justice.
When it comes to specific offenses, Americans' support for the death
penalty comes close to 100 percent.
Crimes against children-even when they do not involve murder-are
those for which the largest number advocate death.

• They are not more than averagely poor or uneducated or members of

It SELLING TRADE SECRETS 10 J.U'ANI
minorities.
AMERICANS NOW SAY, "HANG 'EM HIGH."
• They are not mostly women (60 percent are men).
• They are not mostly old (only 6 percent are sixty years old or older). Nearly as many (41 percent) Americans now consider seKing trade secrets to Japan
a form of treason as worthy of execution as selling milita/)' secrets to the Soviets
(49 percent).
In tact, the greatest proportion of perennial victims shows up in the
age group where you might least expect to ftnd them: men between
thirty-ftve and forty-four.
NOlle of that ftts with the standard perception about where crime hits
hardest ill America. It AMERICANS SUPPOIT Ttl( DEATH PEN4lTY OVEIWHBMINQY
Who are these perennial crime victims then?
~ Suppoltin,
Offense &ecution
• '(bey're more than twice as likely to have committed a crime them­ Ran a child-prostitution ring
97'"
Itd\\!s. Fifty-nine percent admit to having committed at least one Sold drugs to children
95
crime. killed an innocent child
It 83
• The) 're more than twice as likely (51 percent vs. 20 percent) to have Engaged in senseless mass-murder 82
Killed a policeman
contemplated suidde. AlmoslllCAlf have been in therapy. 78
Was a terrorist who planted a bomb on an airplane 75
Put poison in over-the-counter drugs 74
Most illterestingly, perennial crime victims are often victims of child Killed a litorekeeper in a robbe/)' 73
abuse. They are three times as likely to have been beaten and lour Hurel) Killed ~omeone while driving drunk 70
It Raped a woman
as likely to have been sexuaUy abused al) children. 59
Sold milita/)' secrets to the Soviets 49
Sold trilde seuets to the J..palle~e 41
 THE UAY AMERICA TOll> THE TRUTH
178
Mauy Americans ~o bt:youd bimplc advocaq in lheir lliupport of the
dealh pellah y.
DUI! pt:I':.un in tOOl' wants a return to public executions. allhough tltis
lime hi lhe modem lllatUlt:r-on tdcvitdou.
Ouc-llulJ uf tlle pt.-oplc we hlJU&"C to would like to wiUl~ an cXt.'t:ulion
lhclIIl>Ch,c:.,
.. ulh J,l vcrccill \\"uul'] "ull the bwildl dM:m~IVet6. TIwliC wluul",'Cr
eXCl:uuom'I'~ arc Illt:U and WOIllCU 1"1'0111 Ihe whole tipL'\:lrulll ol" American
IUe, .
A It.alllpllllg of lhe men "sduLicb a lluwc:r-lihop OWllel' in hili carty
lhilliclIt; it l>'.:hu,,1 h:.ad,,,,..,; a poIilaJ a;upcrvilior ill hili
Ihl'''''C-liIllCblU.u·l1cd
eatl) luuic:.; a IlLAckal' IJl.aUl bUIJl..'i"\"u;or; an i.utUriUK:e executivc; sewral
nlt.'\.ll'-.d docWfti; a yuuu~. ",'olcltlJonal mudd; and iawYCni frum San
......0111'-11>',;0, W.llihiugIOU••.ua.] Mis:.ibSippi.
Aillun~ lhe \\Uln~u \\oultJ-lA: CJ\",ocutioucn. arc two legal tlet:rclaneli;
lhe UI ..u.I~Cr of .. piu.a lJ""lur; dU'-lulli. l.awycl'Ii, aud pliycbulogililti.
 29

Religion: Who Really

Believes in God Today?

Whal is going on in congregations, parishes, and synagogues across

America? The news is good-and bad.
God is alive and very well. But right now in America, fewer people are
listening to what God has to say than ever before.
Ninety percent of tire people we questioned said that they truJy believe
in God.
It would be the logical conclusion then to think that God is a meaning­
ful factor in ttxlay's America. Hut we reached a difterent t'Ooclusion when
we dug deeper with our questions.
In every liingle region of the country, when we asked how people make
up their minds on issues of right and wrong, we found that they simply
du not turn 10 God or religion to help them decide about the seminal or
JlIorai issuCb of the day.
}<Or most people, religion plays virtually no role in shaping their
opillions 011 .. lung listot' important public questions. This is true even
1111' 'luesliClw; thai St!CIII duscly relatcd to religion: birth contlUl, abortion,
even IcacliiJlg Creationism and the !'Ole of womeu in the clergy.

199
200 THE DAY AMERICA TOLD THE TRUTH GOO AND OTHER HEROES 201

On not one of those questions did a majority of people seek the W:! have established ourselves as the authority on morality. Vk now
guidance of religion in finding answers. Most people do not even know choose which Commandments to believe and which ones not to believe.
their church's position on the important issues. Clearly, the God of the 1990& in America is a distant and pale reflection
That. perhaps, is the true measure of Americans' indifference to the of the God of our forefathers. 'This is not the "jealous God" of the Old
teachings of organized religion: W:! don't follow what our church says 1estament-six in seven people think that it is okay not to believe in God.
because we're not interested enough to find out what it's saying. Rather, Americans seem to use God to refer to a general principle of good
in lif~r, sometimes, He (or She) is the creator who set off the Big
Bang but doesn't intervene in human affairs.
THE RfAl. ROLE OF RELIGION TODAY FOr most Americans, God is not to be feared or, for that matter, loved.
As we enter the 1990&, only one American in ftw ever consult a
minister, a priest, or a rabbi on everyday issues. WHO IS RELIGIOUS IN AMERlCAl
Half of us haven't been to a religious service for a minimum of three There are those who do call themsel~ truly religious, and some
months. One in three haven't been to a religious service for more than a
people may be surprised at the demographics.
year. Ninety-nine percent are under the age of 65.
More than half of us (58 percent) went to services regularly while
One in four is a college graduate, and two in three haw had some
growing up, but less than half of those (27 percent) do so today.
college.
Only one in ten of us believe ill all of the len Commandments. FOrty
They are more often women. And that fact supports our findings that
percent of us believe in five or fewer Commandments. in this country, women are more moral than men, and religious people
are more moral than the national average.
ill RELIGION: HOW lMPOITANT IS ITI
l'etcenu,e oIl'euple Percern.,e of ".wpJe RELIGIOUS PEOPLE ARE MORE MORAL
Whose Reli,ion Not Cett~jn
H.d No Role in of Theil Ilow does the growing number of nonreligioUS Americans compare to
SIYpin, Theil ChUICh's
luue I'olition I'o.ition those who still hold to traditional beliefs? Can a judgment be made about
70% 66% who's more moral?
ill SdMX>l busing People deS(;ribing themselves as "very religious" (14 percent) definitely
fe.aburning 66 bl
1~ deith peOilty 64 57 make better citizens. In the self-portraits they painted for us, the very
Book binning 64 62 reUgious scored much higher than did other people on moral questions
Communiilll 64 flO
69
that most of Ult would accept as defining citizenship in a civilized society.
Attirmilive wion 61
58 40 ReUgious people are far less likely to "have a price." The nonreligious
Birth control
ill Abortion 56 52 were those 17 percent who defined themselves as being "not religious at
Humosexuality 55 52 all. ..
le.tChing Creitioniilll in schools 55 52
Pornography 54 41
43 It I WHAT WOULD YOU 00 fOR $10 MILLION'
PrelNria.1 sex 53
Anli-St!mitiilll 53 56 l'ercenu,e of l'ercenr.,e of
.. I Women in the dergy
lYcism
PrIfer in schools
...
52

44
47
43
35
WuuldYuu ...
Abindon your ~renlsl
ReIi,iow
People Who Af-
17%
Non«tii,ious
People Who "',..
37%
Divorce 43 37 Leave your spousel 11 26
NIKht In die 43 57 * I 8ecome iI prc»titule fori weeki 16 18
202 THE DAY AMERICA TOlD THE TRUTH GOD AND OTHER HEROES
203
Religious Americans are more willing to die for what they believe.
They're less prone to do something that they know is immoral because
others are doing it They are much more sure of their own moral worth.
*' IY REGION: WHERE _LiMas LIVE
(for .a m.ap of America's resiGns, see Put t.)
Three limes as many among the religious described themselves as "very
good" people. BELIEVE IN GOO (N.ationalA\'erige: cm.)

TIrey are also more at peace with themselves. Religious people are ~
more likely to say they are satisfied with their lives (50 percent vs. 36
percent). *
It.,ion
Old Dixie
Who llelieve
96%
IfeBion
New South
:::
90%
Gr.anary 92
Rt:ligious people are much less likely to have used drugs (27 percent L.A.-Mex 91
Metropolis 87
vs. 58 percent). Rust Belt 91
Mirlboro Country 82
Pic Rim 81
They are more truthful. New England 90
Tlrey are more commiued to the family.
They make better workers, and they are less prone to petty crime.
The religious are also less likely (9 percent vs. 21 percent) to carry
Fewer than two people in five believe that Bin is "going against God's
Viedpons. will" or "going against the Bible" or "violating the 'Jen Commandments."
FOr the rest of us, sin is defined by our own consciences. W! define what
is Sinful and what isn't
SIN, AMERICAN STYLE
The Worst Sin I've Ever Committed
If religion duesn't give us satisfactory answers, does that mean we
believe lhat there are no rules of morality-that anything goes? Here are examples of what Americans we interviewed remember as
Not entirely. the worst sins in their lives:
Americans still have a lively sense of what sin means. And if there is
om: id~al that underlies our definition of sin, it is the oldest, most • "Killed other humans in war."-a post office clerk from the Ykst
universal principle of them all-the Golden Rule. Sin, as most of us sec Coast, {or tie!>, Baptist, not a churchgoer.
itloday, i6 doiug unto other6 wha1 we don't want done unto ourselves. • "Got into a 6s16gbt with my father. I knocked my father down
tWke."-a truck driver from Old Owe.
• "J !>hot two people once and almost killed them."-a man in his
thirties from Old Dixie.
• "I lit my mother. "-a single man in his late twenties.
GOOD PEOPlE
• "Allowed JOnuer spouse to physically abuse me without seeking

• Jewish people (41 percent) .are the most likely to describe them,~lve5 .as help. "-an Hispanic secretary in his early twenties.

• very good vs. 30 percent 01 C.atholics .and 27 percent of ProtHt.ants .

• BI.acks (34 percent) ire more likely to describe theml>elves ol~ very good
• "I once (;onVinced a rich person to invest money in my company and

we used it fOl' liVing. "-a real estate agent from the Southwest

th.an .are whites (28 percent•.

• The elderly, those iied 65 ind over (35 percent), more th.an 18- to 24-yeir­ • "Stealing over $500 worth of material from the hospital that I didn't

olds (25 percenU. really need. "-a registered nurse from the Midwest

• College-edut:ited (35 percent) more th.an less-educited people Ill. per· • "Slealillg from my un<.:le, and I am very sorry. "-a bank teDer from
.. cent) .
• HOnlOseXUOils Oind bisexuals (30 perteRt) more th.an hetero~exual~ (27 per­
cent).
(he Northeast.
• "Selling drugtl to higb-school kids. "-a singJe man froID New En­
glantl, in his early twenties.
• COllservollives (Jj pen en!) mUle thin liberolls Cl7 peruml).
• '"Beillg jcaJOUIi of lilY next-door neighbor's new car. "-a housewife,
ill her carJy lillic!>, churchgoing Catholic.
 THE DAY AMERICA TOLD THE TRUTH GOD AND OTHER HEROES 205
204
• "Playing sexually with little girls. "-a single man in his late thirties. • And as many as one in twenty Americans have actually participated
• "Having a child out of wedlock."-a sixty-ftve-year-old woman from in some ritual of satanism or witchcraft I
the New South.
• "The most serious sin I have committed is not being able to quit PlOTESTANIS, CATHOlICS, OR JEWS: WHO'S MOU IflKiIOUSI
drinking and writing bad checks."-a single man, in his late thirties, 1etcenUp Who Ape
Lutheran. ClIthoIIcs Jews
• "I had an abortipn when I was a very young girl."-a thirty-year-old Believe in God
StMemenI l'rotestlnlS
97..
---
...
--
11..
woman, now divorced and unemployed.
• "Five abortions."-a woman in her late thirties, churchgoer from the If believe:
South. Very sure of God's existence 73 65 27
• "Stealing and, though not controllable by me, sex with my broth­ Believe God created the universe 91 91 56
ers."-a saleswoman, ~inll.le, jewish, attends services regularly. Believe there is tl Hell 94 89 44
Believe there is tl HeiWen 94 89 53
• '1\ied to commit the ultimate sin, suicide."-a disk jockey from the Not at a" religious 7 6 30
Midwest, single man, Catholic, doesn't attend church regularly. Went to churchlsynagogue often when 8fOWIng up 67 78 31
• "Attempted suicide. "-a divorced man in his thirties from New Go 10 churchisyniSOKue often now 34 ..1 12
England, Baptist, not a churchgoer. Less ahan 20 percent of life influenced by religious
• "Euthanasia. I helped my si~ler to die."--a secretary from the North­ beliefs
13 15 51
Churchfsyn4lgogue had no inRuence on moral

east, in her fortie~, graduated from parochial school, attends l:hurch development
17 19 30
irregularly.
• "Being bom."-a rew'ed man from the Northwest, nonreligious.

• I SIN: AS AMERICANS HONESnV SEE IT

00 AMEILICANS STILL BELIEVE IN HELU
"1IIc:"un~ ciefine "sin" as tollows;
An afterlife in heD is not something very many Americans honestly fear.
Moltt American~ (62 pc!occnl) profess to believe in an afterlife that l'ercenttp
includes both heaven and heD (55 percent of us believe in thc existence ---Definition
Going against God's wi"
WhoAltee
1;0,.
ot'Satan). \\e are confident, ho~er, that our future prospects are bright.
Almost haU' of us (46 perceJll) expect to spend eternity in heavcn Vii. only
• Any immoral act
Willful wronpng
15
13
4 per\:cnt who see their future in hell. Ii<Irm to self/others 13
In this respect, we have not lost the optimism for which we are famous. Goins against one', own befiefs 13
Violating the Ten Commandments 11

OTHER POWERS
In addition to God in his heaven and Satan in his hell, these are beliefs
that wme of us hoW:

• rurty-five pt!n:ent of all Amel'icans believe that ghosts exist.

• Almost one III three (31 pen:ent) believe that SOIll~ pt.-ople have
lIlagit:i11 puwers,
• Aboul unt::-lourth ot' u~ bclil!Vc in witchcraft t2H pcrl:CUI), lJIa<.:k
magk (24 pelunt). and voodoo (20 percent),
 206 THE DAY AMERICA TOLD THE TRUTH

AMERICA'S SINS

Wh.t .re the serious sins people have .ctucally committedl Here's whilt people
confessed in our interviews:
-4ctivity ~enu,eWho
Mnit 10 Activily
30

Adultery
Steilins 24%
lying/thea'inS 21
Disobeyjn~hurtin8 ~renl or other re'tlU"" lS
Prenwrltal )eX 10
a
SI.nder
Disobeying it religious law
Creed
6
.. Who Are Our Real

H.vin8 in ilbortion ..

2 American Heroesl

Attemptinglwmmilting murder
2

The majority of us (70 percent) believe that America has no living heroes
today. About the same number say that our children have no meaningful
rolc models.
More than most of Ul>, people in Old Dixie and in New England still
helic\-\! ill tK:roes, but even there, less than half are now belie\'el"s. In the
Hu~t Belt, il'l> only one jll five.
The! whole idea of heroes has gotten fuzzy for us. Sometimes it
dCKcueratel> iuto TV celebrity. The late historian Barbar.l Tuchman
rCl·aUt:d attending a conterence on heroes, held on Supennan's fiftieth
lJiJ'lhday. She commented:
··It was quite weird. what they considered a hero. The real hero of the
discusl>iun was the liule girl who'd fallen down a well. Sbe didn't do
anything to make hertielf a he~she was just in the news. Other heroes
discussed wert: Elvis Presley and somelxxly whom I had never heard of.
the J\Ia)'Hower Madam."
Nor do we have people in public We we can look up to. OnJyone-third
(II liS thillk that the President has any right to tell us what'~ right or
wnlll~. aud far lewel' wuuld accept his advice without question.

207
208 THE DAY AMElICA TOLD THE TlUTH GOD AND OTHER HEROES
209

iI AMUICA IN THf P051-HEa0lC Aa: WHAIIT AU. MfANS torpedoes. The u.s. government says that the ship hit Iranian mines.
Whom do you believe?"
In the Late 1930s ~ the 1940s, Joe DlMagio represented an American idNI. He The class was sllent. No one answered. ENeryone wanted more infor­
was the man of deeds rather than of words, whole quiet IeoIdership IJYde him the mation before deciding what they thought had happened.
embodiment of the American hero. Indeed, Ernesl Heminpav ~ OiMagio in
mind when he defined heroism as "srate under pressure." In The Old Man iIId Not one person in that class trusted their own government to tell the
the .se.. the old man cites Joe DiMagIo as proof that heroes really do exist and truth.
iI that man contains within him an unconquerable heroic spark. They had as much trust in the government of Iran.
It 15 easy to identify other American heroes from the put: ChMIel lindbergh,
"the lone EqIe"i &be Ruth, "the Sultan of Sw.a"; Joe louis, "the Brown
Bomber," who demolished Adolf Hiller'. claims of Aryan racial superiority by
fLatteninl the German "Superman," Max Schmelins. In the movies, John Wayne
speciMlzed in Playinl American heroes. ill MOlAl AlJTtIOIITIES: SOURCES THAT WE WIU AllOW 10 TELL US WHAT IS
iI Seventy percent of Americans now say that America has no more heroes. liGHT AND WRONG
Why are there no heroes todayl There are no heroes bec.luse we haw ceased
to believe in anything stronlly enough to be impressed by its attainment.
~oIl'eopIe Who I'etnn".. 01 People
s.y SocMce 11M Who Accept SouIce's
• Who really cares how RYny millions of ~rs our athletes will eilrnl Some IIiIht to Tell Them MQnI AdvIce Without

iI ,
• Who really cares how many comic-strip viH;&ins will let mutilated and
massacred by our movie heroesl
., SoutCe
Spouse/lover

Parent

What's IfiIht iN w.w"

77",

Question

55",
• Michael Milken and his $bOO mifllon a year salary Is to Horatio Aller as n 46
today's MiIdonna is to the historical Madonna-. parody. Grandparent
58
Best friend

37
57 37
Bible
52
Religion

37
52 34
An anecdote told by a university president makes the point about our ill Personal doctor
51 37
Child 50
loss of belief in our leaders: In the fall of 1987, he was teaching a Sunday Local police
31
50 33
school clatis for adults that included hanken, business executives, and ChurchlsYOilgoSue .... 2S
university professors. He asked them a question based on a then-recent Government 42 2S
event: "\\e hear on the news that an Iranian ship has been sunk in the
Persian Gulf. The Jr.wian guvemment says that it was sunk by American ., Personal lawyer
U.S. Supreme Court
Uncle/aunt
43
42
42
29
2S
2S
Schoofteacher 39 23
Adult friend 39 22
College professor 37
_ I IY IfGlON: WHO IItUfVESIN AMERICAN HElOn 20
Boss 36

23
(for illNp of America's regions, see Part I.) President of the United States 32
.1 Book 19
28 11
BELIEVE THAT AMERICA STil L HAS HEROES (National Averaae: 30%)
I Co-worker 24 12

ite,ion
h""enYBe
Wh0"Bree Re,ioo
Perulm"lle
Whu"Bree
II Local politician
lY minister
22
21
6
7
-I Old Dixie I The press 21 6
43% Marlboro Country 31%

!
filmous athlete 21
New England 42 Metropolis 31 .,
N eighbor
7
19 8
PKRim 3CJ L.A.-Mex 29 TV personality 19 7
Gra~ry
New South
34
31
Rust Bdt 10
i
!
FictionallY character
Movie slar
19
19
5
6
I
210 THI DAY AMIIICA TOLD THI nUTH

IF NOT 000, HEaOES, OIl OUIINSTITUTIONS, THlN WHOM

DOWETIUSTJ

10 whom. or to wbich institution do ID08I of us tum for moral and

elIuwd advice~ When we du tum to someone fur help ill the 1990s. who
is it?
Our church? .
Our penunent? Out' IICbooIa?
Our p.arenUi? ..
Then: ;~ a clear <Aud oWl'Whebning winner: wr Ipwtie or lover.
~YOllti d::;e--tbe u·..mtional iluthudtieai--t'anb far behind the iuu­
mille cilde at the top.
Only "Lout one ill lIu'ee Amerk:i&lls accept wililOUt qUelition the mor.d
luid.uu:e of religion, itat pr.u;titiolltirlli. ur lUi IiCriplurea;.
Iblith.:id figumi fare WUIlie.
The SuvrelUC COUll conunalldlli the alleaPancc or one ill loor.
'nle I'leaiident is wdl b4:blnd lhe nIne Justice» wilh 19 percent.
lucaI tdiliciilllli are way down at 6 pcrcenL
t:du~tors "ill'e no better. S4.:hoolteilClM:l·1i and college p1ut~IiOI'S are
couwdert:d moral aulhUllUeIli by 23 perccnt and 20 percent. rellipecuvcly­
alltwugh both are illlwuglile occupation» that Americilllli nWilI rellipecl.
The tiaddelll lihowil., is by lhe American preA Utili iruitltulion, much
more eltl....t:d a tkcade and a hatt' aBO, when reporl.el'li were unl~overiug
lilt.: W"Ic.:I·gah: lOCandabi, hilli t'ailW lenibly hI the upiuiOIl of lllOlil pt..>ople.
Alii 1U00al autlwritit.:b ill lhc.:ir livelli, Aallcricauli "i&Wd Iht: IJrt:1iIIi al 6
pclcenl. 'I'bat'lii on a pal' willA movie lilarli, aud I percent below famouli
atlilclelli and telC'l UOOU 1lt!lliOucilitielt.
11 ~ uut)' 1 1Jc.:1'I.:eut LcUel' t".tll fi~tiuUid IciL-vhJion cbaraclcrlli.
236 fiFTY-fOUl REVELATIONS
than 600 percent. The amount of actual crime in this country is stagger­
in~ Sixty percent of us have been victims of a major crime.
S. The 1990s will be marked by very personalized Moral Crusades.
Many of us ache to do the right thing, but we feel that there are no sane
outlets through our institutions. The first Crusade-environmentalism­
is actually happening and this time, we are serious about it. The next
Mu-ai Crusade could be in the area of education. That's where it should
be. \Ulunteerism is going to happen in a big way.
6. Americans now'believe that the Japanese people are superior to us.
7. Lying has become an integral part of the American culture. W! lie,
and we don't even think about it. The people we lie to most are those
clOlitlst to us.
8. Community, the hometown as we have long cherished it, no longer
exit;tl>. TbtlTe are virtually no hometowns anymore. There is no meaning­
ful ben8e of community. Motil Americans do not participate in any
conununily action wbattiOever.
9. One of our most devastating findings: One in every seven Ameri­
cans has been sexually abused as a child. This number far exceeds the
statistics published to date. Child abuse is actually creating sociopaths in
this c,:ountry-at an alanning rate.
10. The ideal of childhood is ending. A tragically high percentage of
American children now lose their virginity before the age of 13.
11. Date rape is a second important, and largely unreported, epi­
demic. 'twenty percent of' the wumen we surveyed report being raped by
their dates.
12. American workers and executives are now willing to sacrifice to
be a part of winning companies. They want to be part of something
bi~~er and better than themselves.
13. Amel"icam. I>till deeply love America, although they don't eXJ>l.>ct
it to be number one ill the IIcxt ccntury, nor even lor thc rest of this
decade,
14. A men's revoJution is Lrewing-in reaction to the women's revo­
lutiun.
1S. Homosexual fantasies are extremely common in every sec;tion of
the United States--one in five of us men and women haw: homosexual
fantasies,
16. The United States is fat' and away the most violent ilK.!ut;trializt:d
nation on the earth.
1 7. ~ have lost tailh in the institution of marriage. A third of married
mCII allll wumen l'oulcssed to U~ lhat they've had at least une atlair.
·h~cntY·llinc pcn:clIl aren'l rcally surc lhatthcy t;lilllovc theu· spouses,
FIFTY-fOUR REVELATIONS 237
18. There's a breakdown in filial piety-a majority of us will not take
care of our parents in their old age. .
19. Americans believe in the death penalty. Ninety-five percent of us
believe in capital punishment for some crimes. One American in three
would actually volunteer to pull the switch for an electric-chair execution.
20. The number one cause of our business decline: unethical behav­
ior by executives.
21. Seventy percent don't believe that America has a single hero right
now. George Bush gets some high mark&-but mostly because our
ex~tations fOT the presidency are so low.
22. Eighty percent of us believe that .IJlOl"aIs and ethics should be
taught in our schools. A letdown in moral values is now considered the
number one problem facing our country.
23. America's Sodom: It's &\Wly Hills, not the South Bronx. The
people of Beverly Hills are more likely to have an extra-marital affair and
twice as likely to use illegal drugs. The level of child abuse is equal in
the two communities.
24. Ninety percent of all Americans believe in God. It is Who that
God is that contains the surprises.
25. Religious people are much more moral than nonreligious people.
26. According to over 60 percent of us, Japan will own the next
century.
27. American marriage is in crisis. More than half of all Americans
genuinely believe that there is no good reason for anyone to get married.
28. America's number one addiction, by far, is alcohol-not drugs.
29. Americans are declaring an end to the cold war. \\e no longer
fear the Russians. What we fear are trade wars-and mostly with the
Japanese.
30. \\Omen workers are more ethical. They are less likely to steal, to
malinger, to lie to their bosses, to leave early, or to goof off. W>men
workers are fat, less likely to drink or use drugs on the job.
31. One-in-three AIDS carriers we talked to have not told their
spouses or Jovers.
32. The number of sociopaths is increasing at a dizzying rate. The
P"clC Rim region leads the country in sociopaths.
33. One in seven of us carry a weapon either on our persons or in our
vehides.
34. Ameri(;a's most ethical corporation, according to most people:
18M.
35. The Jeast moral occupations in America include crime bosses,
dHl~ dealcrs, aud eon~l·esslUcn.
23~

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