TruthBook Religious News Blog

There are two distinct groups of American Dreamers: Traditional Materialist and Secular Spiritualists. A poll shows 37% are the latter, and growing. More Americans are moving away from personal fulfillment at shopping malls.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008
by John Zogby

The New Year is typically a time to look ahead and hope that this will be the year to lose weight, get a promotion, to improve our lives in some significant way. But for many Americans, 2009 is shaping up to be the year they hope to be able to put enough food on the table and still afford health care for their families, to have enough money to cover the mortgage and the car payments, and to hold on to the job they have. Nevertheless, the American Dream is very much alive.

We at Zogby International have been tracking beliefs and attitudes about the American Dream since 1998, wondering if the American Dream is considered to be mainly about achieving material goods or more about finding spiritual happiness. Even in these uncertain economic times, my polling shows the American Dream is still alive and well, but is undergoing an historic transformation.

The Secular Spiritualist view of the American Dream has been adopted by Americans across the nation, in all walks of life. They are Americans who are becoming more satisfied with fewer material assets and less wealth, even as the nation's harsh economic climate has made living with less a reality for many.

Who are these Secular Spiritualists? It comes as no surprise that people who attend religious services at least weekly are more likely to share this life goal. However, these frequent service-goers who make up 44% of Secular Spiritualists are just one component of this group - 33% of Secular Spiritualists rarely or never attend services, demonstrating this is a philosophy about far more than religious faith alone.

The growth of Secular Spiritualism is not simply the result of making do with new personal and national economic realities. I believe it is something more: A growing rejection of a lifestyle obsessed with consumption and too often devoid of deeper meaning.

As more Americans make the conscious choice to move away from materialism to seek the kind of personal fulfillment that can't be found at a mall, business will need to adapt to target these shifting values. Understand that for many with a shrinking dollar, as well as for those who want to leave the rat-race behind and simplify their lives, products still reflect a mix of values - from wanting to express our uniqueness to feeling a sense of community. These consumers don't need or want to feel more macho, glamorous or cool.

Older values like patriotism, sexual prowess, avarice, and social status are far less effective than ethical practices, social responsibility and just plain utilitarianism. And above all else, authenticity works.

Labels: John Zogby, materialism, spiritual happiness, The American Dream, Zogby International

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Tuesday, August 19, 2008

The Way We'll Be - Book Review

By Adam Goldstein, Special to the Rocky
Thursday, August 14, 2008

* Nonfiction. By John Zogby. Random House, $27. Grade: B

Book in a nutshell: Americans will face the challenges of the 21st century with creative approaches to consumerism, a cooperative worldview and an inclusive view of spirituality.

That's according to Zogby, president and CEO of Zogby International, a polling company that canvasses about half a million people every year to gauge public opinion on everything from the best laundry detergent to the most promising political candidate.

In The Way We'll Be, Zogby draws on his company's vast network of surveys and polls to try and predict popular trends and attitudes for the near future. Specifically, he seeks to chart general shifts in the American attitude toward a host of issues, from materialism to religion, from environmentalism to the latest take on the American dream.

His results point to a populace much less taken with the traditional signs of status and success. In survey after survey, he finds respondents more apt to be satisfied with less material wealth and more spiritual satisfaction.

Zogby's data also shows that the current generation of 18- to 29-year- olds, what Zogby terms "first globals," are more than willing to make adjustments in the face of dwindling natural resources, threats to the environment and international tensions. His results reveal a young generation tempered by the immediacy and inclusiveness of the Internet, one that's more likely to hold broad and inclusive spiritual views in lieu of rigid definitions of religion and one that's more willing to cooperate on the international stage to find solutions to pressing problems.

Best tidbit: Zogby draws on polls showing more moderate political trends among evangelical voters and a shift toward spirituality across the political spectrum as symptoms of a larger domestic movement. "A new American dream characterized by lower expectations, less want and more civility has begun to emerge; and as that has happened, a new American consensus is being born."

Pros: Zogby's exhaustive data points to heartening trends at work in the U.S. As the cost of living balloons and traditional sources of energy begin to founder, it seems the American populace is willing to innovate, cooperate and sacrifice to find solutions.

Cons: Zogby spares few details in describing his polling procedures, an element that tends to obscure the larger messages of his data.

Final word: A fascinating glimpse into how we'll be.

Labels: materialism, polling, religion, spirituality, youth, Zogby International