As America gears up to celebrate its 250th birthday, you've probably encountered headlines like this Newsweek one: "US Gen Z, Young Millennials Less Patriotic Than Older Generations: Poll."
It's true that polls consistently show that younger Americans are more likely to be ambivalent about the United States than their parents or grandparents. For instance, the poll cited by Newsweek finds that for people between the ages of 18 and 34, "56 percent said they were somewhat or very patriotic." Among people older than 65, the corresponding number is 86 percent, leading to the conclusion that there's "a clear generational gradient: Each successive age group reports higher levels of patriotism than the one below it."
