Civil Society Is Making Comeback in America. . .

Conservative scholars have been warning for years that America is well on its way to becoming a modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah, and the daily dose of sleaze in Washington seems to only confirm gloomy forecasts of the nation’s ethical and social demise. But outside the capital, the picture is quite different. America is now in the early stages of a remarkable cultural renaissance.

This recovery from the social decay of the 1960s and 1970s has hardly been noted by the media, academia or government. Consider these encouraging trends as summarized in the current issue of the American Enterprise magazine:

* Teen sexual activity in the U.S. fell by 11% from 1991 to 1997.

* Cocaine and marijuana use has fallen by almost half since 1980.

* Welfare caseloads have dropped by nearly 40% since 1993.

* The crime rate has fallen by one-third since the mid-1980s and burglaries are down by half in many inner cities.

* The abortion rate is down nearly 20% since 1990.

* The divorce rate dropped 19% from 1981-96.

There are even signs of a revival of religion and values in America in the late 1990s. Church attendance is creeping up again. The percentage of Americans who say that God is “an important influence in their lives” is rising. The Bible is far and away the No. 1 bestseller year after year.

Charitable giving has soared over the past 15 years to an all-time high, even after adjusting for inflation and population growth.

The most dramatic quality of life improvements have been recorded by minorities and women. The wage gap, for example, between comparably skilled blacks and whites and men and women has narrowed by at least half since 1980. In 1997, the incomes of black Americans hit a record high. This was also true of the homeownership rate, educational attainment and life expectancy for blacks.

Racial and sex discrimination has hardly disappeared from the American landscape, but the data also suggest that it is less an obstacle today. One of the most reassuring social trends is that the percentage of black women having children out of wedlock is declining. Fatherlessness has been one of the great social tragedies of our time primarily because it is a leading indicator of so many other behavioral problems for children. Throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s in many major cities, there were more black children born to single women than to married women. But the Census Bureau recently reported that the rate among black women has fallen to its lowest level in 40 years.

The reversal of cultural descent is as critical to the long-run economic and social well-being of our nation as any 1,000 point rise in the Dow Jones. Five years ago, William J. Bennett wrote in “The Index of Leading Cultural Indicators” that “unless the exploding social pathologies of the past 30 years are reversed, they will lead to the decline and perhaps even to the fall of the American republic.” The social regression that Bennett warned of between 1960 and 1990 was breathtaking in both scope and severity. The violent crime rate quadrupled, out-of-wedlock births, single-parent households and teen suicides tripled. Divorces doubled and the rate of marriage fell by almost half.

The nation appears to have begun to heed the alarm bells of conservatives. There has been a clear resurgence of civic institutions. The traditional virtues that Bennett and others have worried are in decline--hard work, discipline, stable family life, honesty, tolerance, self-reliance--are reasserting themselves.

This cultural comeback coincides with a rollback of government programs that have encouraged social deviance. Americans have generally come to reject the false compassion of the liberal welfare state. The welfare reform bill of 1996 was arguably the most monumental piece of social legislation in a quarter century, because it required work and socially responsible behavior in exchange for help. Crime is falling because Americans have decided to get tough on criminals.

Yes, social problems are still worse than during the more tranquil 1950s. But the underlying trends are reassuring. Civil society is making a comeback. This is very good news for America--even if almost no one wants to proclaim it.