Our leaders think American citizenship is valueless. Why is anyone surprised the American people are starting to feel the same way?

The Associated Press finds, according one of its subheadings, that “CITIZENSHIP’S NOT WHAT IT USED TO BE” in a new AP-GfK poll that reports a significant decline in Americans’ sense of civic duty. [5 Things About Americans' Slipping Sense of Duty, by Connie Cass, ABC News/Associated Press, Dec. 29, 2014]

The poll asked “about six civic-minded activities: voting, volunteering, serving on a jury, reporting crime, knowing English and keeping informed about news and public issues.”

Out of those six fundamental parts of civic duty, “only voting and volunteering were embraced about as strongly as three decades ago.”

It should be noted that neither of these last two activities is necessarily indicative of a sense of duty towards the country. After all, voting for more expansive government programs is precisely a case of “ask not what you can do for your country, but what your country can do for you,” to reverse John F. Kennedy’s much-touted words

And the positive or negative effect of volunteering depends on what the person is volunteering for. We don’t need more “volunteers” facilitating the immigration invasion.

The other activities do reflect the obligations of a citizen who actually has a stake in the continuity of American society and the preservation of law and order. Not surprisingly, far fewer Americans feel any sense of belonging to a greater national community or responsibility to the institutions of the country.

And why should they? The rot starts from the top down. Our leaders don’t care about American culture or the Constitution, so why should citizens?

More importantly, it is questionable whether a real national community still exists. Diversity equals disintegration, and the Associated Press gives a glimpse into the empty core of a multicultural society. When citizenship is degraded by mass immigration, illegal and legal, and the accompanying anti-white Political correctness, it’s only natural that people will feel a weaker connection to their communities.

This ugly result is exactly in line with what Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam said would happen in ethnically diverse communities. As Putnam summed it up, people will

withdraw even from close friends, to expect the worst from their community and its leaders, to volunteer less, give less to charity and work on community projects less often, to register to vote less, to agitate for social reform more but have less faith they can actually make a difference, and to huddle unhappily in front of the television.”

Of course, Putnam only published ( reluctantly ) in an academic journal what rank-and-file Americans have known for decades. [ Scandinavian Political Studies June 2007]

Perhaps most disturbing: the decline in the percentage of people who believe that reporting crime is “very important.” In 1984, 86% of young adults said reporting crime was “very important.” Now, only around to two-thirds have that view.

Perhaps Rand Paul will have a platform for his anti-white, anti-police pandering after all. What seems clear is that the “no snitchin’” enrichment of diversity is spreading.

What does this all spell for America? We’ll have fewer English speakers, fewer informed citizens, fewer citizens cooperating with police, more minorities voting for racial spoils, and more professional “activists” profiteering off dysfunction.

As if that weren’t bad enough, along with the fading sense of civic duty, we’ll have more “disadvantaged” minorities. Antioch University Los Angeles provost Luis Pedraja warns:

Ultimately we will face a crisis where a majority of the U.S. population will be economically disadvantaged, which will reduce their spending power and contribution to taxes and Social Security, impacting all segments of society and our country’s economic health.[ Latino academic achievement gap persists, Associated Press, December 22, 2013]

In other words, the AP poll together with other evidence show that the U.S. is turning into a Latin American-style wreck.

It must be pure coincidence that we have an unending flood of Latin American immigrants.

AP’s Cass didn’t get too political or mention immigration, despite the fact that one of the poll questions asked about the importance of learning English.

But Cass did have an editorial spin to add about one pasty white ideology: libertarianism. After the upbeat subhead “SENSE OF DUTY LOWEST IN THE YOUNG,” she adds, “Young people are feeling less dutiful, or maybe just showing their libertarian streak.”

That’s a pretty good spin on the decay of civic duty. The choice to vote, volunteer, serve on a jury, report crime, learn English, or keep informed has next to nothing to do with libertarian philosophy (assuming the state is not attempting to coerce or encourage any of those activities).

So the real world definition of being libertarian, at least in the eyes of the AP, is dropping out of civic engagement. That definition is completely unfair to libertarians like Hans-Herman Hoppe, but Libertarianism, Inc., is asking for it.

But when Libertarianism, Inc. gets together with Democrats and the Treason Lobby to erase our border, it’s easy to see why “Citizenship’s not what it used to be.” Even without the immigration problem, our sense of civic duty could wax and wane. The price of freedom is, of course, eternal vigilance. The same can be said for healthy communities.

But there are still George Baileys out there. They’re angrier now, but for very good reason. They see their country being taken away from them and given to people who have no claim to America’s bounties. Not only that, but the demographic change feeds virulent anti-Americanism. They see the fraying social fabric, unraveling since the multicultural onslaught of the 1960s, and they know it is no coincidence that our immigration system was corrupted in 1965.

The sense of duty is lowest among the young because, at least for the whites and/or traditionalists, their schooling has beaten it out of them. They’re led to believe that the only source of civic pride is groveling to minorities and ingrates. No surprise that young whites don’t adopt that form of civic “engagement.”

But there is still some fight left in Americans. As long as the Eric Cantors of the world are shamed and forced out of office, we know there’s still a chance.

An even more valuable target is John Boehner. With his ridiculous fake skin color and his even phonier commitment to the historic American nation, he truly deserves to lose his position as House Speaker.

Over the weekend, immigration patriot Louie Gohmert (R-TX) announced that he will seek Boehner’s position. [Louie Gohmert to Challenge Boehner for Speaker, by Sarah Rumpf, Breitbart.com, Jan. 4, 2015].

It’s an arcane inside-the-Beltway issue, but there are significant signs that grassroots American patriots are engaged [Florida Constituents Pressure GOP Lawmaker To Vote Against Boehner, by Neil Munro, Daily Caller, January 5, 2015].

Email Thomas Martel.