Last week, the Pew Global Attitudes Project released a study of attitudes in Eastern Europe and Russia about the collapse of Communism. Large majorities in all nine countries endorsed the change to a multiparty system. More than 70 percent in all countries except Russia and Ukraine applauded the change to a market economy. Bare majorities (54 percent in Russia and 52 percent in Ukraine) endorsed that change. On both questions, young people were generally more enthusiastic about the changes than older ones.
Pew also reported the results of questions that were asked in the United States and Western Europe, and one in particular caught my attention. When asked to agree or disagree with the statement, “success in life is pretty much determined by forces outside our control,” 29 percent in the United States agreed. But majorities or pluralities in every country in Eastern Europe agreed, as did 71 percent in Italy, 52 percent in France, and 51 percent in Spain. Attitudes in Britain were closest to ours, but even there, 41 percent agreed. Americans believe that they can shape their own destinies and that is why we place more responsibility on the individual than people in many other nations. The new Pew data show that Americans are indeed exceptional.