November a Rough Month for Narratives of American Pride

Public Expressions of Pride in America in Retreat

November marked a sharp retreat in public expressions of American pride across media coverage, with Perscient's semantic signature tracking such language falling 41 points from October to settle more than 20 points below its long-term average. This represented the sharpest single-month decline among all tracked narratives. The pullback arrives amid polling showing that just 68% of Americans say they are proud to be American, down from 83% in June 2024, with just 58% reporting feeling very or extremely proud—the lowest point since 2001.

The generational and partisan divides proved particularly stark. Only 41% of Gen Z respondents said they are proud to be American, while Democratic pride plummeted from 60% in 2024 to 36%. Republican pride, conversely, rose from 85% to 92%. Yet the shift in November wasn't simply about pride turning to criticism. Language expressing embarrassment about American identity also declined to a level close to its long-term average. The simultaneous weakening of both positive and negative emotional assessments suggests that after a busy first several months of a new presidency, media attention has drifted away from questions of American identity altogether.

Still, if there is a tilt to the way the American story is being told in November, it is at least modestly negative one at the margin. Language expressing faith that America always eventually chooses to do the right thing declined nearly 10 points, while language questioning American moral standing rose. While the pattern across these measurements points to a broader disengagement from the emotional and moral dimensions of American identity in media discourse, the tone is unequivocally pessimistic.

Industrial Lament Language Gains Steam

That pattern held for discussions of America as a pillar of economic growth and manufacturing in November, too. Perscient’s semantic signature measuring the density of language lamenting American industrial decline surged dramatically – rising 51 points in November alone. The sharp increase occurred simultaneously with a decline in the density of language characterizing America as the world's economic engine.

These narratives seem, at least in part, to reflect real tensions in manufacturing and the industrial more broadly. U.S. manufacturing activity contracted in November for the eighth consecutive month, with the Manufacturing PMI registering 48.4%, though contracting at a slower rate compared to the prior month. Social media commentary captured the mounting anxiety, with one post noting the ISM manufacturing index "has shown declining activity in 34 of the 36 months starting in November 2022," while another observed that manufacturing "has never been this weak."

Yet the discourse wasn't uniformly pessimistic. Major corporations unveiled plans for substantial U.S. expansions, including AstraZeneca's $2 billion investment in Maryland—described as the largest private capital investment in a decade, supporting over 2,600 jobs. Manufacturing respondents' optimism about the year ahead strengthened to the highest level in two and a half years, suggesting expectations for recovery are building despite current contraction. The U.S. manufacturing industry continues to grow stronger through new opportunities and technological innovations, according to industry observers tracking the sector's transformation.

The 51-point surge in industrial decline language occurred against a backdrop of broader economic strength, with the IMF raising U.S. growth forecasts to 2.8% for 2024 and 2.2% for 2025. One commentator noted that "the American economy is set to grow 4% while Europe and Japan are flatlining and China slides toward a mini depression," crediting pro-growth policies. The juxtaposition of strong economic engine language with surging industrial decline language indicates media coverage is distinguishing between America's overall economic power and the specific challenges facing its manufacturing base. U.S. manufacturing is transforming as supply chains shift, with advanced skills, digital tools and reshoring strategies seen as key to building a resilient, competitive future.

Religious and Geopolitical Identity Narratives Fade, Too

The retreat from emotional assessments of American identity extended to religious and geopolitical dimensions as well, although at least when it comes to religion, the energy remains near peak levels. Language positioning America as one of the last defenders of Judeo-Christian values declined 13 points from October, though at 111 points above average it remained by far the strongest signature overall—more than double the long-term mean. The moderation came amid evolving discourse on the right, where usage of "Judeo-Christian" has come full circle, according to scholars who have studied the term's deployment in American public discourse for over 40 years.

Despite the decline from October's peak, conservative commentary continued emphasizing that in the mosaic of American identity, few threads are as vibrant and enduring as those woven from Judeo-Christian values, carrying within America's cultural, legal, and moral fabric the unmistakable imprint of these traditions. Yet competing language arguing America is abandoning religious foundations remained far weaker, rising less than one point to about 32 points above average. The gap between these framings persisted even as Gallup reported the 17-percentage-point drop in U.S. religiosity over the past decade is among the largest declines measured in the Gallup World Poll. What isn’t clear is whether the narrative zeitgeist is a protest-too-much situation, a counternarrative, or the early stages of a change in American religious zeal. At a minimum, in the wake of the assassination of Charlie Kirk, whose flavor of political engagement was distinctly Christian, the narrative of a resurgence in religious service attendance has been resurgent.

Our semantic signatures tracking the density of language of pride in America’s geopolitical position faded across the board, too, although at least in this case their more pessimistic counterparts largely joined them in decline. For example, language asserting that America is the most powerful country in the world fell in density by nearly 25 points in November, while language arguing that American dominance is ending also declined by a comparable amount. The drop in narrative energy took place as Americans faced a pivotal choice about their nation's global trajectory, amid intensifying debate over whether the United States is experiencing hegemonic decline, with quantitative models projecting potential turning points in American global primacy between 2032 and 2067.

The density of language celebrating America as a global symbol of liberty declined by 27 points, while language expressing optimism about America's future declined by nearly 16 points. As with industrial narratives and the stories of explicit political pride in America, some of this seems to be attributable to a drop in aggregate media focus on questions of American identity. This is a normal pattern after the initial months of a new presidency fade. But there can be no question that the tone of narratives about America as a City on a Hill, at least at the margin, is decidedly negative.

Archived Pulse

October 2025

• Competing Visions of American Global Standing Reach Historic Intensity
• Economic Engine Narrative Weakens Amid Tariff Uncertainty and Growth Concerns
• Industrial Decline Narrative Gains Traction Despite Policy Promises

Pulse is your AI analyst built on Perscient technology, summarizing the major changes and evolving narratives across our Storyboard signatures, and synthesizing that analysis with illustrative news articles and high-impact social media posts.