Narratives of America as the Home of the Brave Continue to Gain Ground

Military Confidence Strengthens as Criticism Fades

December saw language celebrating American soldiers rise to 69 percent above its long-term average while the density of language critical of American military decline fell to 61 percent below typical levels. This widening gap seems to be connected to a range of recruitment, new ship announcements, and other messaging from an administration increasingly focused on the narratives attached to US military power. Still, third parties in media supported many of these messages, too. For example, the United States maintained its top ranking among 145 countries in the 2025 Global Firepower review, a position it has held since 2005, supported by advantages in manpower, finances, and industrial capacity.

Public sentiment data often provides useful context for these narrative movements. In this case, the 2025 Reagan National Defense Survey found that nearly nine in ten Americans consider it important for the United States to maintain the world's strongest military, with growing bipartisan support for concrete deterrence measures. A separate Military.com report noted that while confidence levels remain below 2018 peaks, support for NATO and Ukraine has climbed, suggesting Americans distinguish between institutional trust and belief in military superiority.

As noted in previous Pulse reports, the U.S. military hit recruitment goals in 2025 at their highest level in 15 years, a turnaround that coincides with media narratives emphasizing American military excellence over capability concerns. Still, outside of the military, media coverage continues to lament a certain softening in America’s traditional risk-taking culture.  For example, the density of language describing and criticizing a sanitized, disposable culture in America rose by 9 points to 22 percent above its long-term average.

Overprotective Parenting Narratives Retreat Sharply

Yet there are other areas in which the rediscovery of stories framing risk-taking as a good and deeply American thing seems to have taken hold. Language criticizing American parents for being overprotective dropped by another 13 points in December to a level 40 percent below its long-term average, marking one of the month's steepest declines.

Research continues to document correlations between overprotective parenting and adverse mental health outcomes. Studies have found that helicopter parenting correlates with higher levels of anxiety and depression in children, with one meta-analysis of 53 studies establishing clear links between controlling parenting and internalizing behaviors. A Cleveland.com letter argued that children need to experience minor failures and learn from bad decisions, suggesting overprotective philosophies have extended into school policies where students aren't allowed to fail.

December's media environment showed less interest in these debates despite new findings about smartphone access and adolescent health. Research released during the month found children who own smartphones by age 12 face elevated risks of depression, poor sleep, and obesity. The Washington Post reported on studies examining screen time's impact on teen brain development, while social media discussions highlighted how constant criticism rewires children's brains and creates stress-response systems that remain on high alert into adulthood.

Employment Risk-Taking Narratives Show Mixed Signals Amid Job Market Concerns

While other narratives moved firmly in a pro-risk direction, economic risk-taking narratives were a bit more complex, especially when they concerned jobs and careers. Language describing Americans as people who are willing to take risks fell 5 by points, while language asserting that true Americans bet on themselves and their own abilities rose 7 points but remained 13 percent below typical levels. These modest movements occurred against a backdrop of challenging employment conditions that might be expected to generate stronger narrative responses about American entrepreneurialism and self-reliance.

NBC News reported that October saw 105,000 job losses while November added just 64,000 positions, with unemployment rising to 4.6 percent, the highest level in more than four years. Bloomberg's analysis noted that 2025 was difficult for job seekers, with forecasters expecting little improvement in 2026. The labor market has been described as "low-hire, low-fire," with employers pulling back from hiring while avoiding mass layoffs. Business Insider's year-end review showed unemployment at multi-year highs while job switchers saw more modest raises than in previous years. It has been precisely the kind of environment indicative of a low willingness to take this kind of risk by both employers and employees. Indeed, the density of language criticizing Americans for prioritizing comfort over ambition rose modestly to 5 percent above average.

Younger workers faced particularly acute challenges. A survey of 183 employers found just over half rated the market for 2026 college graduates as poor or fair, comparable to pandemic-era conditions. Healthcare accounted for nearly all job growth in 2025, with social media commentary noting that 83 percent of new jobs came from health services, up from just 3 percent in 2021.

Archived Pulse

December 2025

• Military Narrative Strengthens as Risk-Taking Language Moderates
• Helicopter Parenting Concerns Decline but they’re Still Hovering Over Their Kids to College
• Frontier Heritage Language Weakens as Defense Narratives Diverge

November 2025

• Military Confidence Reaches Historic Peak
• Civic Activism Surges as Americans Mobilize to Defend Rights
• Parenting Anxieties Intensify as Helicopter Parenting Concerns Decline

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.