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Report: Americans believe that politicians are liars…or something like that

A new study by the Pew Research Center reveals how some Americans truly feel about other Americans.

According to the report, 79% of those polled agree that the “typical American” is pretty patriotic and intelligent, too. 67% of poll respondents viewed the “typical American” as smart.

As Americans, we really have an inflated sense of self don’t we?

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The poll goes on to reveal that Americans view other Americans as selfish (68%). But those Americans as described by other Americans aren’t lazy.

Just 50% of the poll’s participants viewed the “others” as lazy. Splitting the poll open, we find that Millennials aren’t so optimistic.

Millennials think that the “typical American” is lazy (63%), which may stem from how well Millennials are viewed by other generations.

A poll conducted by Reason-Rupe found that “[s]eventy-one percent of American adults think of 18-to-29-year-olds — millennials, basically — as “selfish,” and 65% of us think of them as “entitled.”

Sheesh.

Anyway, while that information is all well and good–and shows just how narcissistic Americans can be–the most interesting portion of the survey falls into the category of politics.

Americans are becoming more and more apathetic about politics. “Just 34% say they have “very great” or a “good” deal of trust and confidence in the political wisdom of the American people. Fully 63% have “not very much” confidence or “no confidence at all.”

This gives a glimpse into why many Americans aren’t breaking the door down to get to those voting machines anymore: the politicians stink.

Last year governing.com published an article showing that voter turnout in local elections is pretty bad. Down to 20.9% in 2011 from 26.6% in 2001, that percentage isn’t likely to improve.

Fairly interesting that gridlock in state legislatures and D.C. is eroding the trust that Americans used to have in their politicians (that number ran as high as 67% in 1997), but that lack of trust is slightly skewed.

Many state “ordinary Americans could do a better job than elected officials of solving the country’s problems.”

There’s the slingshot filled with crap that was just flung against the wall. American’s are not only self-centered and smug, but there is enough guff in each of us to believe that we are intelligent enough to solve the issues facing this nation.

Take Donald Trump for instance. Last week he called for a ban on all Muslims entering the United States. According to a new Rasmussen poll, 46% of all likely voters agree with him.

How’s fear mongering for smart?

Another issue with this line of thinking is that it has been executed far too often. We want to, and have, elected people who are just like us. Beer guzzling, blue collar Americans who have an interest in fixing America but couldn’t tell you why the city’s budget is in a ditch or if the president claims Christianity.

We are a nation pieced together by self-importance.

There is some good news here. Not trusting politicians in this current climate may be a good thing, and it may eventually lead to the unraveling of this country’s two-party political system. There also seems to be a correlation between the influx of corporate money into politics and how many view our politicians.

Citizens United happened in 2010 allowing the flow of more corporate dollars into the political arena and all of a sudden the trust that Americans have in their politicians falls off of a cliff.

Maybe this is a sign that our political conditions have to continue to worsen before something drastic happens, but this poll at least shows that Americans may be on the cusp of some sort of political revolt or just full blown apathy.

I tend to side with the latter.

-JH

The post Report: Americans believe that politicians are liars…or something like that appeared first on Jason Henry Project.


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