A majority of Americans agree that the US government is “corrupt and rigged against everyday people like me,” including 73% of voters who describe themselves as a “strong Republican,” 71% who called themselves “very conservative,” and 68% of rural voters.
More than a quarter of Americans – 28% – said that it might “soon be necessary to take up arms” against the US government, according to a new poll released. The poll also showed that a majority of Americans – liberal and conservative both – felt that their government was “corrupt and rigged against everyday people like me.” See this in the chart below and learn more here.
The survey, which polled a pool of 1,000 US voters, was conducted by the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics in May 2022. Among the poll’s findings:
- A majority of Americans agree that the government is “corrupt and rigged against everyday people like me,” including 73% of voters who describe themselves as a “strong Republican,” 71% who called themselves “very conservative,” and 68% of rural voters. A bare majority (51%) of voters who call themselves “very liberal” also agreed. Overall, two-thirds of Republican and Independent voters agree that the government is “corrupt and rigged” against them, while Democrats are evenly split.
- With the debate raging about the integrity of our elections, a majority (56%) say they “generally trust elections to be conducted fairly and counted accurately.” But that view is deeply divergent by party. Four in five Democrats (78%) say they generally trust our elections to be fair and accurate. Half (51%) of Independent voters but just 33% of Republicans agree. Among those who reported voting for Donald Trump in 2020, the number who say they generally trust elections is 31%.
- Nearly half of Americans (49%) agreed that they “more and more feel like a stranger in my own country,” with 69% of strong Republicans and 65% who call themselves “very conservative” leading the way. Fully 38% of strong Democrats agreed.
- And 28% of voters, including 37% who have guns in their homes, agree that “it may be necessary at some point soon for citizens to take up arms against the government.” That view is held by one in three Republicans, including 45% of self-identified strong Republicans. Roughly one in three (35%) Independent voters and one in five Democrats agreed.
About three-quarters (73%) of voters who identify themselves as Republicans agree that “Democrats are generally bullies who want to impose their political beliefs on those who disagree.” An almost identical percentage of Democrats (74%) express that view of Republicans. A similarly lopsided majority of each party holds that members of the other are “generally untruthful and are pushing disinformation.” Clearly, both sides blame the other. See this in the chart below.
Fully half say they have friends or relatives “who have changed because of the media they consume.” And in today’s media environment, where Americans can choose from a plethora of sources for news and information, a majority of Americans (50%) believe that when they have political differences, it is less caused by “honest disagreement” than that those who disagree are “misinformed because of where they get their information.” See this in the chart below.
Half of these same people polled believe that it is media misinformation and not genuine disagreements. This could be disturbing because each side may want to censor the other to get the “right” results. I would question whether this is true. There may be a true divide in America’s political views – the growing acceptance of socialism may be the source. In the past, this has not been so much the case.
So what is making Americans so angry? There have been several polls done on this topic recently. Here is one shown below from CBS/YouGov below (learn more here).
American concerns rise and fall as they come and go. Crime, gun policy, and immigration stand as large issues as they are somewhat related and will generate political differences in how they can be resolved. But clearly, the biggest concern today is the economy and the skyrocketing rate of inflation. Learn more here about a potential double-dip economic downturn coming.
The issue that both sides of the political debate say is NOT a concern is the ongoing political show trial of January 6th. See more in a recent Right Wire Report podcast – “Truth Be Told Podcast: Democrats HYPE-NOTISE America July 2, 2022.” It demonstrates just how out of touch our government is today.
Whether Americans act out what these polls indicate remains to be seen. One fears that we are one more big crisis away from reaching the tipping point.
Via The Blue State Conservative