Is it time America had a National “Come to Jesus” Conversation About the State of America or Face a National Divorce?

 

What’s wrong with us when a large segment of the population celebrate the murder of someone just because we disagree with them or they challenge our worldview? I wasn’t a follower of Charlie Kirk, though I did occasionally listen to him. I didn’t always agree with what he said, but I did respect his right to say it; to express his opinion in an open and civil manner, which was more than he typically got in return from those who proclaim themselves “woke” or “enlightened” (more like they’re sleepwalking and regurgitating what they’ve been told.

 And since when do we make excuses for coldblooded murder on  individuals minding their own business sitting on a bus reading a book or out walking their dog in the park? Is it simply easier to blame the victim now that they can no longer speak for themselves?

 To compound matters, there were four other sitting just feet away to refused to act while she was being murdered, and even after the killer walked away, boosting that he had just killed a “white girl”, they just left her to die alone on the floor of a bus.  I guess after they praised three separate assassination attempts on President Trump, we should have expected it.

 When Donald Trump was first elected President, his campaign mantra was to “make America great again”. Well, he’s back and it’s once again the mantra of his followers amid the vitriol of the Left. Ironically, the phrase was used in a radio commercial for Hillary Clinton during her run in the 2008 Democratic Primary, now we now hear from the Left asking, “what’s so great about America?” and “when was America ever great?”.

Under President Eisenhower’s two terms running from 1953 to 1961, 73% of Americans said they trusted their government. Going along partisan lines, the trust level of government was 79% among Republicans. Even Democrats were happy (yes—actual “happy” Democrats. They did once exist). 71% said they trusted in the government.

The overall trust level had jumped to 77% by the time Lyndon Johnson took office. But as the war raged on and the causality rates rose (as well as lies by the military and government became public), those numbers started to drop. Still, they would be regarded as high by today’s standards with 66% confidence level by Democrats and a 60% by Republicans.  By the time Johnson left office, and Richard Nixon took over, public trust had dropped but still remained strong at an overall 68%.

Following Nixon’s resignation and the advent of Gerald Ford’s “caretaker” administration, public trust was floundering at 36%. Among Republicans, just 38% had any confidence in the government. The Democrats weren’t far off with 36%. Jimmy Carter was elected as the “anti-insider” in 1976. The American People had had enough of Washington insiders and Carter took office with a new high---40%---before tumbling to 28% by the time he left office.

Despite Reagan’s perceived popularity over his eight years as president, trust in the government never did any better than 46%, a pale reflection of the Eisenhower days which Reagan often recalled in his speeches. By 1994, during the Clinton Administration, the public’s trust in the government had hit a record low of 19% before rising to 49% by the end of his second term.

President Reagan was well known for his often quips. One involved his switching parties. When asked why he left the Democratic Party and joined the Republican, he famously said “I didn’t leave the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party left me”. I guess this was the time when the American People could say the same thing about both parties now and the government in general. Government had left the American People.

Sadly, it took a national tragedy like 9/11 to rekindle America’s faith in their government, and it came shortly after George W. Bush (aka “Dubya”) took office. Poll numbers vary slightly, but the public’s trust in government ranged between 55% and as much as 60% according to some polls. Ever then, confidence in the government has been on a downward trajectory ever since. As some have said, “we're in a handbag to Hell on roller skates and no one is driving”

The best Trump did in his first term was 27%. Under President Biden, levels of trust in the government again repeated lows of 19%. Even among Democrats, the trust factor never did better than 35%.  For Republicans, it remained at levels one could only call abyssal---11%.

Today, Americans barely tolerate each other. We tend to live in our collective bubbles and regurgitate what we see and hear without bothering to question or investigate. They demand to be heard but refuse to listen. They celebrate the murders of others and excuse their killers. We’ve become two nations.

Even when we break down trust in government by race, we don’t see much of change. Using the Eisenhower/Kennedy/Johnson administrations as a starting point, Blacks and whites intersected in October 1964 (the early LBJ Administration) with a 77% each saying they trust the government.

Staring in 1968, that trust among Blacks has plummeted. The next time it peaked was in 1993, corresponding with Bill Clinton’s inauguration, when it hit 43%. Even under Obama, it didn’t do any better than 39% in February 2013. Biden got close in April 2021 with 37%.  Trust levels hit rock bottom in March 2019  during Trump’s administration when they dropped to 9% thanks largely to relentless negative news about Trump and his administration by the legacy media. It was so bad that 67% of Blacks had been convinced that the political system exists to hold them back. 

Among Whites, their highest trust level in government following October 1964 wasn’t until October 2001 under George W. Bush when it reached 61% few weeks following the 9/11 attacked (was this actually “trust” or just patriotism?).   For Whites, their low point came in October 2011 under Obama when it dropped to 8%.

According to Pew Polling, Hispanics weren’t tracked until December 1990 when  George “Dubya” Bush was the president. Their initial starting point was 39%. They quickly reached their highest level of trust of 57% in December 1998, which was late into Clinton’s tenure as president before again dropping off. Their next high point came in January 2013 when it reached 44% under President Obama. Interesting, their lowest level of trust in the government came at the end of the Biden’s presidency when it hit 23%.

Lastly, Asians. Apparently, they first appeared in polling data in August 2020 during Trump’s first term when they expressed a trust level of only 27%. They peaked in May 2022 at 37% under Biden, only to bottomed out a month later at 23%. Native Americans and Independents, the nation’s largest political bloc, were excluded in the polling data.

Now, President Trump promises to make us “great” once more. That would mean taking us politically, socially, and economically back to the post-World War II years of Harry Truman and Ike. The American economy was booming and we had taken center stage as empires of old, England, France, and Germany faded from the limelight. We had become a “superpower”.

As for President Trump, he has been implementing many of campaign promises (a rarity in itself). He has started deporting illegal residents by the thousands (many of whom had previously just laughed at the usual empty rhetoric about deportation). He has started purging the government of useless and redundant bureaucrats, saving taxpayers millions in the process, and having an eye towards shutting down unneeded agencies. President Trump is, as promised, “draining the swamp”.

Of course, in his zeal, he needs to be careful of not overreaching into areas vital to ordinary citizens such as Social Security, unemployment, or WIC, while ensuring that those who actually need government services receive it. Often reformist zeal can turn into blind zealotry. He has imposed tariffs, which has been largely unpopular with the public and small businesses since it means higher prices which big business seems rather pleased. He has also promised lower prices, especially for staples like milk and eggs, which has yet to happen. 

For too long, the bulk of American citizens have seen government as inept and corrupt. Over 65% of Americans are unhappy with our position in the world. 72% of America agree with the statement that "America was once a good example of democracy, but no longer".  Among the OECD nations, the United States ranks near the bottom when it comes to trust in government at 31  %. Only Columbia and Chile rank lower.  The country with the highest level of trust is Switzerland with 83.78%. 

 Given the appalling insensitive reaction of many on the Left (including much of the legacy media) to the death of Charlie Kirk, Iryna Zarutska, and others, the question  which now faces our nation is “now what?” We’ve become two nations with differing values occupying the same space. Our only commonality is the Status Quo which serves itself by keeping us divided and at each other’s throats. Can we root out the "Deep State" and restore our Republic or is it too late? Can we learn to talk “to” and not “at” one another again; to be respectful whether we agree or not with each other?

Personally, I have my doubts. America has become too deeply and widely divided and too willing to act as if this is acceptable.  It’s not. That means either deep reform, if not a complete overhaul of the government and breaking up the powerful corporate-government state, and returning to a constitutionally based Republic as intended by our Founders (which incidentally means doing away with political parties and having “citizen legislators”) or finding a way to peacefully create a two state nation, perhaps along the lines of a loosely based federation (Yugoslavia or the old Austro-Hungarian Empire comes to mind).  

We’ve watched the government slide from a Republic responsible to its citizens under Eisenhower to a surveillance state within a neo-fascist corporatocracy which serves Wall Street. Government, both elected and appointed, no longer represent the American People. Instead, it serves corporate interests and those with deep pockets.  Much of what Congress, the Judicial system, past presidents, and the legacy media bears that out. We can’t even be sure our vote still counts.

The only alternative is to terrible to seriously contemplate. Those who seek balance---“centrists” or “moderates”---have been largely purged from both of the corporate owned parties. As a result, they now make up the nation's majority of voters. They’re called Independents and unlike the two corporate parties, everyone is welcome if you believe in tolerance and having an open mind (we’re funny that way).  

But regardless of your political leanings, there’s one thing which is crystal clear and that is that our present dystopian state of the nation cannot hold.  Something has to give. It’s time that we, as a nation, have a frank and honest national conversation, a so-called “come to Jesus” moment to address some ugly truths about ourselves and find a way to peacefully coexist or simply agree to disagree and go our separate ways. 

Empires come and go. Republics tend to last about 250 years before they implode. We’ve reached that 250 year mark. We are, as our Founding Fathers said, a “grand experiment”. Nothing about our future was pre-ordained. I suspect we’ve already exceeded their expectations. One thing is for sure though. If we are to “make America great again”, we cannot continue to limp along as we have been doing and still pretend we’re a “Republic”. We’re not. Extremism and intolerance has no place among a free people. So, what do you want to do America?

 Thank you for reading "Another Opinion", the Op/Ed blog page for the "militant middle".  Here at "A/O" we truly value our readers. At A/O we seek the facts as they exist, not partisan talking points.  We hope you find our articles informative and engaging. Comments are welcome, provided they are not vulgar, insulting or demeaning.  Another Opinion is offered without charge and is directed toward all independent and free-thinking individuals. We ask, however, that you "like" us on whatever platform you found us on in order to keep our articles available for free to others. Lastly, in order to keep costs down, we depend on passive marketing, and therefore, depend on our readers to please forward our posts along. Below you will find links to the sources we used in writing this article. Thank you. 

 

Pew Research: Public Trust in Government: 1958 - 2024

 

72% of American say the US used to be a good example ofdemocracy but isn’t anymore

 

WEF: Trust in Government by Country 2024

 

Make America Great Again

 

The American Experiment

 

Gallup: A Third of Americans Satisfied With Global Position

 

Black Americans mistrust the US political system

 

 The State of Public Trust in Government 2025

Americans Deepening Mistrust of Institutions

Who Do You Trust? America's Confidence in Government

I admit that I didn't watch President Biden's "State of the Union Address" on Tuesday. Frankly, I didn't care. Now, it's not that I don't care about what's happening in America or elsewhere in the world. Far from it. I am very concerned about what is happening around the world and here at home in the U.S..

It's just that I'm not interested in hearing the lies and watching the antics coming from both sides. This is not what I expect from people who are suppose to be educated and elected to serve the American People. I see two camps having more in common with the faux-gang "Jets" and "Sharks" from the West Side Story than the likes of Jefferson, Washington, or Lincoln!

The lack of respect and civility is not linked to one party (although the media would like for you to think so). It's both parties and it's been going on for far too long now. They act like spoiled children on a school playground, or worse, like some cheap "reality" TV show (the "Kardashians" come to mind).

It illustrates the near total breakdown of our the political system into two extremist camps. America is no longer the Republic it was intended. It's a neo-fascist Corporatocracy run by an Oligarchy. The rest is all kabuki theater with the corporate media acting as the chorus or narrator from ancient Greek plays, directing our attention from one actor to another and editorializing the scene with their comments.

I know that I'm not the only person who feels this way.  Based on several polls, most Americans overall have little or no trust in the media. In a Gallup Poll from October 2022, only about 34% say they had a "great or fair amount of trust" in the media. In a poll conducted in 1976, in the aftermath of the Vietnam War and Watergate, that number was 72%.

That same poll showed that over one third (38%) of Americans had absolutely no trust in the media at all. By comparison, that figure was just 4% in 1976. Today, 28% currently acknowledged having  confidence in the media.

It's worth noting that those who do trust the media the most tend to be Democrats (70%). Those who trust it the least are Republicans and conservatives (86%). Independents (the nation's largest political bloc) have a pretty low feeling about the media too (73%).

Given that freedom of speech, expression, and assembly are listed first among our list of freedoms, that's significant. It impacts our core as a nation, but should we be surprised? After all,  America is no longer a Republic. It's a corporatocracy, meaning that it's our political institutions, economy and judicial system exist to represent corporate interests, not that of the American People.

As an aside, a corporatocracy is not "Communist" or "socialist" (unless you're referring to "corporate socialism" or "corporate welfare"). It is, by definition, a form of fascism. This fits in rather neatly with our surveillance state. Those who run this corporatocracy are members of the top 1% percent or so, commonly referred to as a oligarchy or kleptocracy.

So, when we look at the news media, what we see is the product of just five corporations. That's right. Just five corporations control 96+% of everything we read, hear, and watch. That includes not just the news and its content, but television programs we watch, the movies we see, the video games we play, many of the books selected for mass publication as well as majority of the magazines and newspapers out there not to mention the radio stations we listen too.

This control extends naturally to government where it has formed a sinister symbiotic relationship of sorts. Corporations underwrite the funding of both political parties and individual campaigns. They influence who gets what committee assignments or the backing needed to run for which office.

Their lobbyists not just review bills, but also provide summaries and make "recommendations" to the appropriate individuals on how to vote, but often write the legislation. Through their connections with the media, they can affect public opinion. As an aside, as of 2023, there are 12,096 registered lobbyists to lobby Congress. None of them are there on your behalf.

In a separate Gallup poll from October 2022, they include some interesting numbers about confidence in the three branches of government---Executive, Judicial, and Legislative. According to the poll, only 43% of Americans have any trust in the Executive branch irrespective of who is occupying it.

38% of voters say they have any confidence in the Legislative branch (the Senate and House of Representatives) regardless of which of the two corporate parties are in control. That's not really surprising since the approval rating for both branches of Congress have been in the proverbial toilet for decades (in recent years, the approval numbers have been as low as 9%).

What's is surprising, however, is the trust that voters place in the Judicial branch. Historically, most Americans trusted the judicial system. It seemed to be exempt from the public's contempt of the other two branches. Not anymore. Ever since the Supreme Court's dual bungling of Citizens United and Roe v Wade, their numbers have taken a nose dive. The poll showed that just 47% of Americans had any faith in the Judicial branch.

Ironically, when it came to state and local governments, there was a dramatic turnabout. According to the poll, 57% of those surveyed trusted their state government while 67% trusted their local government. Perhaps this shouldn't be too surprising since American was intended to have a weak federal government while state and local governments were to be stronger, reflecting their closeness to the people. Apparently most Americans still feel the same way.

When we look at "trust" by political division, we get a glimpse of the nation's schism. When asked if they had a "great deal or fair amount of trust" in the Executive branch as an institution,  86% of Democrats said yes. 43% of Independents agreed, but just 7% of Republicans/Conservatives went along.

When asked the same question about the Legislative branch, there was a similar response. 54% said they did. However, only 36% of Independents had any faith in the Legislative branch while only 25% of Republicans/Conservatives. did.

In looking at the Judicial branch, we had a reversal. 67% of Republicans/Conservatives trusted the nation's legal system (perhaps a reflection of the Supreme Court's decision regarding Roe v. Wade). Yet, despite overwhelming support from the Right, just 25% of Democrats had any confidence in the Judicial system. Meanwhile, the majority Independents have only a 46%  rate of trust.  

As an aside, our currency is suppose to be backed solely on the "full faith and credit" of the U.S. Government. Kind of makes you wonder what happens next when the majority of Americans have no or little faith in a federal government which is  $31 trillion dollars in debt doesn't it?  

When the question turned to local and state governments, we got a rare agreement among the three primary political factions. When asked about having trust in state government, 64% of Democrats said they did. So did 56% of Republicans/Conservatives and 54% of Independents.

What about local government? Well, again there was some cross agreement. 73% of Democrats, 70% of Republican/Conservatives, and 61% of Independents agreed that they trusted in local government.  

So, what does this mean? The responses appear to indicate what many of us suspected. The federal government and its control by Wall Street is the primary problem. We want a government which is closer to us where we can have more input and control (not unlike what our Founding Fathers wanted too). We also don't like the control of information we currently see. We just want to be given the unvarnished facts.  

Lastly, with the majority of Americans having left the two Wall Street parties, the American voter has made it abundantly clear what they thought about all the partisan incompetence, petty bickering, corruption, media bias, and election rigging. 

It appears that nearly everything happening in Washington is the antithesis of what it means to be an American.  So, now when we talk about where the fundamental changes in our corrupt political system need to be made first, perhaps this gives us a starting point.

 

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Trustin Federal Government Branches Continue to Falter

 

American Dystopia

Americans' Trust in Media Remains Near Record Low

 

In America We No Longer Trust?

 

Our currency says "In God We Trust", but what about America? Do we still have confidence in our country? Americans, it seems, do have a serious trust issue, especially when it comes to the government and authority figures. That distrust is part of the American character stemming from those who first settled and explored this land. Many were viewed as being social, political, and religious outcasts.

The economics and social structure of the Pre-19th Century hamstrung the lower class merchants, craftsmen and subsistence farmer who toiled away on land they rarely owned while idle rich reaped the profits through rents and taxes. The social system often locked them into their social class of their birth with little or no hope of rising above it. Life for the majority was a grueling battle just to survive while the ruling elite were all but oblivious to their plight. To the elites, it was all due to "divine" ordination.

This "New World" offered a chance to change that. It was a risk, often requiring them to sell their selves into servitude for as much as a 1/3 of their anticipated lifespan just for this one rare opportunity to step up on the next rung of the social ladder. In the Jamestown of the early 1600's, approximately 75% of the population was indentured.

Upwards to 50% would die before ever seeing their freedom due to disease, exhaustion, or being undernourished.  Even for those who survived to reach the end of their servitude, many would find the land they received for their decades of bondage was infertile land or too small to sustain them. But they came anyway.

America was settled primarily by social, religious, and economic outcasts who built a new life of their own. No lords. No masters. It's helped create the image of the "rugged individual" and sense of independence which we still value to this day (and something others in foreign countries struggle to understand).  

Our alleged "insolence" and "rebelliousness" as England's King George III referred to us was even written into the Declaration of Independence while our belief in the dignity of the individual was expressed in the Bill of Rights.  So, it's no wonder that we distrust authority, which is borne out by a recent Pew Poll.

As an aside, this poll is not about "approval ratings" which often fluctuates weekly based on a variety of issues like the popularity of a party, legislation, or person as presented by the establishment media. Instead, this poll examined our "trust" or "confidence" in government, which more long term.  It also delved a bit deeper to look at other national institutions.   

Polling about the government has long been interesting, if for nothing else than from a perverse perspective to see just how low it will go. Americans have long disliked and distrusted Congress no matter which party is in control, and for the matter, the presidency. However, we have still held the Supreme Court in (relatively) high esteem, but all that's changed and we'll explain how. 

 According to the poll results, taken in July 2022, the amount of "trust" or "confidence" we had  for Congress in 2021 was a meager 12%. But as of July that figure had dropped to a pathetic 7%! As for the presidency (not the President), that "trust factor" dropped from 38% in 2021 to just 23% in 2022. When it came to the U.S. Supreme Court, they were not so "supreme".

Historically, the Supreme Court has been the one branch of government which somehow managed to sidestep the wrath of the public. Perhaps it's because it's rarely in the news or deals with issues many of us have only a passing interest in. Besides, there's always been some kind of mystique about the highest court. It's members, appointed for life, were seen as close to infallible as we mere mortals could get. They were each highly qualified for their position. The court, as a whole, was also seen as being impartial and above or outside the slimy dealings of politics.

However, the Pew Poll showed something different. In 2022, the confidence factor of Supreme Court was only 25%, which was down 11% from the 2021 results of 36%, which was still shocking. What would cause the results typically associated with Congress (on a good day) or the President? One key factor was Citizens United, a ruling that has had devastating consequences for the average American.

Citizens United, which was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2010, all but removed ordinary voters from politics and gave it to Big Business. Corporations were now seen as having the same rights as the average person, with one major exception (more on that shortly). Corporations are a legal construct. They are soulless artificial legal entities. They do not speak or act for their employees (it's often also pointed out that corporations are not democratic. They act as feudalistic kingdoms). 

Corporations function based on the collective voice of their board of directors with limited input from their shareholders. They exist solely to make a profit for those invested in its performance. Thanks to Citizens United, corporations now give virtually unlimited amounts of money to whomever they want, essentially buying the officeholder or political party.

The Supreme Court (and certain members of Congress) justify this by saying that "money equates with free speech" (of course, you and I are limited by the amount of "free speech" we donate by both legislation and practicality). That's the major exception I alluded to earlier. Even unions, which act more on behalf of the corporations they're suppose to protect workers from than the workers, can't compete. Unions are only able to donate one dollar for every ten corporations donate.

Citizens United was the final screw in creating the "Frankenstein" which transformed our Constitutional Republic into a neo-fascist Corporatocracy; our representative democracy is now run by a corporate like board of directors; an oligarchy of unbelievably rich individuals on behalf of equally rich shareholders. 12 years later and still 75% of Americans regardless of party oppose Citizens United.

The court's recent decision reversing Roe v. Wade also deeply affected the public's trust. 62% of American surveyed said the court made the wrong decision, adding that abortion should be legal in every state.

Related to the Supreme Court is the criminal justice system. As many know, we have the highest percentage of individuals behind bars, 0.7%, than any other country on the planet, be they "democratic" or authoritarian (including monarchies). That's nearly 700 individuals per 100,000. That's more than France, Russia, China, Turkey, Mexico, or Brazil. Not surprisingly, confidence in the criminal justice system is just 14%, down from 20% in 2021.

When it comes to other institutions which comprise the foundation of our nation, they've done just as poorly. In fact, 11 of the 16 institutions mentioned in the survey had declined between 2021 and 2022, and of those remaining five, their trust factor remained the same. Let's look at business first.

"Big Business" which includes companies like Walmart, General Electric, and Kroger have a current trust factor of 14% thus far in 2022%. which is down from 18% in 2021.  Large technology companies, such as Google and Apple, went from 26% to 23%. Banks and other financial companies "to big to fail" dropped from 33% to 27%.

Meanwhile, small business (or what's left of them post Covid-19), remained strong 68%, having fallen just 2% from 2021 until now. It seems we still prefer the "mom and pop" businesses that reflect our appreciation of the individual and entrepreneur, as well as the everyday familiarity which comes from the smaller local businesses and the knowledge that we are also helping our community by buying local.

Organized labor was one of the very few groups included in the survey which didn't show a decline, however, it didn't increase either. In fact, trust in unions remained at a 28% low. It's likely due to the low number of workers represented by unions as well as the corrupt reputations many unions suffer from because of the actions of a few.

The medical system took a hit from the Covid pandemic, "mandatory" vaccinations, masks, and the prolonged quarantines which hurt small businesses (which were forced to close) while helping big corporations (which were allowed to remain open). Unanswered questions regarding the vaccinates and the seemly endless "boosters" didn't do them any favors either. 

Many people nowadays question whether doctors, pharmacies, and hospitals serve the interests of insurance companies and medical research companies over the health of their patients. This lack of confidence is reflected in the poll  with just 38% trusting the medical industry compared to 44% in 2021 (we can even link the technology companies mentioned above back into this too).

While the Covid crisis was raging, so was more civil violence resulting from the recent deaths of individuals at the hands of the police. Whether the police were at fault is a matter of opinion, but it certainly affected the public's confidence in law enforcement.

The poll backed that up by showing a decline from 51% in 2021 to 45% in 2022; a 6% drop. Along with the loss in confidence, police departments across the country are losing  law enforcement officers as hundreds continue to retire or resign each month as we reported earlier.  

Trust in the military was another one of the very few which, while dropping slightly, still remained strong with 64%. In 2022, that number had been 68%. No doubt the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years of fighting and perception of a second military defeat played a big factor in 4% decline. Still, we cherish our men and women in uniform.

Turning from the military to religion, organized religion continues to decline as we reported in our last article. Overall, trust in religion is 31%, which represents a 6% drop from the previous year. While there are several factors, certainly some must include the Vatican's continuing refusal to deal with its pedophilic priests  (a issue which has spilled over to other religions), not to mention corrupt televangelists, along with issues concerning  married priests, ordaining women, birth control and abortion, gays in the church, and the centuries old conflict with science. 

Not surprising is the fact that even our school system isn't safe. Confidence in our schools and even our teachers have been on the decline for decades, starting with forced bussing and the decline of discipline in the schools in the 1970's.

Schools are now largely thought of as either public babysitters or pre-incarceration centers. Schools were once seen as safe havens, but not anymore. Respect for teachers have dropped, as has the desire to learn (for some minorities, academic achievement is often seen as "acting white" and typically results in being bullied and/or ostracized).

Today, the emphasis is on appeasement, especially if it has a racial or sexual orientation slant to it. They "graduate" individuals who can't read at grade level, can barely write, have little or no knowledge of literature, English grammar, science, or history and no appreciation of the arts.

They don't understand civics or what it means to be a citizen or to have respect for others. They have no critical thinking skills, but they sure know their sports!  They're taught that college and debt is their only option rather than the trades which are more in demand, cheaper and quicker to obtain, and pay better than average. Is it any wonder confidence in the school system is just 28%, down from 32% the year before?

Last on our list is the mainstream media. 96% of all media, including videos, movies, TV and radio programming, newspapers, books, and magazines, and even internet content are owned by just five companies. They literally control what we see and hear. They influence what we think on every topic. Most Americans nowadays no longer trust the media, which is labeled as "fake news". I find no surprise that television news has a trust factor of only 11% while newspapers (and print media) is a just 16%.  

It's not uncommon for the approval rating of this or that individual or group (such as Congress) to be in the dumpster, depending on the popularity of their party, their personality, or how they're portrayed by the media, but this poll goes further than that. It's a snapshot of our confidence in the very foundations of our society. It's also a warning.

If you want to know more, please take a look at the links below. If you enjoyed the article, please consider passing it along to others and don't forget to subscribe. It's free! Lastly please be sure to "like" us on whatever platform you use to read A/O. It helps with the algorithms and keeps our articles in circulation. Thank you! 

 

Confidence in U.S. Institutions Down; Average at New Low

Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2022

Majority of Public Disapproves of Supreme Court's Decision to Overturn Roe v. Wade

Millions of Small Businesses Closed in 2020: The LongRecovery Ahead

The pandemic may have caused 200,000 business closures---fewer than expected

 

 

 

C'mon...You Can Trust Us

I don't think there's any doubt that Americans have little, if any faith, in Washington. We all sense it. It's almost like it's this big secret that everyone is in on. We know they're lying. They know we know they're lying, and we know they know that we know they're lying to us. Last year academics confirmed what we intuitively already knew, that the America of our youth; the America of our history books was gone. We couldn't quite pinpoint when it happened, but we knew that it had vanished. These same academics confirmed that America is now an oligarchy. What had been created "of the people, by the people, and for the people" was now a government which served the interests of basically the top 5%, which controls the overwhelming wealth of this country, but it was the top 1% which called the shots in Washington. What was in their interests was Washington's marching orders. The debates, speeches, and all the political one-up-man-ship is basically political theater, complete with manufactured crises, staged indignation, and poll induced sound bites, with the real fights being over turf and any remaining crumbs.

This March, a new study from Gallup seemed to hit home. The poll, which is from the week of March 5th, reported the government in Washington is the nation's number one problem at 18%, with the economy at 11%, and unemployment at 10%. Also making the list was illegal immigration and healthcare at 7% and terrorism and education tied at 6%. ISIS came in at 4%, which also tied with poverty/homelessness, national security, foreign policy, and race relations. Now think about that for just a moment. Of all that's happening in world---in Iraq or Syria, or the Crimea, or the riots in places like Ferguson, the lackluster economy, and climate change (which didn't even rank), Americans were more concerned about the dismal performance of Washington.

Part of this may relate back to America's transition from a democratic republic to an oligarchy, the widening income gap along with the disappearance of the Middle Class and accompanying decline of unions, the burden of Obamacare or illegal immigration. But I think it is also the longstanding frustration with both political parties and their monopoly on elections thanks to gerrymandering which all but guarantees the election of whichever political party controls that district, and the Citizens United misruling by the not so supreme Supreme Court which said corporations were more effectively more "human" than you or I and certainly had more rights when it came to financial input into elections which it erroneously defined as "free speech".

It's therefore, not too surprising that only 31% of those surveyed were happy with the current direction of the country (with 69% thinking we headed in the wrong direction), and yet Washington keeps chugging down the wrong track at full tilt. In the same vein, a slightly older Pew Research report from February 2014 indicated that only 24% of people trusted the government, or conversely, 76% didn't trust the government; almost mirroring the later Gallup poll.

What I found of particular note was that the last time the American People trusted the government in any significant degree was during the last year of the Kennedy Administration and early Johnson Presidency peaked at 77%, which is interesting given the events at the end of the Kennedy Administration (Bay of Pigs fiasco and the Cuban Missile Crisis, and then passage of the Civil Rights Act under Johnson). Even by January 1967, near the height of the Vietnam War, trust in US Government stood at 67%. Even with Watergate and Nixon's resignation, trust in Washington remained at 53%. However, by the time of Jimmy Carter, the Iranian hostage crisis and the subsequent botched rescue attempt, the oil crisis and flagging economy, the public's trust of the government dropped to a dismal 26%. In March, 1994 under Bill Clinton, trust in Washington dropped to 20% (bear in mind that trust in Washington is not the same a public approval of a given president). It wasn't until November 2001, under George W. Bush that we even came close to approaching a majority with 49%. From that point on, it's been all downhill.

Writing a weekly political blog, I came across another article which I thought was not only interesting from my perspective, but also ties into the public's distrust of Washington, and that's the public's distrust of corporate media. A Pew Research Report said that 19% of those polled get their news from sources they didn't trust, be it cable news, a news magazine, or news website. 26% self identified as conservative and 25% as mostly conservative. 14% of those who identified themselves as liberal said they didn't trust the source of their news, while 16% of those who leaned liberal made the statement. Finally, 78% said that trusted the source(s) they got news their news from. In short, those who leaned Right or were solidly conservative were least likely to trust their news source(s). This is consistent with most conservatives not trusting the corporate media--labeling it as biased whereas most liberals seems to generally accept what they're being told (silly lackeys). The source most trusted by conservatives was (naturally) Fox News while liberals were more diverse, with 15% favoring CNN, 13% NPR, 12% MSNBC, and 10% following the New York Times. Interestingly, 39% of the respondents reported neither trusting nor distrusting their news source(s), meaning perhaps that they took what they hear or read with a grain of salt and crosschecked the information with other sources.

Finally, a Gallup poll from September 17, 2014 indicated that overall, 60% said they didn't believe the corporate media was "fully accurate" or "fair". Only 40% said that had a "fair amount" or greater trust in the accuracy or fairness of what they heard or read. 44% thought the media was "too liberal" compared to 19% which thought the media was "too conservative" with 34% reporting that the media's political balance was about right. So what does all this mean? I think that ultimately it means that we've lost faith in our traditional institutions, in this case, Washington and the news media. Most individuals reported confidence in their local governments and moderate trust in their State governments, so the closer to the individual the higher the level of trust. Perhaps that's not too surprising since the Founding Fathers intended for government to be as close to the people as possible with less and less power and control the further away government got. While the media is supposed to be unbiased and report the "just the facts", the key fact is that news is a business with advertisers and owners who have their own political agendas. It's a sad fact, but just 6 companies own 90% of the media. These companies control billions in revenue. That means the remaining 10% comes from independent and alternative new sites such as RT which is State sponsored or blogs like this one which has little in the way of a budget. The end result is that we have to search harder to find what passes for the truth, but it is out there. It requires us to be proactive and think outside the box. My wife sometimes laughs at me because I refuse to watch pre-game or post-games shows just as I won't watch pre and post political news reports. The reason is that I don't want or need an interpreter or filter with their own slant telling me what I'm going to see or hear and then what I just saw or heard. I can think for myself. I am fully capable of understanding whatever it is I'm listening to or watching.

Lastly, I think people need to question those in who are supposed to represent us often and sometimes loudly, and we should never ever except pat answers or refusals to fully answer our questions. I think the polling results reflect our frustration, maybe even our apathy, but we need to equally find ways to reflect our refusal to continue to accept things as they are. And it's the media's jobs to report the facts simply and objectively. I think we are fully capable of making our own informed decisions. That's one reason I routinely recommend people ignore the political "endorsements" of newspapers. It's not their job the manipulate the public's opinions and ultimately their votes. Just tell us where a given candidate stands on a issue. We can do the rest. So there you have it. Never blindly trust government or the media and always question often and loudly if necessary.




Americans Name Government No. 1 Problem
http://www.gallup.com/poll/181946/americans-name-government-no-problem.aspx?utm_source=Politics&utm_medium=newsfeed&utm_campaign=tiles


Public Trust in Government
http://www.people-press.org/2014/11/13/public-trust-in-government/

19% say they get their news for a source they distrust
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/10/24/19-say-they-get-news-from-a-source-they-distrust/

Gallup: 60% of Americans Don't Trust the News Media
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/michael-w-chapman/gallup-60-americans-dont-trust-news-media

Graphic: How Just 6 Corporations own 90% of the Media
http://www.storyleak.com/graphic-6-corporations-own-90-percent-of-media/