In my previous post, I discussed how two-thirds of Americans feel that the country is headed in the wrong direction despite overwhelming positive economic trends. Here I'd like to discuss reasons for this pessimism.
1) The economic numbers may be good but people dont feel it in their incomes. Real median wages have been flat for several decades. That is an alarming statistic! A large fraction of the country is no better off than they were in the late 90s in terms of real income and that is genuine cause for pessimism. The one question I have is why people were more optimistic through the 2000s when this was also true?
2) People are more pessimistic about external threats like ISIS, Ebola, North Korea, Russia etc. I suppose this is possible (the polls I have seen do not follow up and ask people why they are pessimistic about the direction of the country). This view is misinformed in my view. Ebola is not a real threat to Americans, neither is ISIS nor North Korea in my view, and the Russian economy is self-destructing as I write. And external chaos always exists - is it particularly worse now?
3) Social changes are scaring people. Many people may be scared of the social transformations happening in this country such as gay marriage, the legalization of marijuana, a black president, changing demographics, etc. Outside of stagnant wages, this is the explanation I find most compelling. For a great swathe of America, especially white America, there have been changes to society that are too quick, too soon and you can see this rhetoric, especially over the right wing media (tv, radio, print).
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