On Oct 30, 2007, at 3:09 PM, Carl Remick wrote:
> However, I am confounded by his point
> -- i.e., polls show that Americans think their private lives are just
> ducky, but they also think the wheels are coming off the nation as a
> whole.
>
> If that isn't proof positive that Americans are dumber than shit, I
> don't know what would qualify.
Sometimes pollsters use questions about how people perceive neighbors or their larger world as a way of getting a handle on their real opinions about their own lives - esp on stuff where there's social disapproval involved. Classic example is to ask evaluation of others' views on race and racism. Since it's criminally unpatriotic to be anything but optimistic and happy in the USA, it could be that the questions about the state of the nation reveal people's actual views.
Doug