When it comes to \u201cthe overall quality of life\u201d in America, 65% say that they are \u201cvery or somewhat satisfied.\u201d\u00a0 Americans also feel good about \u201cthe opportunity for a person to get ahead by working hard,\u201d with 61% being satisfied.\u00a0 Nearly half of Americans, 48%, are satisfied with \u201cthe influence of organized religion.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Then we get a drop off.\u00a0 Only one-third, 33%, are satisfied with \u201cthe size and power of the federal government. \u201cSimilarly, only 33% are satisfied with \u201cour system of government and how well it works.\u201d<\/p>\n
Americans aren\u2019t satisfied with their government, and they are even less satisfied with the private sector.\u00a0 Only 27% are satisfied with \u201cthe size and influence of major corporations.\u201d\u00a0 Only 24% are satisfied with \u201cthe way income and wealth are distributed in the U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is surely significant that he biggest point of dissatisfaction is the moral condition of the country.\u00a0 Only 20% of Americans are satisfied with \u201cthe moral and ethical climate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Studies like this one don\u2019t always tell us everything that they seem to.\u00a0 There are lots of reasons for not being satisfied with something.\u00a0 The Left isn\u2019t going to be satisfied about the state of America, and neither is the Right.\u00a0 They have different reasons, but agree only in their dissatisfaction.<\/p>\n
Both the Left and the Right complain about the big corporations.\u00a0 If only one out of three Americans is satisfied about \u201cour system of government and how well it works,\u201d that can be interpreted as an alarming threat to the Republic.\u00a0 (\u201cTwo out of three dislike our system of government?\u00a0 They are against the Constitution?\u00a0 They oppose democracy?\u201d)\u00a0 Again, both leftwing socialists and rightwing integralists would think that.\u00a0 Then again, many of the respondents may have just been focusing on the last part of the question, which doesn\u2019t necessarily relate to the first:\u00a0 \u201chow well it works.\u201d\u00a0 And Americans across the spectrum could agree that our government hasn\u2019t been working all that well.<\/p>\n
Still, the answers that showed the highest degrees of dissatisfaction might tell us something significant.\u00a0 Only one out of four Americans is satisfied with \u201cthe way income and wealth are distributed in the U.S.\u201d?\u00a0 Does that show a broad scale latent desire for wealth redistribution, for some kind of socialist economy rather than free market capitalism?\u00a0 If so, that could have revolutionary implications.\u00a0 That, coupled with the loathing for big corporations, would suggest that the nation is drifting towards progressivism, at least where the economy is concerned.<\/p>\n
Then again, the concern for morality would suggest that the country is drifting towards conservatism when it comes to cultural issues.\u00a0 Notice, though, that the 80% who are unhappy about America\u2019s moral climate would have to include people who are themselves contributing to that problem!\u00a0 That shouldn\u2019t be so surprising, since all of us transgressors of the law are pretty much aware of what we are doing, know it\u2019s wrong, and, on some level at least, feel guilty about it (Romans 2:15).<\/p>\n
How would you assess the state of the union?<\/p>\n
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Photo:\u00a0 President Joe Biden by Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America \u2013 Joe Biden, CC BY-SA 2.0, https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=87067584<\/em><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
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