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from the The-only-thing-we-have-to-fear-is... dept.
Chapman University recently completed its third annual Chapman University Survey of American Fears (2016). The survey asked respondents about 65 fears across a broad range of categories including fears about the government, crime, the environment, the future, technology, health, natural disasters, as well as fears of public speaking, spiders, heights, ghosts and many other personal anxieties.
In addition to the set of fears examined in previous waves, the survey team took a closer look at two fear related phenomena: Americans' beliefs in conspiracy theories and fear of Muslims, sometimes referred to as "Islamophobia."
In its third year, the annual Chapman University Survey of American Fears included more than 1,500 adult participants from across the nation and all walks of life. The 2016 survey data is organized into five basic categories: personal fears, conspiracy theories, terrorism, natural disasters, paranormal fears, and fear of Muslims.
The 2016 survey shows that the top 10 things Americans fear the most are:
- Corruption of government officials (same top fear as 2015)
- Terrorist attacks
- Not having enough money for the future
- Being a victim of terror
- Government restrictions on firearms and ammunition (new)
- People I love dying
- Economic or financial collapse
- Identity theft
- People I love becoming seriously ill
- The Affordable Health Care Act/"Obamacare"
http://phys.org/news/2016-10-americans-annual-survey-american.html
A comprehensive list of the all the fears is available from The Chapman Survey on American Fears 2016.
A video is also available at: https://youtu.be/Rr0XAFbe8b8
Previously:
What Americans Fear Most (2014)
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Justin Case on Sunday October 16 2016, @09:04PM
My top fear is that millions of stupid people will be allowed to vote.
Running close behind that is the fear that they will believe their vote has any effect whatsoever.
(Score: 2, Flamebait) by takyon on Sunday October 16 2016, @09:40PM
So you're saying that your own top fear is completely irrational. Got it.
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(Score: 3, Insightful) by Justin Case on Sunday October 16 2016, @09:54PM
Isn't that the nature of fear?
But if they're allowed to vote, they will think the people control the country, which will simply delay getting anything really fixed.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by bzipitidoo on Monday October 17 2016, @02:46AM
Should stop thinking of our politicians as leaders. They're not leaders, they're social surfers, riding the waves whichever way they go.
Voters have lots of power, but many are such suckers for fearmongering. They really do control the country, if clumsily. Mostly, if things aren't completely horrible, voters vote for the status quo. Getting experimental is scary, and will not be voted for unless not doing anything looks worse. I was a bit surprised Obama's 2008 campaign on "change" went over so well, but then it did come on the heels of the market crash of 2008 and the start of the Great Recession. Mostly, just what is the status quo and which candidates best maintain it are the questions.
The peddlers of fear have some control, but very limited. Propaganda campaigns can warp public opinion only so far. And there is fierce competition to get heard above all the noise. The slickest propaganda campaign in the world can't get any traction if it goes largely unnoticed and unheard. Even when it works, as the whole fear that Iraq had Weapons Of Mass Destruction did, when people discover it was all a lie, they're going to be very skeptical. Suppose Jeb Bush was about to become POTUS. Is there any way he could sucker the entire nation into going on a crusade, throw a war, Iraq 3.0, or heck, do Iran? I doubt it. Brother George wrecked executive credibility, or as they try to view it, "spent" their credibility. The question of President Jeb! is even more academic than it seems at first glance, as the negative opinions that would stop Jeb from going to war against Iran or Syria or whoever, are the same ones that lead to his presidential campaign fizzling so early.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 16 2016, @09:53PM
> My top fear is that millions of stupid people will be allowed to vote.
My top fear is that millions of people won't be allowed to vote.
> Running close behind that is the fear that they will believe their vote has any effect whatsoever.
It will have an effect exactly equal to the effort expended. If you think putting in 10 minutes of work in a polling booth once every 4 years ought to make a difference then you are delusional. Voting is like a participation trophy that you get just for showing up. This isn't a lottery, If you want to make a difference then you gotta put in the work.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 17 2016, @02:49AM
Because your individual effort in uncovering the truth, is going to be greater than that of the politicians hiding it from you?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 17 2016, @06:55AM
Yes, I do - it worked for Edward Snowden.
(Score: 2) by cubancigar11 on Monday October 17 2016, @08:50AM
That is a very eloquent way to put it. Kudos. Copying and sharing it elsewhere.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Phoenix666 on Monday October 17 2016, @11:33AM
There's more to it than that. Saying "put in the work" and leaving it there can be one of those trite political aphorisms that result in people taking no action, walking away muttering, "that's just the way it is."
I put in the work. I built a grassroots organization of 15,000 people in NYC and worked for four years 60-70 hours a week with no pay. We got the Brennan Center reforms [brennancenter.org] passed. Result: New York politics still hopelessly corrupt.
I say emphatically that there is no way to reform this system by working within the system. We live in a world that is run by money, and nearly all the harm that is being done to the world is being done by those who have stolen all the money ("stolen" in the looser usage of taking through dishonest means).
The only way to change this system now is to burn it all down and start over. There might be good bits left in the ashes. We can put those in the foundation of the next iteration.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by cubancigar11 on Monday October 17 2016, @07:40PM
Every time the system is destroyed, the next system is that much smarter. The system has been designed to take care of every thing a smart person can do to a dumbass, so that dumbass can continue to focus on day-to-day life of trying to get food and sex/child care. If you want to bring a change, we really really have no choice but to work within it.
I mean I can give so many examples, but people are so much married to the system they will find something to get offended. Look at Hillary Clinton's email shit. There was once Watergate, which was a watershed moment for american politics. The system learned, and today your wikileaks moment will be eclipsed by a timed release of a video where your oppn. says that women fawn over rich men and you can buy media to spin it all. Then you had Vietnam which was another big controversy and so the system will use a tragedy (911) to go to random war. And if you have a problem with that, the president won't even acknowledge that we are at war, he will just order indiscriminate drone strikes.
I have great respect for people like you who have leadership skills and know how to get things organize. Two minor things and one major quibble - you put too much effort hence the burnout. Instead, you ought to train more leaders and have all of them put smaller effort. Effort is like a continuous reactor - their is a continuous input flow which is not entirely understood until now, but if you put more output than input, you will burn out. Secondly, anti-corruption is a very easy platform to get on board, so a lot of people will easily come together to do something about it and then disperse 'having job done'.
The major flaw is, the hope that you can change society by law. That never happens man! Laws change when society demands it. Obvious conclusion is a) either society in general is corrupt or b) the system has already learned how to work under anti-corruption law. My guess is both, but mostly (b) - which is why it is going to be even more difficult to change the system.
I am myself losing all the hope these days, looking at the strength of the system all over the world. But I am still hoping to bounce back.