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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: 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.