Psyche, Science, and Society

American public distrusts everybody. Is it time for a democratic revival?

May 23rd, 2006

A new Zogby Poll shed light on the extent of public disillusionment with most social institutions:

Three out of four (75%) said they trust government less than they did five years ago, just 5% said they think corporations do right by the consumers they are in business to serve, and only 25% feel the reporting is fair and accurate in the newspapers they read or the nightly broadcast network news they watch on television….

Overall, just 3% said they think Congress in general is trustworthy, compared to 24% who said President Bush is trustworthy and 29% who said they can put their faith in the national court system, the survey shows. Corporate leaders in America are nearly as widely distrusted as Congress – just 7% said they are trustworthy.

In another Zogby Poll [at least I think its a separate one], almost half expresses some skepticism about the investigation of 9-11:

Just 47% agreed that “the 9/11 attacks were thoroughly investigated and that any speculation about US government involvement is nonsense.” Almost as many, 45%, indicated they were more likely to agree “that so many unanswered questions about 9/11 remain that Congress or an International Tribunal should re-investigate the attacks, including whether any US government officials consciously allowed or helped facilitate their success….”

When asked specificially if they thought there had been a government coverup of evidence that contradicts the official story, the results were again not far from an even split, with 48% rejecting the idea of a deliberate coverup and 42% supporting it. Belief in a coverup was the majority position among Democrats, 18-29 year olds, and a few other groups.

The usual institutions that bind people to the status quo are collapsing from their internal rot. Obviously “alternatives” like the Democratic Party are nothing of the sort.
The only real alternative is democracy, people self-organizing to create a world worth living in, a world where corruption is the exception not the norm. To begin, people need hope and a glimpse of a better world. It remains to be seen if a grass-roots citizens will develop or if we will just slide further into the cesspool of modern America. Those who fantasize of being saved by electing an alternative bunch of crooks are simply whistling in the graveyard.

Entry Filed under: Politics, Radical Politics, Social Change, Social Issues