Okay, call me an outlier, but I’m a Harris voter who thinks the country is going in the wrong direction. That’s WHY I’m a Harris voter.
Of course the economy is the envy of the world, crime is down, drug deaths have started declining. But Republicans have virtually paralyzed Congress. Almost nothing legislative that needs to be done and could be done is getting done.
In the end, asking whether the country is going in the right direction is simply too broad a question to generate a meaningful response.
I do want to raise a point that I have raised elsewhere, though. I'm not sure how much stock we should place in "right track/wrong track" polling questions. If I were asked this, I might well think first about the dominance of the MAGAt point of view, the rise in militant Christian Nationalism, the fact that Trump, ffs, is still a coin toss away from getting reelected, and one of the two major parties has lost all spine and moral compass. So, I might well say "wrong track." I suspect I'm not alone in this.
I should add that I completely buy the statistical picture that you presented -- of course I think most things are going pretty well in the US. My only point here was about the ambiguity of that one poll question.
I agree and feel the things that are getting better. I wonder how much of the public sentiment is connected with news organizations, such as FOX and any other that wants to keep us engaged, that keep telling us how horrible things are. I mean, if you live in a relatively safe place, but the news keeps telling you that there are really unsafe places out there, then you might still think things are pretty bad out there.
This is really interesting, but it would be even more interesting if it explored why there's such a widespread feeling that things aren't getting better - for example, even though the rate of inflation has dropped, prices aren't going to go back to their pre-COVID levels, so unless people's wages/incomes have increased to match (which for many people is definitely not the case) then it's not surprising they're feeling left behind. Add in wealth inequality, corporate price gouging and the rural/urban divide, and it's actually no wonder there's such a stark divide between the macroeconomic indicators you're referring to in this article, and people's perception of the direction the country is heading in.
Informative and useful aggregation of key indicators. That said, federalism (e.g., the effects of Dobbs on women's quality of life, safety, and health) leads me to believe that all the positives you cite are unevenly distributed.
Dan - I believe you! I think this is an excellent summary of that thing called "reality" well presented. I intend to forward it to a couple friends. I would be really curious to hear how you explain why 2/3 of the public seem convinced things are just bad?
The CBO put a report out earlier this year that might answer this.
From Judd Legum @ Popular Information:
“The report focuses on the American economy from 2019 to 2021. That period included a massive economic disruption due to the pandemic and a recovery as the economy reopened.
The report reveals that the economic impact of the pandemic was concentrated among the bottom 20% of earners. That group saw a significant decrease in labor income in 2020, which did not rebound as the economy reopened in 2021. The middle 60% of earners largely treaded water between 2019 and 2021 with little change to labor income or realized capital gains (which is the income generated from the sale of stock or other investments). Over the same three years, however, the top 20% of earners saw increased labor income and a dramatic increase in realized capital gains. “
It goes on from there, but the gist is that Covid broke things…And in the process, broke people’s brains. Then, when you add the nonstop propaganda about the terrible state of the economy and how crime is rampant in US cities from certain corners of media, social media and an entire political party and you’ve got a toxic soup of “everything is just horrible”.
Okay, call me an outlier, but I’m a Harris voter who thinks the country is going in the wrong direction. That’s WHY I’m a Harris voter.
Of course the economy is the envy of the world, crime is down, drug deaths have started declining. But Republicans have virtually paralyzed Congress. Almost nothing legislative that needs to be done and could be done is getting done.
In the end, asking whether the country is going in the right direction is simply too broad a question to generate a meaningful response.
Did not see your comment until after I posted mine. Glad to see I'm not the only one with this concern.
Thanks for the boost!
I do want to raise a point that I have raised elsewhere, though. I'm not sure how much stock we should place in "right track/wrong track" polling questions. If I were asked this, I might well think first about the dominance of the MAGAt point of view, the rise in militant Christian Nationalism, the fact that Trump, ffs, is still a coin toss away from getting reelected, and one of the two major parties has lost all spine and moral compass. So, I might well say "wrong track." I suspect I'm not alone in this.
I should add that I completely buy the statistical picture that you presented -- of course I think most things are going pretty well in the US. My only point here was about the ambiguity of that one poll question.
The American people are unimpressed with the facts, because they are unaware of them.
I agree and feel the things that are getting better. I wonder how much of the public sentiment is connected with news organizations, such as FOX and any other that wants to keep us engaged, that keep telling us how horrible things are. I mean, if you live in a relatively safe place, but the news keeps telling you that there are really unsafe places out there, then you might still think things are pretty bad out there.
This is really interesting, but it would be even more interesting if it explored why there's such a widespread feeling that things aren't getting better - for example, even though the rate of inflation has dropped, prices aren't going to go back to their pre-COVID levels, so unless people's wages/incomes have increased to match (which for many people is definitely not the case) then it's not surprising they're feeling left behind. Add in wealth inequality, corporate price gouging and the rural/urban divide, and it's actually no wonder there's such a stark divide between the macroeconomic indicators you're referring to in this article, and people's perception of the direction the country is heading in.
Informative and useful aggregation of key indicators. That said, federalism (e.g., the effects of Dobbs on women's quality of life, safety, and health) leads me to believe that all the positives you cite are unevenly distributed.
Dan - I believe you! I think this is an excellent summary of that thing called "reality" well presented. I intend to forward it to a couple friends. I would be really curious to hear how you explain why 2/3 of the public seem convinced things are just bad?
For 2/3's of Americans, inflation has increased their debt and lowered their standard of living.
The CBO put a report out earlier this year that might answer this.
From Judd Legum @ Popular Information:
“The report focuses on the American economy from 2019 to 2021. That period included a massive economic disruption due to the pandemic and a recovery as the economy reopened.
The report reveals that the economic impact of the pandemic was concentrated among the bottom 20% of earners. That group saw a significant decrease in labor income in 2020, which did not rebound as the economy reopened in 2021. The middle 60% of earners largely treaded water between 2019 and 2021 with little change to labor income or realized capital gains (which is the income generated from the sale of stock or other investments). Over the same three years, however, the top 20% of earners saw increased labor income and a dramatic increase in realized capital gains. “
It goes on from there, but the gist is that Covid broke things…And in the process, broke people’s brains. Then, when you add the nonstop propaganda about the terrible state of the economy and how crime is rampant in US cities from certain corners of media, social media and an entire political party and you’ve got a toxic soup of “everything is just horrible”.
https://popular.info/p/a-new-government-report-reveals-the?
This sounds accurate. Thanks for sharing.