The post Survey asks: What’s your social-conscience quotient? appeared first on Occasional Planet.
]]>The 2014 mid-term elections are approximately five months away. And with that time frame, it’s not surprising that there’s a horde of survey-conducting companies out there frantically gathering data that ends up on the desks of the political-messaging mavens. Of course, it’s not just candidates, political parties, or election-year special-interest groups that want to find out what you’re thinking, what you’re buying, how much you earn, who you cohabit with, or why you choose to adhere to a particular attitude or belief.
Surveys are ubiquitous. There are surveys to find out if the tone of the human or electronic voice on the customer-service line encourages you to park your money with one bank or another. There are supermarket surveys to help retailers gauge the popularity of the products on their shelves or discover whether customers will buy more fruit juice if the containers are displayed in aisle one next to the bottled water or in aisle three next to the sodas. There are baby-product surveys, hotel and restaurant surveys, surveys in airports and at national parks. Surveys determine fans’ favorite sports players or movie stars. Surveys identify the most admired or most disliked celebrities. Surveys collect information on your sex life and seek to determine your most intimate habits.
The list of surveys could go on well into the middle of the night. And the truth is that even as we sleep, the gigantic data-mining monster called the Internet is churning through algorithms to gather information that can be sold to the highest bidders and exploited for the bottom line of companies and corporations.
I hope, however, that who we are is more than just the sum total of our consuming habits—whether of the material or the political kind. I’d like to believe that thinking about other kinds of questions—the ones other than those that the survey industry deem important—is still an important exercise in self-awareness. Socrates summed it up best when he said that the “unexamined life is not worth living.”
But how, exactly, do we approach that examination? If we follow the example of the survey companies, we ask the relevant questions. In this case, the questions are “Who are we? “ “How does one live a good life?” “Is the moral life defined as one lived with concern for others and not just ourselves?” Those are the big questions, and, as we all know, you won’t find them probed by the questions posed by run-of-the-mill marketing or political surveys.
So just when you thought every possible nook and cranny of your personal profile has already been probed, dissected, and pigeon-holed here comes yet another survey. This one, I hope, is different. I’ve composed it in a slapdash, unscientific manner using a few of the most common moral dilemmas of everyday life to help you mine through your own behavior to see where you fall on the social-consciousness—or, as it’s also known, the good life—scale. Scoring where exactly you fall on that scale I leave to your own good conscience.
Here are a few of those daily conundrums in no particular order of importance:
1. Once you’ve unloaded your groceries into your car at your local supermarket, do you return your shopping cart to the cart corral or do you leave it behind in the middle of your parking spot and drive away, thus blocking the next driver’s use of that parking spot?
2. If a cashier gives you back a $10 bill rather than a $5 bill after you’ve made a purchase, do you point out the error and ask for the correct change or do you walk out of the store feeling lucky?
3. When driving on unlit country roads at night, do you turn off your brights when an oncoming car approaches on the other side of the road? Or do you ignore how you’re blinding the other driver and leave the brights on because you’re concerned solely with your own safety and not the safety of the other driver?
4. Do you cruise in the passing lane no matter how slow your car’s speed, forcing other drivers to drive in an unsafe manner by passing you on the right?
5. When walking your dog in a public space, do you always pick up your dog’s poop, bag it, and throw it in the nearest trash bin? Or do you walk away from the pile as quickly as possible, pretending that it was already on the sidewalk when you and Max walked by and assume that eventually someone else will clean it up for you?
6. If you’re rushing to work in the morning and you see someone take a bruising fall on the sidewalk, do you stop and offer your help? Or do you assume someone else with a bit more time or a less important job description will stop and offer a hand?
7. Do you decide to rearrange the furniture in the living room of your upstairs apartment at two o’clock in the morning, acting impulsively on your need for an improved decorating scheme while ignoring the inconvenient fact that you might be disturbing the sleep of a toddler in the bedroom below?
8. When you’re driving on a busy freeway and there’s a line of cars for the off-ramp, do you join the queue? Or do you ignore the line and drive past the idling cars and push your way in at the front, pretending that you just remembered at the last moment that this is indeed your exit?
9. If there’s a block-long queue for the first showing of the latest blockbuster movie, do you take your place politely at the back of the line or move toward the front as the line starts to inch forward and, avoiding eye contact, join a group of strangers who have just become your long-lost friends at the front of the line?
10. If you find a wallet with five one-hundred-dollar bills in it on the ground in a parking lot, do you turn in the wallet with all of its contents in tact to the nearest store manager? Do you secretly pocket the money first and then turn the wallet in? Or do you pocket the money, throw the wallet back on the ground, and ignore the possibility that the next person who picks it up might exploit the situation to buy a trip to the Bahamas using the credit card still contained in the wallet or perhaps to steal the identity of the wallet’s owner?
The post Survey asks: What’s your social-conscience quotient? appeared first on Occasional Planet.
]]>The post A Republican Congresswoman’s district survey, annotated by a “Democrat” constituent appeared first on Occasional Planet.
]]>My Congressional representative wants my input for her annual district survey. I just received it in the mail, and I’m glad she asked. But as I started to fill in the checkboxes, I realized that “yes,” “no,” and “unsure” were not adequate responses to her questions. Part of the problem is that issues are complicated, making “yes” or “no” far too simplistic as answers. And part of the problem is that I’m ambivalent on some issues. But mostly, the problem with this official district survey is the questions themselves: Some are ambiguous, and some are clearly designed to elicit a response that confirms Congresswoman Wagner’s already conservative views. I know, of course, that this is not an independent, scientific public opinion poll [if there even is such a thing], and more of a public-relations tool. And I understand that she’s not really interested in my answers, but I can’t resist the urge to parse the survey from my knee-jerk leftie point of view.
So, I have reluctantly checked the boxes. But almost all of them require explanation. So, I probably should send Congresswoman Wagner an annotated version.
Here are the survey’s 12 questions, with my comments:
1. Do you believe the country is on the right track?
I’m fairly sure Wagner’s preferred response to this question is “Wrong track.” That’s the standard Republican line. But this is a troubling question–one that is commonly cited in polls by legislators, pundits and corporate media to make the point that America is dissatisfied. But right and wrong track mean different things to different people. Wagner and other conservative Republicans would have us believe that America is on the “wrong track” because of overspending and over-regulation by government. They see the “right track” as cuts in spending–not for the military or for corporate subsidies–but cuts in social programs like Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, food security programs, etc. I see the right-wing devotion to budget slashing as the “wrong track.” They would call President Obama–the man himself and everything they think he represents–“wrong track.”
I view social programs and progressive values as the “right track.” So, how do I answer this question? I think we’re on the “wrong track” if we allow extreme right-wing conservative policies to continue to gain the momentum that Wagner prizes. Yet, I can’t say we’re on the “right track,” because people like Wagner keep getting elected to Congress. Verdict: No answer to this question.
2. What is your top priority?
The choices offered in this section are revealing: Jobs and Economy, Spending and Debt, Education, Healthcare, Military and Veterans, The Right to Life, Second Amendment, Energy, Immigration, Tax Policy. Rather than an open-ended list, in which we are free to come up with our own, top-of-mind priorities, Wagner’s array not-so-subtly reminds us that her agenda emphasizes anti-reproductive rights, guns, anti-immigration policies and tax cutting. I am, in fact, very concerned about guns–in the sense that there are too many of them and too many gun-promoting lawmakers. But I don’t want to check that box, because my answer will be misinterpreted. My answer: Healthcare, just for spite, because Wagner is in the anti-Affordable-Care-Act camp.
3. How concerned are you with the Federal deficit and recent shutdowns?
There are two questions embedded here, so I can’t answer with a single check mark. By including a question about the Federal deficit, Wagner isn’t really asking a question, she’s making a statement about her platform. If you self-identify as a Republican, you’re obliged to spout the anti-deficit talking point. And sure, people like to say they’re concerned about the deficit, but does anyone really believe that this is what American voters care about? As for me, I’m not so sure that deficit spending by the federal government is such a bad thing. So, if given a chance to vote on that subject alone, I’d probably check “Not Concerned At All,” just to sound as un-Wagnerian as possible.
But the survey question is complicated by its second phrase, “recent shutdowns.” Republicans have tried to blame the October 2013 federal government shutdown on their favorite evil villain Barack Obama and his “Democrat” allies. Most of us aren’t buying that. This half of the survey question rates a “Very Concerned,” but probably not for the reasons Wagner is looking for. I’m “Very Concerned” that Congressional representatives like Wagner are turning the people they’re supposed to represent into collateral damage of their Obama hatred, not just by a two-week, temper-tantrum government shutdown, but by a years-long shutdown of democracy and governance. But, given the nature of the question posed in the survey, I don’t have a good option for an answer. I’m going with the namby-pamby “Somewhat Concerned.”
4. Do you believe that further shutdowns should be off the negotiating table, regardless of the circumstances?
A second reference to shutdowns is telling. Reading between the lines, I sense that Wagner, like other hardline, anti-governance Republicans, is feeling the public-opinion heat about the October 2013 shutdown. But the kicker here is the phrase “regardless of the circumstances.” She’s leaving herself some wriggle room to go for another extreme tactic, and asking her constituents to give her permission, just in case some vague circumstance dear to right-wing hearts, makes it “necessary” to do it again. For this question, I have a definite answer: “Yes”
5. Do you support continuously increasing the debt limit to finance current spending levels?
My answer is, again, a definite “Yes.” But, again, I don’t think that’s what Wagner is looking for. Frankly, I never really concerned myself with the debt limit, until Republicans starting making a false issue of it. Most of us don’t really understand the three D words– the debt, the debt limit and the deficit– anyway. But in Republican speak, they are things to oppose, as are “current spending levels,” no matter how inadequate they are and who they hurt. I think I can guess how Wagner will vote on the next debt limit extension.
6. What do you believe is the single best tool to get our deficit spending under control?
My choices are “Cutting spending,” “Increasing taxes, ” and “Unsure.” Once again, it’s the question that’s important here, because it comes fully equipped with the assumption that I oppose deficit spending. Truth is, I think there’s a very good case to be made for deficit spending by the federal gummint, as a way of doing the big things that individuals can’t do, and that private industry won’t do unless there’s a profit angle involved. But that’s another post, entirely. The answer most diametrically opposed to the preferred response is “Increasing taxes.” So, that’s the one I’m checking.
7. What do you think Congress should do about Obamacare?
Naturally, Wagner refers to the Affordable Care Act as Obamacare, probably because she sees the nickname as perjorative. She may also be using “Obamacare” because other [purportedly real] public-opinion polls indicate that people don’t know that the two are the same thing, and that, when asked if they support the Affordable Care Act, they say “yes,” but when asked about “Obamacare,” they tend to respond negatively.
As to what Congress “should do” about Obamacare, “repeal it” is not a real option, and Wagner already knows this–but giving her respondents this box to check helps reinforce her conservative cred. I’ve checked “Leave It Alone,” because that’s going to be Wagner’s least favorite choice. But I really mean “Try to fix it,” with the emphasis on “try.” The Affordable Care Act is not perfect. All of the huge social programs implemented in the U.S. have needed adjustments over time, and Congress has generally made good-faith efforts to fix the flaws that emerged only after the programs went into full action. Instead of spending the past four years stomping their feet and screaming “repeal” over and over again, lawmakers could have used some of that energy to tweak parts of the law that needed work. But, in light of the hatred for the Affordable Care Act expressed by Congress–and some state legislatures–I don’t want to check “Try to fix it,” because I’m afraid of the “fixes” they might make to undermine the whole deal.
8. Do you believe the NSA is just doing its job and should be left alone, or that is has overstepped its authority and needs to be restrained by Congress?
That’s clearly a push-poll type question. But in this case, liberals and conservatives seem to agree. I’m checking “Restrain the NSA.”
9. Have your healthcare costs increased, decreased or stayed the same since the implementation of Obamacare?
For propaganda purposes, Wagner probably wants me to say “Increased.” In fact, I’m on Medicare and a supplemental plan, so “Obamacare” doesn’t really affect me directly. [But we also need to remember that the “implementation” of Obamacare started several years ago, not just with the propaganda-friendly inept rollout of the website. Many of its provisions have been helping people for several years. There are a lot of macro cost savings that will begin to kick in only after enrollment expands.] But I don’t have the option to say all of that. So, just to be contrary, I’m checking “Decreased.”
10. Do you believe it is unfair to require faith-based organizations to provide health services that are inconsistent with their religious convictions?
Wait, I have to pause for a moment to figure out what “Yes” means and what “No” means in response to this question. Once again, the question reveals more about the asker than the responder. By “health services,” Wagner means, of course, reproductive services–abortions, abortion counseling, possibly even contraceptives. We get the message, Ann. So, because I think reproductive services should be a healthcare right, and because I think religious institutions have far too much influence in our society and should not be enabled to impose their beliefs on the rest of us, and because I enjoy giving the wrong answer, I’ve checked “No.”
11. Do you believe government should play a larger or smaller role in people’s lives?
Government can be good. Government pays your salary, Ann. “Larger.”
12. Do you believe the economy is going to get better in the next year?
The macro economy? “Yes.” The personal economy of Americans outside of the economic elite? “No”– not if you and your right-wing friends continue to pass corporate-backed laws that punish poor people for being poor and give even more advantages to people who don’t need them.
Whew. Simple survey made complex.
The post A Republican Congresswoman’s district survey, annotated by a “Democrat” constituent appeared first on Occasional Planet.
]]>The post Who knew? Americans like socialism appeared first on Occasional Planet.
]]>Tea Party demonstrators carry signs calling President Obama a “socialist.” Fox News warns of a “socialist takeover of the United States.” GOP talking points focus on the “Democratic socialist agenda.” Not since the Cold War have the words “socialism” and “socialist” had such a prominent role in our political dialogue. It’s as if Glenn Beck brought Senator Joseph McCarthy and his “red baiting” back from the dead. But the political noise aside, how do Americans really feel about socialism?
Two recent national surveys shed light on this question: One conducted by the Pew Research Center, and the second by Rasmussen.
The Pew Research Center tested reactions to words and phrases frequently used in current political discourse. “Socialism,” “capitalism” and “progressive” were among words tested, and the results are surprising. Indeed, socialism is a negative for the majority of Americans, but not all Americans. And, only a slight majority of Americans regard capitalism positively. In one of the most unexpected outcomes, a whopping 68% of respondents reacted positively to the world “progressive.”
According to the Pew survey, when considering respondents as a whole, 29% say they have a positive reaction to the word “socialism,” while 59% react negatively. When it comes to the word “capitalism” 52% react positively compared with 37% who say they have a negative reaction.
Who knew that one in three Americans has negative feelings about the word “capitalism”, and that one in four has a positive reaction to the word “socialism?” This is an amazing survey result in a country that rarely teaches about socialism in its schools, or has any meaningful media coverage of socialist countries or European social welfare states.
It gets even more interesting when we look at the Pew survey results by political affiliation:
Not surprisingly, 77% of Republicans react negatively to “socialism,” while 62% have a positive reaction to “capitalism.” Democrats are more evenly divided: 44% react positively to “socialism” and 47% react positively to capitalism”
When it comes to young people, women, people with low incomes, and the less educated, fewer than half react positively to “capitalism.” This makes sense, as these would be the groups who benefit least from a capitalist system.
No surprise, about six-in-ten Republicans (62%) react positively to “capitalism,” compared with 29% who have a negative reaction. About half of independents (52%) have a positive impression while 39% react negatively. Among Democrats, 47% react positively to “capitalism” while nearly as many (43%) react negatively.
When it comes to the word “progressive” 81% of Democrats, 64% of independents and 56% of Republicans have a positive reaction.
Other interesting findings in the Pew Survey:
The recent Rasmussen survey on opinions about socialism and capitalism also had interesting and surprising results.
According to the survey:
Sixty percent (60%) of U.S. adults nationwide say that capitalism is better than socialism, whereas 18% disagree, and 21% are not sure. So, according to Rasmussen, fully 39% are not completely with the American capitalist program. Young people under 30 are closely divided on the question. While Republicans and unaffiliated voters overwhelmingly say that capitalism is better, just 43% of Democrats agree. Twenty-four percent (24%) or almost one in four Democrats say socialism is better.
Additional Rasmussen findings suggest Americans are not happy with the behavior of capitalist institutions and the current corporate/government relationship:
What is remarkable about these two surveys is that, while capitalism is still the favored economic system of most Americans, a surprising number are open to socialism. And this at a time when Republicans and corporate owned media are churning out socialist scare stories and misinformation 24/7. Perhaps it is a sign of widespread economic distress and a loss of trust in the capitalist institutions that is shifting the American opinion on both capitalism and socialism.
The weakness of these surveys is that there is widespread confusion over the meaning of the word “socialism.” For sure, confusion exists about socialist countries with state-run economies, such as Venezuela, vs. social welfare states with heavily regulated capitalist economies, such as Norway and Sweden. Many respondents had positive feelings about both capitalism and socialism suggesting a desire for a European social welfare state model.
The post Who knew? Americans like socialism appeared first on Occasional Planet.
]]>The post America is not a center-right nation appeared first on Occasional Planet.
]]>The map above (blue = Democratic and red = Republican) shows voting shifts from 2004 to 2008. According to corporate-owned-media pundits, America is a “center-right” nation. We hear this repeated so often by talking heads on both the right and left, it’s easy to assume it’s true. Yet, for years, polls have shown that Americans, if anything, are solidly progressive in their policy attitudes. This collection of poll results is from Barack Obama and the Future of American Politics by Paul Street (Boulder, CO: Paradigm, 2008). Street in turn, summarized them from a chapter in The New Feminized Majority by Katherine Adams and Charles Derber (Boulder, CO: Paradigm, 2008).
The polls cited are a few years old and were taken during the Bush administration. In the meantime, we have elected a Democratic President and given Democratic majorities to both Houses, suggesting that the progressive trend continues. The map shows a blue country, not a red country. And these polls show why the country shifted blue in 2008.
69 percent of U.S. voters agree that, “government should care for those who cannot care for themselves.” (Pew Research, 2007)
54 percent of voters agree that, “government should help the needy even if it means greater debt.” (Pew Research, 2007)
58 percent of Americans believe the U.S. government should be doing more for its citizens, not less. (National Elections Survey, 2004)
64 percent of Americans would pay higher taxes to guarantee health care for all U.S. citizens (CNN Opinion Research Poll, May 2007)
69 percent of Americans think it is the responsibility of the federal government to provide health coverage to all U. S. citizens. (Gallup Poll, 2006)
80 percent of Americans support a government mandated increase in the minimum wage. (Associated Press/AOL Poll, December 2006)
86 percent of Americans want Congress to pass legislation to raise the federal minimum wage (CNN, August 2006)
71 percent of Americans think that taxes on corporations are too low. (Gallup Poll, April 2007)
66 percent of Americans think taxes on upper-income people are too low. (Gallup Poll, 2006)
52 percent of Americans generally side with unions in labor disputes. Just 34 percent side with management. (Gallup Poll, 2006)
57 percent of Americans want to keep abortion legal in all or most cases. (Washington Post/ABC News 2007)
78 percent of Americans think “women should have an equal role with men in running business, industry, and government.” (National Elections Survey, 2004)
57 percent of Americans support programs which “give special preference to qualified women and minorities in hiring. (Pew Poll, 2003)
A majority of American voters think that the United States’ “most urgent moral question” is either “greed or materialism” (33 percent) or “poverty and economic injustice” (31 percent). Just 16 percent identify abortion and 12 percent pick gay marriage as the nation’s “most urgent moral question.” (Zogby, 2004.) Thus, nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of the population think that injustice and inequality are the nation’s leading “moral issues.”
67 percent of Americans think the U.S. should emphasize diplomatic and economic means over military methods in combating terrorism. (Public Agenda and Foreign Affairs, 2007)
Just 15 percent of Americans think the U.S. should play “the leading role in the world” (Gallup Poll, February 2007)—a remarkable rejection of U.S. global hegemony and empire.
58 percent of Americans think the U.S. should play “a major role but not the leading role in the world” (Gallup Poll. February 2007)
62 percent of Americans in September of 2007 thought the invasion of Iraq was “a mistake.” (CBS News, September 2007)
A majority of Americans want a firm deadline for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. (Washington Post/ABC News, February, 2007)
70 percent of Americans want a multilateral nuclear disarmament treaty (Pew Poll, November 2005)
The post America is not a center-right nation appeared first on Occasional Planet.
]]>