04.06.08
According to an opinion poll released this week by the New York Times in conjunction with CBS 81% of Americans believe American feel “things have pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track.”
This percentage was up from 69% last year and 78% of those polled believe the country is worse off than it was 5 years ago. The times concluded that Americans were more unhappy with the country’s direction than at any time since a similar survey was conducted in the early 90’s. Of course the economy is top of mind right now in the American collective conscious and according to the Times only 21% of those polled believed the overall economy was in good condition. In my opinion, that 21% probably don’t have a T.V. or read a newspaper very often. Nearly 2 out of 3 polled believe that the economy is now officially in recession.
Interestingly enough the poll also shows that Americans blame government officials more for the mortgage crisis than banks or home buyers.
The poll was conducted March 28th and included what I think is a rather low number of 1,368 adults who were kind enough to offer their time when called at most likely right around dinner time. The margin of error was 3 percentage points which fortunately when you are talking about an number like 81% doesn’t really matter. Even at such a small number this poll is obviously alarming and points to the finality in the American mindset about the results of 8 years under the current administration. I’ve been saying how bad I thought things would get for 8 years and it was only until about 2 and a half years ago that a lot of people finally started agreeing.
As I have stated before, if you think you can hide behind the creative veil without feeling the effects of the current socio-economic climate in the United States it is time to think again. As creatives we are often akin to remoras riding on the backs of giant corporate sharks. When some of those sharks start getting hungry or decide to fast for a while, we remoras have a tendency to fall away pretty quickly.
Speak out now, honestly and resolutely, no matter what your opinion is and vote in every election possible. The time for passive apathy is past. We are a new generation and we are being handed a very troubled world. We have our work cut out for us. Solving the problems now plaguing us is going to require a group effort that extends beyond the borders of the U.S.
