A new poll finds that most Americans share many core values on what it means to be an American despite the country’s deep political polarization.

Despite the country’s deep political polarization, most Americans share many core beliefs about what it means to be an American, according to a new poll.

The poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that about 9 in 10 U.S. adults say the right to vote, the right to equal protection under the law and the right to privacy are extremely important or very important to the United States’ identity as a nation. The survey also found that 84% feel the same way about the freedom of religion.

  • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
    158·
    3 months ago

    A more pessimistic assessment of the country was reflected in another finding — that only about 3 in 10 Americans believe the nation’s democracy is functioning well. About half say the U.S. is a poorly functioning democracy, while 14% say the U.S. is not a democracy.

    The tension between the broad consensus on the country’s fundamental values and discontent with how well its form of government is working is not a surprise, experts say.

    “Part of it is really our leaders are not reflecting the electorate, and they behave in a way that’s much more polarized than what the electorate is,” said Lilliana Mason, a political scientist at Johns Hopkins University.

    30% of Americans think our system is working…

    Because we’re stuck with picking between a fascist dictator and an elderly conservative that only stops funding a genocide to kick it’s victims and deny them aid.

    There’s no option for voters with functional empathy.

    And that depresses turnout, and that’s the only way the fascist can win.

    The easy solution, is for Dems to just run a decent human as candidate, but they refuse.

    • z3rOR0ne@lemmy.ml
      42·
      3 months ago

      “So maybe it’s not the politicians who suck; maybe it’s something else. Like the public. That would be a nice realistic campaign slogan for somebody: “The public sucks. Elect me.” Put the blame where it belongs: on the people. Because if everything is really the fault of politicians, where are all the bright, honest, intelligent Americans who are ready to step in and replace them? Where are these people hiding? The truth is, we don’t have people like that.” - George Carlin

      • Buelldozer@lemmy.today
        41·
        3 months ago

        Carlin was wrong. We absolutely DO have people like that but our 2 Party Political System works overtime to keep them off the ballot.

        You will rarely get to vote for one of those people not because they don’t exist but because the D & R Corporation’s don’t want you to.

      • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
        42·
        3 months ago

        Let’s say you want to go to the Olympics for the 100m sprint.

        You can bust ass and train your whole life. But there’s no testing for early events, so right up till qualifiers, everyone else is on steroids and amphetamines.

        It would be very very hard to outrun them if you weren’t using it

        So you never make it far enough to even make the Olympic team, even if those PED users have to quit a year before the event which makes them slower than you were at your peak.

        In politics the PEDs is money from shady sources, and the shady people using don’t have to stop when they get close to the real event, they actually get more and it’s totally legal.

        An ethical.person following the rules will rarely beat a sociopath willing to do anything just to win.

        When George Carlin was alive, it was a lot easier for a random ethical person to get involved in politics. But both political parties have done everything they can to change that. Which includes legalizing unfair advantages they have like deep pocket donors.

    • penquin@lemm.ee
      1·
      3 months ago

      Republicans are straight up shit. Democrats are shit, too, and are using that to tell us they’re not as shit as Republicans, and that if we don’t vote for them, we get shit. But at the end of the day, we are getting shit either way.

      • treefrog@lemm.ee
        1·
        3 months ago

        If both sides are shit Republicans are the kind that runs down your leg in the middle of Christmas dinner while Democrats are the kind that has the decency to wait until you’re in the toilet.

        In other words, I feel your sentiment but still, fuck this both sides are the same bullshit.

    • hypnoton@discuss.online
      1·
      3 months ago

      The Dems are just in favor of a slightly less brutal oligarchy. The Dems by and large still take a lot of money and other favors from the billionaires and know which side their bread is buttered on.

      The Dems today are not a party for the poor, the workers, the bottom 50%, or anything like that. Thus the current Dems on their own are not up to the task of any serious economic restructuring. And we can’t solve any major problem without dealing with our insane wealth inequality.

      • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
        31·
        3 months ago

        Think of it from the oligarchs perspective…

        In a two party system the only thing that works better than buying one party is buying both.

        Then creating a large push to convince people if they don’t vote for the lesser evil, their voting for the most evil.

        An illusion of choice where no matter what happens in an election, you always win.