Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight posted this graph showing Americans’ faith in various institutions (from the 2008 General Social Survey):
Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight posted this graph showing Americans’ faith in various institutions (from the 2008 General Social Survey):
Comments 4
Vidya — March 13, 2009
Very interesting. I'm particularly happy to see the big drops in confidence in medicine, television, and the press, which I think speaks to an increasing critical awareness of the operation of power for the sake of profit. (Somehow, those three also seem have to melded into one big drug-and-surgery-pushing-propaganda-marketing institution.)
Anonymous — March 14, 2009
Glad to see the military come out well. I think the surge helped that. But what's up with labor being BELOW financial institutions even in the midst of the 2008 crisis? I know a bunch of people in unions, however, and none of them think too highly of their union either.
opminded — March 14, 2009
Glad to see the military come out well. I think the surge helped that. But what's up with labor being BELOW financial institutions even in the midst of the 2008 crisis? I know a bunch of people in unions, however, and none of them think too highly of their union either.
Village Idiot — March 15, 2009
Very fitting that confidence/faith in organized religion is as low as that of financial institutions. Both are based on self-enrichment through obfuscation of reality via complex and arcane jargon, and both worship something Higher (the Prophet or the Profit, as it were).
Also, I find it strange that confidence in the Supreme Court is so much higher than faith in the Executive Branch or Congress. The public that was polled about these things is theoretically able to elect Congress and the President, but the Supreme Court is appointed. Why does the public have more confidence in the branch of government they can't change than the one they can?