Market research studies otherwise known as surveys are of immense importance to an advanced economy as we reside in today. These projects give the purchasers of the data an inside look into what is going on in the minds of their target group. When you think of market research, you typically think of surveys discussing products or services. However, did you know that one of the most vital tools that governments and policymakers have to gain insight on the populace is a study or poll?
Today I am going to share with you some important opinion poll figures that have been released in the past 40 years. I think they give an fascinating point of view to the world we live in today.
• In 2009, Gallup reported that the IRS had a popularity of 40%.
• In 1974, Gallup reported that Nixon had a popularity rating of 24% during Watergate.
• In 2007, Gallup reported that Hugo Chavez had a popularity rating of 9%.
• In 2010, Gallup reported that BP had a popularity rating of 16% during the deep-sea oil spill.
• In 2011, Rasmussen reported that the United States going communist had a popularity of 11%.
• In 2011, Gallup reported that banks had a 23% popularity rating.
• In October of 2011, the New York Times CBS affiliate reported that a survey of theirs found that Congress had a popularity rating of only 9%.
It greatly concerns me that the leaders of our nation who have been charged with protecting the rights and privileges that we enjoy in our advanced society has such a low popularity rating. I have to think that they brought this upon their selves with some of the most over-the-top incomprehensible policy decisions I have ever seen in my entire life. One of the foundations of our society is economics. However, it seems that Wall Street as well as financial bankers has an inordinate amount of authority over the leaders we put in place to protect our rights and to promote the general welfare of the public.
There is a increasing number of people as well as a budding body of research showing that we as a society would most likely be better off abandoning the concept of money in exchange for resources. The nationalization of resources along with the fair allocation of said resources to the population would produce a greater quality of life for more individual than the existing economic system we follow today.
Yet there are a growing number of people who are moving to the far right of conservatism into an area of thought that just a couple hundred years ago would have been considered feudalism. No one doubts that resource holders should be compensated for their time and effort. However when you reach a point in society as we have where mechanization technology is replacing human workers faster than jobs are being created it’s hard to understand why there is not more effort being placed into providing for these displaced workers who are no longer needed and who are unable to transition into new jobs.
It is likewise hard to comprehend why anyone would think it is acceptable for these individuals to lose everything they have worked for throughout their lives such as their home, retirement plan, vehicle, and even family, simply because they are unable to find work that continues to pay bills that were created when they felt they had a steady career.
There is no doubt that when an advanced society such as fires enters a transitional phase toward a digital society that there will be unpredictable upsets. What amazes me is the lack of willingness by the majority of the population to ensure that those who worked to make this great society of ours possible are cared for when they are no longer needed are unable to be productive in the current economy.
The bills of those unneeded workers do not stop. Mortgage payment notices continued to arrive. Utility statements such as gas and electric continue to arrive. Families and individuals still have to purchase food. Transportation is still as necessary as it was when they were working. Health care needs are just as necessary as when they were working. Entertainment needs are just as necessary as when they were working.
We now live in a nation where trusting government is at an all-time low and where less than one in ten people approved of the job our elected leaders are doing. Yet, no one in government seems to be listening to the market research that shows that Americans want immediate change that their quality of life.
Market research shows that overwhelmingly Americans are still opposed to using violence to achieve the change they desire. However, as history shows us in the French Revolution and many other revolutions around the world that desire to avoid violence can rapidly change when people feel there is no other option. Sadly, 30% of the current Occupy Wall Street movement believes that violence will be necessary to effect meaningful change in the way that wealth is distributed in this nation.
Despite all the market research done on the opinions of Americans regarding foreign policy and the wars of the past 50 years Americans know little about true violence. Few people today know about the tragedies that happened during the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Even fewer Americans participated in the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
Let us all hope that the anger many Americans share concerning economic inequality does not bring around violence that will traumatize yet another generation. We should focus that anger into choosing and electing political representatives that will enact legislation that preserves and expands the quality of life for all of us.