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Thursday, September 27, 2007
More Evidence That Americans Aren't Psyched About Inequality
Harold Meyerson, in today's Washington Post:
Which is why a poll released this month by the Pew Research Center reveals a transformation of Americans' sense of their country and themselves that is startling. Pew asked Americans if their country was divided between haves and have-nots. In 1988, when Gallup asked that question, 26 percent of respondents said yes, while 71 percent said no. In 2001, when Pew asked it, 44 percent said yes and 53 percent said no. But when Pew asked it again this summer, the number of Americans who agreed that we live in a nation divided into haves and have-nots had risen to 48 percent -- exactly the same as the number of Americans who disagreed.
Take a look at the Pew study itself- it's pretty interesting.
The results seem to mirror what's been found on other studies of inequality and public perceptions. Perceptions of inequality are high during recessions (like in 2001) and during cycles where growth isn't shared equally (2007). But it's interesting that in 1988 people weren't that aware of inequality, so defined.
Pew's next step might be to see how much people care about inequality, and what they prefer to do about it. Perhaps then we can put to rest the myth that Americans are all happy-go-lucky capitalists who are satisfied however the just hand of the "market" rewards them.
Posted by Matt Lewis
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