Tag: Americans

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Most see human role in global warming

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More Americans believe increases in the Earth’s temperature over the last century are due to pollution from human activities (57%) than to naturally occurring changes in the environment (40%).Gallup reports that “The balance of views on this issue is essentially unchanged from 2013, but reflects broader agreement with the idea that mankind is responsible for global warming than was the case from 2010 through 2012, when barely half believed it. Agreement that human activities are responsible has yet to return, however, to the 61% level seen as recently as 2007. This trend comes from Gallup’s annual Environment poll, a nationally representative telephone survey conducted each March since 2001. The 2014 update was conducted March 6-9.

“Americans’ prevailing view that human activity is responsible for global warming doesn’t necessarily translate into concern over the issue. The percentage of Americans worried about global warming (as well as “climate change”) still ranks low relative to other issues, and barely a third expect global warming to pose a serious threat in their own lifetime.In the same survey, Gallup asks Americans to describe their general understanding of global warming, with 33% this year — a record high — saying they understand global warming “very well,” up from 27% in 2013 and triple the level seen in the initial 1992 measure.The proportion understanding the issue “fairly well” has also increased over the long term, from 42% in 1992 to 51% today, while the percentage who don’t understand has dropped by more than half, from 44% to 16%.Leading climate science researchers in the U.S. and globally — including those at the International Panel on Climate Change, a U.N. body that is at the forefront of climate research — are convinced that elevated levels of carbon dioxide and other byproducts of fossil fuel use are the reason the Earth’s temperature has warmed. Continue reading “Most see human role in global warming”

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Government tops Americans’ list of “problems”

Americans start the new year with a variety of national concerns on their minds.imgres

Although none is dominant, the government, at 21%, leads the list of what Americans consider the most important problem facing the country.

Gallup reports that “the economy closely follows at 18%, and then unemployment/jobs and healthcare, each at 16%. No other issue is mentioned by as much as 10% of the public; however, the federal budget deficit or debt comes close, at 8%.

“Americans’ current telling of the top problems facing the country comes from a Jan. 5-8 Gallup poll. The rank order is similar to what Gallup found in December, although the percentage mentioning unemployment has risen four percentage points to 16%.

“Mentions of the government as the top problem remain higher than they were prior to the partial government shutdown in October. During the shutdown, the percentage naming the government as the top problem doubled to 33% from 16% in September.

“Compared with a year ago, mentions of government are up slightly. Mentions of healthcare, on the other hand, have quadrupled — from 4% in January 2013 to 16% today, likely related to highly visible problems with the rollout of the 2010 healthcare law. At the same time, references to the federal deficit or debt have declined from 20% to 8%, while mentions of the economy in general have dipped from 21% to 18%, and mentions of unemployment/jobs are the same, at 16%. Continue reading “Government tops Americans’ list of “problems””

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Police profiling of transgender Americans

The modern gay rights movement was born on June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, on Christopher Street in New York City’s West Village, writes Jordan Flaherty in the first of a three-part series in Al Jazeera.

“Resistance broke out in response to a violent police raid against the gay community, and riots continued for several days. Many of the key leaders were transgender women, such as Sylvia Rivera, who had started her activism during the 1950s civil rights movement and continued until her death in 2002.

More than 40 years later, correspondent Christof Putzel and I returned to Christopher Street and found that even in a place long considered a haven for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, many LGBT individuals are still living in fear of police violence.

Mitchyll Mora, a young activist, said police had harassed him for dressing feminine, and his friends for not fitting into narrow gender roles.

“Christopher Street is a historic location, and it’s always been a haven for queer folks, especially young folks of color. But with gentrification, there’s been aggressive policing here, and that’s a really scary thing,” Moratold us. “It’s scary when safe spaces are taken away from us.”

It’s not just in New York City. A 2012 study [PDF] by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs found that transgender people across the U.S. experience three times as much police violence as non-transgender individuals. Those numbers are even higher for transgender people of color. Even when transgender people were the victims of hate crimes, 48 percent reported receiving mistreatment from the police when they went for help. Andrea Ritchie, an attorney specializing in police misconduct, told us that law enforcement sees policing gender roles as part of their work.

“I think most people are familiar with racial profiling,” she told us. “But I think people are less familiar with how gender is really central to policing in the United States. That includes expectations in terms of how women are supposed to look, how men are supposed to look, how women are supposed to act and how men are supposed to act.” Continue reading “Police profiling of transgender Americans”

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Beneath the model minority image

Asian immigrants to the U.S. often bring more education and achievement with them than other groups, providing a head start that contributes to the “model minority” stereotype.

UC Irvine professor Jennifer Lee writes about the role of “hyper-selectivity”  in The Society Pages: “Recent admissions figures to the country’s most competitive magnet high schools and elite universities seem to provide evidence of “Asian American exceptionalism.” Among the students offered admission to New York City’s Stuyvesant High School this year, 9 were black, 24 Latino, 177 white, and 620 Asian. Student admissions for Bronx Science included 489 Asians, 239 whites, 25 blacks, 54 Latinos, and 3 American Indian/Alaskan Natives.

“At elite universities like Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, Asian Americans typically comprise just under one-fifth of the entering classes, while in the prestigious public universities of the University of California system, they make up 43% of the undergraduate student body at Berkeley and 55% at UC Irvine. At 13% of California’s population and 5.5% of the U.S. population, Asian Americans are an undeniable presence in higher education.

“Pundits like David Brooks, Charles Murray, and “Tiger Mother” Amy Chua have invoked the cultural values argument to explain Asian Americans’ exceptional educational outcomes. That is, their exceptional outcomes aren’t exceptional for Asian Americans: they are the result of one racial group’s hard work, discipline, grit, integrity, and living the “right way.”  While these cultural values are positive, it is worth remembering that less than a century ago, Asians were described as illiterate, undesirable, and unassimilable immigrants, full of “filth and disease.” As “marginal members of the human race,” they were denied the right to naturalize, denied the right to intermarry, and were residentially segregated in crowded ethnic enclaves. They were even, in the case of Japanese immigrants, forced into internment camps.

“So how did the status of Asian Americans change so dramatically in less than a century?

I provide a four-part argument that bridges research in immigration, race, and social psychology to identify some mechanisms that support the “Asian American exceptionalism” construct.

  1. Hyper-Selectivity: Unlike their predecessors, contemporary Asian immigrants are, on average, a highly educated, highly selected group.
  2. Positive Stereotypes and “Stereotype Promise”: Hyper-selectivity has produced positive stereotypes of Asian Americans, which, in turn, can generate “stereotype promise”—that is, being viewed through the lens of a positive stereotype can enhance performance.
  3. Self-fulfilling Prophecy: Third, the enhanced performance of Asian Americans supports the “Asian American exceptionalism” construct. Now we’ve got a self-fulfilling prophecy.
  4. Reproduction of Inequality: These processes operate to reproduce inequalities at the high end of the educational distribution. Continue reading “Beneath the model minority image”
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Talking with the doctor

imgresAn estimated 70 percent of Americans are taking at least one prescription medication, so it is good news, maybe, that they seem to talk to doctors relatively often.As health experts increasingly focus on the medical benefits of a healthy lifestyle and preventative healthcare, Americans say their doctor does commonly discuss the benefits of healthy habits with them- so says Gallup:

“Specifically, 71% say their doctor usually discusses the benefits of engaging in regular physical exercise and 66% the benefits of eating a healthy diet. Fewer, 50%, say their doctor usually discusses the benefits of not smoking, although that number jumps to 79% among smokers.These data are from Gallup’s annual Consumption Habits poll, conducted July 10-14.Physicians are more likely to discuss regular exercise and eating a healthy diet — positive behaviors related to maintaining a healthy weight — with Americans than not smoking. This may reflect the prevalence of these issues in the U.S.: while 19% of Americans in Gallup’s July Consumption Survey say they currently smoke, 45% say they are overweight.

“Half of Americans overall say their doctor usually speaks with them about the benefits of not smoking, but that percentage soars among smokers (79%), who are significantly more likely than nonsmokers (43%) and former smokers (45%) to say their doctor usually discusses this. It is certainly logical that physicians would intensify their efforts to speak about not smoking with current smokers, compared with nonsmokers and former smokers — especially considering the time constraints during doctor’s appointments. However, increasing the frequency of these discussions with nonsmokers could prevent more nonsmokers from ever starting and more former smokers from returning to old habits. Smokers are no more likely than nonsmokers and former smokers to report that their doctor discusses exercising regularly and eating a healthy diet, reinforcing that doctors tend to tailor their message when it comes to smokers.”

 

More at: http://www.gallup.com/poll/163772/americans-say-doctors-advise-health-habits.aspx?utm_source=feedly

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American’s have least vacation

One thing many working people in American don’t know that they don’t know is how poor our social benefits are compare with those enjoyed by workers in other countries, reports Sociological Images.imgres

“No doubt one reason is the general media blackout about worker experiences in other countries.  A case in point: vacation benefits.

“The Center for Economic and Policy Research recently completed a study of vacation benefits in advanced capitalist economies.  Here is what the authors found:

The United States is the only advanced economy in the world that does not guarantee its workers paid vacation. European countries establish legal rights to at least 20 days of paid vacation per year, with legal requirements of 25 and even 30 or more days in some countries. Australia and New Zealand both require employers to grant at least 20 vacation days per year; Canada and Japan mandate at least 10 paid days off. The gap between paid time off in the United States and the rest of the world is even larger if we include legally mandated paid holidays, where the United States offers none, but most of the rest of the world’s rich countries offer at least six paid holidays per year.”

More at: http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2013/07/27/the-unknown-world-2/

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Stay out of politics, kid

By a 2-to-1 margin, 64% to 31%, Americans would not like their child to go into politics as a career. The results are the same whether the question is asked about a “child,” a “son,” or a “daughter.” There has been little change in the percentage of Americans who would favor a political career for their son or daughter over the past two decades.

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The results are based on a June 20-24 Gallup poll, and find generally little change in the desirability of politics as a profession even as trust in government and confidence in political institutions, particularly Congress, are low.

The largest demographic differences among major subgroups are by race, with nonwhites much more likely than whites to say they would like to see their son or daughter go into politics. This is not a reaction to the fact that the current president is black, as Gallup has found that same racial difference when the question was asked in the 1990s when George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton were president.

The racial differences may be behind the slight tendency for Democrats to favor a political career for their sons and daughters more than Republicans do, with a larger party difference for daughters. There are also small, but not necessarily meaningful, differences by gender and being a parent of a young child.

The 31% of Americans who favor a political career for their son or daughter can be seen as an average because respondents answer the questions differently depending on the order in which they are asked. Specifically, Americans are significantly more likely to say they would like both their daughter and son to go into politics when they are asked about a daughter first.

When Gallup asks about a daughter going into politics first, 37% say they would like to see their daughter go into politics. But 37% also say they would like to see their son go into politics when asked about it after being asked about a daughter going into politics.

In contrast, when Gallup asks about a son going into politics first, the percentage wanting to see their son go into politics is 12 percentage points lower, at 25%. And the percentage wanting their daughter to go into politics is lower, at 26%, when asked after the question about a son going into politics.

 

More at Gallup: http://www.gallup.com/poll/163373/child-avoid-career-politics.aspx?utm_source=tagrss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=syndication

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Most in U.S. think government too strong

Fifty-four percent of Americans say the federal government today has too much power, reports Gallup. “Despite the recent controversies facing federal agencies such as the IRS, these views are only marginally higher than in 2012, and slightly lower than in 2010 and 2011. At least half of Americans since 2005 have said the federal government has too much power, whereas in the three years prior to that, Americans were more inclined to believe federal power was “about right.

“Americans’ views of federal power have become a renewed focal point in recent weeks with allegations that the IRS used its power to selectively audit certain types of organizations, and news reports of Justice Department imgresinvestigations into Associated Press and Fox News records and emails. It does not appear, however, that these news stories have dramatically altered Americans’ views of the federal government’s power. The 54% who now say the federal government has “too much power” is in the same general range as it has been since 2005.

“Only 8% of Americans say the federal government has “too little” power, while 36% say the government has about the right amount of power.

“As would be expected, there is a major gulf between Republicans’ and Democrats’ views on this issue. More than twice as many Republicans (76%) as Democrats (32%) say the government has too much power, with a majority of independents coming down on the same side as Republicans.”

 

More at: http://www.gallup.com/poll/162779/views-gov-powerful-little-changed.aspx?utm_source=tagrss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=syndication

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One quarter in U.S. struggle to afford food

A new Pew Research report on emerging economies finds that almost a quarter of Americans have trouble affording food. “This reported level of deprivation is closer to that in Indonesia or Greece rather than Britain or Canada,” the report says.

Why is this the case?

Quartz reports that “according to numbers from the USDA, the moderate costs to healthfully feed a family of four a week costs $191, including meals and snacks, up 38% from 10 years ago. Food inflation was about 5% last year after a drought led to an increase in corn, wheat, and soybean prices, which in turned raised the price of chicken, pork, and beef. With continued unpredictability in weather affecting crops and higher demand from a growing population, it’s likely that food prices will only continue to rise.images

“But the US has the worst income inequality among developed economies; 15% of the population uses food stamps. As economist, Joseph Stiglitz has argued, the income inequality in the US is not only holding back a recovery but also setting up the nation for future economic instability.

“The technorati is busy brewing up a single-source omnifood, the FAO has been urging people for years to eat insects, and NASA wants astronauts to eat 3D-printed food. But here on earth, an estimated 40% of the food produced in the US is wasted.”

 

More at: http://qz.com/87761/almost-a-quarter-of-americans-struggle-to-afford-food/

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Support for raising minimum wage

Seven in 10 Americans say they would vote “for” raising the minimum wage to $9 per hour if given the opportunity, while 27% would vote against such a bill, reports Gallup. “The proposal, made by President Barack Obama in his 2013 State of the Union speech, is backed by over 90% of Democrats and self-described liberals, and by over two-thirds of independents and moderates. Republicans are evenly split on the proposal, while conservatives tilt slightly in favor.imgres Continue reading “Support for raising minimum wage”

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Art and the economy explained

Experts agree that arts and culture are an important part of the economy – but the precise relationship is complicated.

As governments and organizations increasingly have to justify spending, the big question remains: does investment in the arts stimulate growth, or are the arts the product of economic development? These questions were posed in today’s edition of The Guardian in a story that continues below:imgres-1

“Few people think of the economic impact of visiting a gallery or buying a ticket to the theatre. But arts and culture in the US generated $135.2 billion (£87 billion) and supported 4.1 million jobs in 2010, according to the latest economic snapshot from the non-profit advocacy group, Americans for the Arts. It would seem that the case for continued arts funding is clear cut – enjoying the arts boosts the economy. But experts say the link between arts investment and economic output is tenuous. Continue reading “Art and the economy explained”

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Artists contest Russian adoption ban

They’re fighting over the kids and now artists are joining in.

This time it is a row between the governments of Russia and the U.S. It seems that Russian President Vladimir Putin has recently instituted a ban on American adoptions of Russian children, presumably a calculated response to U.S. legislation aimed at punishing Russian political corruption.

Now a group of prominent Russian cultural figures have issued a call to repeal the ban, including an exception for children to join American parents that have already come to know. As the Times reports,”

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“Chulpan Khamatova, revered here for her charity work as well as her acting, spoke in front of a screen showing blown-up photographs of families whose adoptions have been halted. Beside her sat Beth Hettinger of Westfield, N.J., who flew to Russia to bring back Aleksei, who is 18 months old. Ms. Hettinger was scheduled to leave Russia without Aleksei on Friday.

“’A child, even if he is very small, is already waiting for his mama to come and get him, and she does not come,’ Ms. Khamatova said. ‘When he grows up he is told, ‘When you were small, this thing took place.’ This will happen, anyway. I think he will hate his country, and hate his motherland.’

“She said she had visited children’s homes in Russia ‘where children lie in heaps, in huge wards,’  and added: ‘Dear, respected president, dear, respected society, let’s make an exception. Our country is so big, and we always ignore the specific fates of people. Just once, let’s not ignore them.’ Continue reading “Artists contest Russian adoption ban”

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Majority back Obama on guns

imgresSurvey results just in say the majority of the U.S. population supports President Obama’s wide-ranging proposals to reduce gun violence

“Americans’ immediate reaction to President Barack Obama’s proposals for new laws designed to reduce gun violence is more positive than negative, with 53% saying they would want their representative in Congress to vote for the set of proposed new laws, while 41% say their representative should vote against them,” says the Gallup organization

“These results are from Gallup polling conducted Thursday, Jan. 17, the day after Obama’s announcement. The question asked Americans about the “set” of new laws, even though in reality, to the extent the House and the Senate pursue these proposals, it could be on a one-by-one basis. The results suggest that Obama begins his campaign for passage of the laws with a majority — but not a supermajority — of the public behind him.

“The question explicitly identified the gun proposals as those that President Obama announced on Wednesday, making it not surprising to find that the strongest support for the proposals comes among Democrats and liberals, and the weakest support comes among Republicans and conservatives. Additionally, groups that traditionally lean more Democratic — nonwhites, Easterners, and those with postgraduate educations — are significantly above average in support. Continue reading “Majority back Obama on guns”

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Americans divided about corporations and government

Once again our friends at Gallup have confirmed that the U.S. population really can’t make up its mind. This time the popular polling organization reports that about equal numbers of people think that corporations and government are okay, with opinion dividing predictably along party lines. As Gallup states:

tragic-1-city-skyscrapers “Americans continue to be worried about the effects of big companies and big government, with 35% saying they are very or somewhat satisfied with the size and influence of major corporations, and 36% saying they are very or somewhat satisfied with the size and power of the federal government. Both of these levels of satisfaction are up slightly from the last two years, but significantly below satisfaction levels recorded in the early years of the last decade, when satisfaction with government was generally higher than satisfaction with major corporations.

“These findings are from Gallup’s Jan. 7-10, 2013, Mood of the Nation survey. Continue reading “Americans divided about corporations and government”

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Americans still favor death penalty

It’s widely known that the United States is one of the few nations in the world still using the death penalty.

No other nation in the Americas retains capital punishment. And only Belarus in Europe does. This week the U.S. Supreme Court rejected permanent stays on

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executions of the mentally ill. And a new survey shows 63% of the population still likes the idea of executions. Political division?  A culture of fear? The Gallup Organization reports that

“Americans’ support for the death penalty as punishment for murder has plateaued in the low 60s in recentyears, after several years in which support was diminishing. Sixty-three percent now favor the death penalty as the punishment for murder, similar to 61% in 2011 and 64% in 2010. Continue reading “Americans still favor death penalty”

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Better life for the kids? Who knows?

American polling is a funny business, especially at a time when that nation seems unable to make up its mind on just about anything.

Today the Gallup organization reported that Americans have no idea whether their children will be better off in the future or not. According to Gallup,

“Americans are evenly divided about whether it is likely (49%) or unlikely (50%) that the next generation of youth in the country will have a better life than their parents. That is a slightly more positive assessment than in early 2011, when the slight majority, 55%, thought it was unlikely the next generation would achieve this goal.imgres

“Still, views today remain depressed compared with 2008 Continue reading “Better life for the kids? Who knows?”

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Americans are oddly optimistic

Public opinion polls became a huge focus in 2012, thanks in large part to the data-aggregating of Nate Silver. It should come as not surprise then that 2103 would start out with organizations like Gallup making headlines.Just released is Gallup’s most recent

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survey of “optimism” about the coming year. Oddly, while many in the U.S. have no confidence that the economy will improve, a significant majority (69%) think that life will improve for themselves and their families. Only 27% expressed pessimism. As Gallup states:

“As is usually the case, Americans are much more positive when asked to reflect on their own personal situation than when asked about the broader situation across the country. Gallup previously reported on Americans’ negativity about the prospects for the U.S. economy and the international situation in 2013. Continue reading “Americans are oddly optimistic”

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A different kind of poll

Ok, so we are all fed up with polls about the election. Check this out from Slate: “Poll Finds Majority of Americans Are Racist.”  As Daniel Politi summarizes, “In the four years since the United States elected the country’s first black president, a majority of Americans express outright prejudice toward blacks. Perhaps even more surprising though is that the numbers have slightly increased since 2008. A full 51 percent of Americans explicitly express anti-black prejudice, up from 48 percent in 2008, according to the Associated Press. When an implicit racial attitudes test is used the number increases to 56 percent, compared to 49 percent four years ago. The AP surveys, which were carried out by university researchers, ultimately found that President Obama could lose a net 2 percentage points of the popular vote due to anti-black attitudes. Continue reading “A different kind of poll”