Calculating the ‘worry’ index
The media surely have bigger and better things to do than this. But, apparently operating on the assumption that there’s a general sense of dread afoot, the Associated Press poured over a new survey about the level of worry Americans are feeling.
Okay, maybe they didn’t ‘pour over’ the survey, since this piece sounds like it was thrown together in haste. But they drew some hasty conclusions and put them out there.
Americans are very worried about the long-term future of the country, and they don’t think Congress is paying attention to big issues on the horizon, like Social Security and global warming, according to a survey released Friday…by New York University’s John Brademas Center for the Study of Congress.
“I was very surprised at the amount of interest in looking for long-term answers,” said NYU professor Paul Light, who wrote the study. “What we found is there is tremendous demand for answers. They may not know exactly what to do but they’re very, very worried.”
Hmm..That sounds bad. So, is this a ‘new’ American attitude, the interest in long-term answers, that signals a fearful turning point? Haven’t we always been an inquiring public that wants answers? Is this something beyond the fear of terrorism?
The general sense of worry extends beyond the usual political debates, to mundane issues like highways. The poll found 50 percent were very or somewhat worried about repairing the nation’s older roads and bridges.
So we’re really worried about highways. No kidding.
Meanwhile, what about the daily threat of terrorism in these really tense times?
Those answering the survey generally gave Congress decent marks on terrorism – with 81 percent saying Congress is paying a great deal or fair amount of attention to terrorism.
Okay, but a lot of that attention right now is aimed at political jockeying for the November elections, so it’s really skewed toward accusations about each party’s position on fighting terror. Not all the scorched earth is in the Middle East.
On other issues, though, the survey said Congress is not paying enough attention to long-term concerns. Less than half, or 47 percent, said Congress is paying a great deal of attention to Social Security, while 80 percent said they were worried about Medicare but only 52 percent said Congress is paying a great deal of attention to the issue.
What? What did that paragraph say?
Oh, and here’s a grin:
The survey found about half of respondents, 48 percent, had unfavorable views toward reporters who cover Congress.
Look at stories like this, and you have to wonder if reporters ever read what they write. Being one for a very long time now, I know we’re not in a favorable class. Probably somewhere down there below ‘used car salesmen,’ though that’s not even a term anymore. They’re specialists in pre-driven autos. While we’re still wordsmiths. And rightly judged by how we’re doing that job.
By the way, about this survey…
The random-sample telephone survey of 1,000 adults was conducted in late July, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
I just wonder what questions those adults randomly called by phone were asked. And I wonder why the AP doesn’t question calculations that are a couple of months old, in a period of time when Congress is trying to please everyone before the elections.
