A majority of Americans, 52 percent, believe that the American Dream is dead, driven in part by a bad economy that has a near equal amount, 46 percent, earning just enough to pay their bills, according to a new NBC/Esquire survey.
The survey looked at the rage Americans feel, and it is high over the economy, immigration and violence, and is influencing the presidential race.
The fall of the American Dream is a good example of how the slumping economy has changed American attitudes. While once considered attainable, now 52 percent said that the American Dream “once held true but does not anymore.” Another 36 percent said it still “holds true,” and another 11 percent said it “never held true.”
The poll conducted by SurveyMonkey found that American whites, especially Republicans, are the angriest.
“Seventy-three percent of whites say they get angry at least once a day, as compared with 56 percent of blacks and 66 percent of Hispanics. Seventy-seven percent of Republicans get angry at least once a day, as compared with 67 percent of Democrats,” said the survey.
“We wanted to drill down and gain an understanding of the drivers of American rage in a way that hadn’t been done before,” said David Granger, editor in chief, Esquire. “We wanted to understand where the anger originates that is fueling the extreme nature of our presidential politics, as well as a new era of protest.
Key highlights from NBC and Esquire:
— White rage: There is a strong correlation between a high degree of anger (seen mostly prominently among white men and women) and the sense that the U.S. is no longer the most powerful country in the world; that the American dream is dead; that the gap between the rich and poor is widening; and that one’s life didn’t turn out as well as one had imagined when they were younger.
— Immigration: 73 percent of Hispanics and 63 percent of blacks believe immigrants strengthen our country; only 43 percent of whites agree. Compared with those who hold pro-immigration views, those who hold anti-immigration views are significantly angrier, as well as more likely to say the American dream is dead; that the U. S. was once but is no longer the most powerful country in the world; and that white men are struggling to keep up in today’s world.
— Police violence: Nine in ten black Americans report feeling very angry when they hear about a police shooting of an unarmed black man, compared to just seven in ten white Americans. One possible explanation found in the survey: three out of four black Americans believe police killings are part of a broader systemic pattern while three out of five white Americans think they are isolated incidents.
— Race relations: Those who believe that race relations have become worse over the past eight years (a majority of whom are white) are significantly angrier than those who believe race relations are the same or better than before (a majority of whom are black).
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
