Current Decade Rated As Worse In 50 Years
As the current decade draws to a close, relatively few Americans have positive things to say about it. By roughly two-to-one, more say they have a generally negative (50%) rather than a generally positive (27%) impression of the past 10 years. This stands in stark contrast to the public’s recollection of other decades in the past half-century. When asked to look back on the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, positive feelings outweigh negative in all cases.
By a wide margin, the 9/11 terrorist attacks are seen as the most important event of the decade, with Barack Obama’s election as president a distant second – even among his political supporters. And the sour view of the decade is broad-based, with few in any political or demographic group offering positive evaluations.
At the same time, most Americans are optimistic that the 2010s will be better. And there are a number of recent technological and social changes that are viewed favorably. The internet, cell phones, e-mail are all seen as beneficial changes by wide majorities, though there is greater division of opinion over whether social networking sites or internet blogs have been changes for the better or changes for the worse.
Most also see the growing diversity of the nation, increased surveillance and security measures, and genetic testing as positive trends. But the public is divided over whether wider acceptance of gays and lesbians, cable news talk and opinion shows, and the growing number of people with money in the stock market are good or bad trends. Reality TV shows are, by a wide margin, the least popular trend tested in the poll. Tattoos are also unpopular with many, though there is a substantial generational divide over whether this is a change for the worse or not.
Read entire article at Pew
By a wide margin, the 9/11 terrorist attacks are seen as the most important event of the decade, with Barack Obama’s election as president a distant second – even among his political supporters. And the sour view of the decade is broad-based, with few in any political or demographic group offering positive evaluations.
At the same time, most Americans are optimistic that the 2010s will be better. And there are a number of recent technological and social changes that are viewed favorably. The internet, cell phones, e-mail are all seen as beneficial changes by wide majorities, though there is greater division of opinion over whether social networking sites or internet blogs have been changes for the better or changes for the worse.
Most also see the growing diversity of the nation, increased surveillance and security measures, and genetic testing as positive trends. But the public is divided over whether wider acceptance of gays and lesbians, cable news talk and opinion shows, and the growing number of people with money in the stock market are good or bad trends. Reality TV shows are, by a wide margin, the least popular trend tested in the poll. Tattoos are also unpopular with many, though there is a substantial generational divide over whether this is a change for the worse or not.