A new Pew Research Center study found 53% of U.S. adults rated Americans’ morals and ethics as “bad,” making the U.S. the only country surveyed where that view prevailed.
Trust in other people underpins everything from civic life to everyday cooperation, so broad skepticism about neighbors’ character can shape politics, institutions and social cohesion.
Pew’s findings add an international benchmark to a long-running American debate about polarization and whether people see opponents—and even fellow citizens—as acting in good faith.
I’m mostly thinking of enlightened centrists, the ones actually responsible for Trump and Co.
My favorite take right now from the reactionary/enlightened centrists is when they point at things like RFK jr saying something about food dyes. Or getting rid of pennies.
Really, things like that make all the rest of it worth it? I just can’t even with that bunch. Imagine flipping the script: if the Democrats were letting Biden just go buck-wild with the country and no one was stopping him? Would these “centrists” be talking about dyes and pennies?
Me personally, I’m very literal minded. When I say getting rid of pennies is good, I mean just that: getting rid of pennies is good. I certainly DO NOT think that tiny little good thing is equal to all the horrible crap Trump has done. I don’t think it makes any of the suffering worth it. I’d go back to using pennies if it meant all the horrible things from the Trump administration went away
The weird thing? He couldn’t even do that right. He unleashed more chaos by just announcing the end of pennies. No real planning, no direction given.
I’m rather ambivalent about pennies myself. The claim is that it will save $56 million per year, which is a rounding error in the U.S. budget. Hell, Noem apparently stole $220 million for ads featuring herself cosplaying. I have to wonder what it ends up costing the average American, though. And it seems it has unleashed some real chaos for retailers.