There is little doubt that our nation has not been this deeply divided since the Civil War. Some people object to this claim, pointing to the Civil Rights movement of the Sixties. That movement, while supported by many whites, only 12 percent of our population had a direct stake in the outcome. Our current crisis splits the American population nearly right down the middle, with every single American having a direct stake in the outcome, because every person requires health care, and every person must reside inside a dwelling that will be subject to Cap and Trade environmental regulations. FULL STORY
As such, Rhodes News is currently conducting a survey to determine the values and belief system of many of the progressives and liberals throughout our country. The purpose of the study is to isolate the primary sources of information liberals/progressives receive in the media, and how their attitudes are shaped by prevailing American discourse. We do not have enough data to publish the entire study, but we do have enough information to release some emerging trends.
Of the survey respondents who self-identified as left-of-center, roughly half identified themselves as "liberal" and the other half identified themselves as "progressive."
Most revealing in our study was the prevailing opinion regarding attitudes toward unemployment. Survey respondents were offered a choice of which they placed higher values: low unemployment rates or a guaranteed package of benefits to all citizens. Twenty two percent of self-identified liberal/progressives said they would accept an unemployment rate of 9.5 percent or higher for a prolonged period (ten years or longer) as long as they could ensure a living wage to all, regardless of employment status.
More shocking is that no liberal/progressives valued low unemployment rates over activities and policies such as "equality," "helping the poor," and 45 percent ranked "social justice" as more important than low unemployment. This confirms that liberal/progressives are perfectly comfortable with high unemployment rates. A whopping one hundred percent of liberal/progressives stongly agreed, or somewhat agreed with the statement "were not for the policies of President Franklin roosevelt, people would have been much worse off during the Great Depression." Many economists have claimed that FDR's policies actually increased and prolonged high unemployment. In fact, between the years of 1933 - 1940, unemployment never dropped below 14.1 percent. Liberal/progressives seem perfectly comfortable with this figure, and defend the high sustained rate as a valid exchange for the programs FDR introduced to the economically disadvantaged.
We have other findings of the survey, regarding liberal/progressive attitudes toward the Tea Party movement, conservative talk radio, and Sarah Palin. We will be releasing that data in forthcoming editions of Rhodes News.
