Submitted by Michael Snyder of The Economic Collapse blog [5],
You will be shocked at what some Americans actually believe.
For example, close to 90 percent of us believe that we are eating a healthy diet, and yet more than third of the population is officially obese. 65 percent of all Americans say that they are dissatisfied with the government, and yet nearly a third of us would be willing to submit to a "TSA body cavity search" in order to get on an airplane.
As you will see below, Americans are angrier and more frustrated with government and with their lives than ever before, but we also exhibit almost unbelievable levels of sloth and apathy. Some of the numbers below are quite funny, and others are absolutely stunning. But they all say something about who we have become as a nation.
The following are 30 survey results that sound false but that are actually true...
#1 According to a recent Rasmussen Reports survey, 52 percent [6] of Americans "do not think the economy is fair to those willing to work hard".
#2 70 percent [7] of all Americans do not "feel engaged or inspired at their jobs".
#3 According to another recent Rasmussen Reports survey, 59 percent [8] of Americans believe that "less government involvement in the economy" would help reduce the size of the income gap in this country. (And those 59 percent are actually correct.)
#4 20 percent [9] of all government workers and 26 percent [9] of all Obama supporters consider the Tea Party to be "the biggest terror threat" that America is facing.
#5 Approximately 30 percent [10] of all American workers have $1,000 or less saved up for retirement.
#6 A worldwide survey conducted by the Worldwide Independent Network and Gallup found that 24 percent [11] of people around the world consider the United States to be the biggest threat to peace. Pakistan was in second place with just 8 percent.
#7 60 percent [12] of Americans report feeling "angry or irritable". Two years ago that number was at 50 percent.
#8 36 percent [13] of Americans admit that they have yelled at a customer service agent during the past year.
#9 29 percent [14] of Americans believe that "cloud computing" involves an actual cloud.
#10 A survey of employers that currently pay minimum wage to at least some of their employees found that 38 percent [15] of them would start laying off employees if the minimum wage was raised.
#11 One survey found that 56 percent [16] of Americans believe that it is okay for the government to track "the telephone records of millions of Americans" in order to keep us safe.
#12 When George W. Bush was president, 61 percent [16] of Democrats considered NSA surveillance to be "unacceptable", but now that Obama is in the White House, only 34 percent [16] of them consider it to be "unacceptable".
#13 67 percent [17] of Americans support the use of unmanned drones in "homeland security missions" inside the United States.
#14 One survey found that 51 percent [18] of all Americans agree with this statement: "it is necessary to give up some civil liberties in order to make the country safe from terrorism."
#15 Close to one-third [19] of all Americans would be willing to submit to a "TSA body cavity search" in order to fly.
#16 65 percent [20] of Americans are dissatisfied "with the U.S. system of government and its effectiveness". That is the highest level of dissatisfaction that Gallup has ever recorded.
#17 Only 8 percent [21] of Americans believe that Congress is doing a "good" or "excellent" job.
#18 70 percent [22] of Americans do not have confidence that the federal government will "make progress on the important problems and issues facing the country in 2014".
#19 According to a survey conducted by the National Geographic Society, only 37 percent [23] of all Americans in the 18 to 24-year-old age range can find the nation of Iraq on a map.
#20 Close to 25 percent [24] of all Americans do not know that the United States declared independence from Great Britain.
#21 Right now, 29 percent [25] of all Americans under the age of 35 are living with their parents.
#22 According to one survey, 24 percent [26] of all U.S. teens that have a sexually-transmitted disease say that they still have unprotected sex.
#23 Approximately one out of every five [26] teenage girls in the United States actually wants to be a teenage mother.
#24 The percentage of Americans that "believe there are signs that aliens have visited Earth" is actually higher [27] than the percentage of Americans that believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
#25 According to one recent survey, only 35 percent [28] of all Americans say that they are better off financially than they were a year ago.
#26 It is hard to believe, but 56 percent [29] of all Americans are considered to have "subprime credit" at this point.
#27 89.7 percent [30] of all Americans believe that they are eating a healthy diet. Meanwhile, approximately 36 percent [31] of all Americans are obese.
#28 44 percent [32] of all Americans do not have a first-aid kit in their homes.
#29 48 percent [32] of all Americans do not have any emergency supplies stored up at all.
#30 53 percent [32] of all Americans do not even have a 3 day supply of nonperishable food and water in their homes. What will they do when a major crisis or emergency strikes? Do they actually believe that the government will swoop in to save them if something happens?