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damnedifIknow

(3,183 posts)
Mon Jul 7, 2014, 08:32 PM Jul 2014

Americans are down on America

We’re No. 33!

That’s the bottom line in a new Gallup poll measuring the extent of freedom in 135 countries. Only 79% of Americans say they’re satisfied with their freedom to choose what to do with their lives, down from 87% in 2008. The top five nations where people feel most satisfied with their freedoms are New Zealand, Australia, Cambodia, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates. At No. 33, the United States is sandwiched between Bahrain and Cameroon."

* The United States is one of the few places where freedoms appear to be on the wane. Of the 100 countries where Gallup measured changes in freedom during the past five years, 75 of them registered an improvement, while 21 registered a decline. Four stayed the same. Of the decliners, only five nations report sharper drops than the United States. Two of them — Syria and Afghanistan —

* the percentage of Americans who believe the United States “stands above all other countries” dropped from 38% in 2011 to 28% in 2014. Young Americans are least impressed with their home country, with only 15% of 18-29-year-olds saying the United States is the world’s No. 1 nation. Among seniors, 40% feel that way "

* Many Americans seem to question the basic premise that everybody can get ahead in the so-called land of the free. A recent analysis by USA Today found living the American Dream, loosely defined, costs a typical family of four roughly $130,000 per year. That’s in a country where the median household income is only about $53,000, or less than half of what’s needed for a middle-class lifestyle."

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/americans-are-down-on-america-190304928.html

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Americans are down on America (Original Post) damnedifIknow Jul 2014 OP
Well, to be fair - these days, America seems down on Americans. 99% of 'em. djean111 Jul 2014 #1
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