Russian interference in elections, the impact of ISIS, mass shootings, an unstoppable heroin crisis and a looming nuclear war with North Korea; it’s fair say that the topics dominating American mass media right now are pretty dark. So a year after an election that was fought and won on the insecurity of the idea of a socially and politically declining America, it wouldn’t exactly be a stretch to imagine that these topics might be among the biggest issues worrying the public.
But when online polling platform Ranker asked the internet to suggest and rank the biggest threats facing the USA right now, there were some surprising results. Of over 60,500 votes submitted, it appears that issues surrounding democracy are at the forefront of people’s minds. Terrorism came in 20th, illegal immigration 24th, ISIS 39th and nuclear war 41st. Perhaps reflective of America’s ongoing infatuation with firearms, gun crime only came in 75th, despite a string of mass shootings over the past few years.
So, what
did make the top 10? The results might give you hope... or just make you angry.
10. Political correctness
Always controversial, the vilifying of so-called political correctness played a key part in Trump's election campaign, with his loose-lipped manner attracting the support of people who defended their right to "free speech", no matter how vile or objectionable that be. It seems that the public are still on side with this approach too, given that it made the top 10, but then maybe it's less shocking when you've grown used to witnessing your leader's own
racial slurs.
9. National Debt
National debt in the USA now stands at a jaw-dropping $2o trillion, some of which is owed to foreign nations such as China and some of which is provided by national reserves. Considering that for most people a mortgage sounds like an intimidating amount of debt, it's understandable that this ranked so highly, but given that the US hasn't been debt-free for almost 200 years, it's one that's unlikely to change. So there's no point sweating it, really.
8. An ignorant electorate
You can always count on the general public to blame each other when something goes wrong - and apparently, you can blame them if something
might go wrong too. It's kind of hard to take this one seriously to be honest; of course, an uninformed electorate is a threat, but then, who sets the bar to define what "informed" is? It's all pretty subjective really.
7. The influence of the media
Trump may be the person pushing the idea of a distrustful media full of "fake news", but it seems that the voters already have their own dose of cynicism about the influence of the media: "They feed us whatever sells ad dollars and leave out whatever doesn't." Interestingly, this was listed as the top threat by voters in more right-leaning Southern states, but ranked lower down as a concern in other regions.
6. Death of the middle class
The idea that the middle class is "dying out" in America has been floating around for some years now, largely owing to stagnating wages, declining disposable income and rising costs of 'big' items, such as college tuition. This is far more than an aesthetic worry, though: as the everyday spenders, the middle classes play a huge part in keeping the cogs turning in the economy. More importantly, the issue is also one of wealth disparity, with more people than ever falling into poverty.
5. An increasingly polarised society
Perhaps more than any other event, the 2016 election proved this one to be true; in modern America, it seems you are either alt-left or alt-right, for or against "making America great again", pro-guns or anti-freedom. Worryingly though, a recent study has shown that Americans are also increasingly divided about whether the issues that divide them even exist, with a Pew Report, for example, finding that: "While just less than 1 in 3 Republicans feels that there is a lot of discrimination against Black people in the U.S., almost 8 in 10 Democrats support that statement."
4. Money in government
In another example of a public focus on social issues rather than "big news", voters ranked the potential of money to influence government decisions as one of their highest concerns, voting for it on a platform of: "If our politicians and political parties are controlled by money, do they even bother to listen to anyone who doesn't have it?" They might not be too far wrong - a 2014 study actually showed that of all of the members of Congress, over half had a personal wealth of more than a million dollars.
3. Politicians
Hand in hand with a distrust of money in government comes a more general distrust of politicians. Never the most popular of characters, many analysts believe that a lack of faith in the political establishment had a huge impact on Trump's accession to power; Clinton represented the political status-quo, Trump was the "normal guy" just speaking the truth, despite being a billionaire reality TV star. Like I say, a normal guy.
2. Stupid people in government
Are you sensing a theme here yet? Personally, I haven't a clue what may have inspired this addition to the rankings. Maybe, just maybe, the current "
dream team" have something to do with it?
1. Disregarding the Constitution
Americans are known for loving and defending their Constitution, so perhaps it's unsurprising that this came out on top. Enshrining the right to freedom of speech, movement, religion and equality before the law, among a whole host of other rights, it has to be admired - even if the right to bear arms is more... debatable. Realistically though, there's a whole heap of irony in this coming out on top, because surely with America's long track record of denying people these basic rights, it moved past a threat a long time ago?
So what do these choices say about the state of modern America? Well, one could certainly argue that they represent a strong preoccupation with social issues and an increasing willingness to engage with the idea of democracy. But that said, many of these are also threats that the American public do have the opportunity to influence - you might not be able to stop ISIS, but you can hold your own leaders to account. However, in the meantime, surely we can add climate change somewhere on that list?
