Not a surprise, but still an ominous trend...

As usual, those polled were asked, “Please tell me how you would rate the honesty and ethical standards of people in these different fields — very high, high, average, low or very low?”

Observations:

• Gallup’s conclusion: “Americans’ ratings of nearly all 23 professions measured in Gallup’s 2023 Honesty and Ethics poll are lower than they have been in recent years. Only one profession — labor union leaders — has not declined since 2019, yet a relatively low 25% rate their honesty and ethics as “very high” or “high.” Nurses remain the most trusted profession, with 78% of U.S. …Members of Congress, senators, car salespeople and advertising practitioners are viewed as the least ethical, with ratings in the single digits that have worsened or remained flat.”
• Nurses, dentists or pharmacists have always been the most trusted on Gallup’s survey, but pharmacists and dentists have seen their trust levels decline in recent years.
• Veterinarians are a new category. We’ll see if they fall in trust in 2024. There is a new frequently fatal dog virus going around, and I’ve heard several dog-owners complain that their vets have never mentioned it, perhaps because keeping dogs from infecting each other will be a massive headache for them.
• For some reason, “high school teachers” have been dropped from the survey. For vets? Gallup does this periodically, with no explanation. The falling public level of trust in teachers at all educational levels, not just college, is something to be seriously concerned about. When Gallup mysteriously omits a targeted stat like that, it looks like someone—the NEA, perhaps?—got to them.
• Last year, I wrote about the 2022 Gallup trust survey, “Journalists, meanwhile have dropped like a rock. They are not necessarily more untrustworthy than four years ago—it’s just that the public is wising up. I credit Donald Trump for much of that.” I take part of that back. Journalists are getting worse.
• Members of Congress fell 6% in trust levels since 2019, which is in line with most of the other declining occupations, except that Congress’s number fell by 50%: it was only at 12% to start with. My guess at the reasons: the revelations about the Russian collusion hoax pressed by Adam Schiff and Co., the uni-partisan “Get Trump” January 19 committee, the flagrant misconduct of Rep. Santos, Rep. Bowman, Rep. Tlaib and others, the GOP’s clown show in choosing a new Speaker, and the increased frequency of videos being posted on social media that show various members of Congress making fools of themselves, like this one.
• Why is the Presidency not part of the survey?

Here, in the summarized report, is Gallup’s chart showing how the trust levels differ between Democrats and Republicans surveyed:

Of course Democrats trust journalists and college teachers far more than those to the ideological right of them: these completely captured and corrupted professions are on the front lines of the leftist indoctrination and propaganda efforts. They trust lawyers more than Republicans because  the overwhelming majority of lawyers (and legal ethicists, as I see in my in-box every day) are progressives.

• Gallup ends its discussion of the survey with timid commentary: “The image of many professions — particularly those in the medical field — sharply improved in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. However, that effect was short-lived, and many ratings have since declined to all-time lows. Almost all professions are now viewed less positively than they were a year ago and four years ago. A select few — led by nurses for the 22^nd consecutive year — maintain overall positive ratings. “

Here is what it should have said: “This is extremely troubling. If a majority of the public do not trust the credentialed individuals running the nations institutions, and they clearly do not, the republic is in serious trouble. That Democrats are so much more supportive of “experts” and “elites” signals their belief that such individuals deserve to not merely lead their inferiors, but dictate to them. Falling trust on this scale is a metaphorical canary dying in the mine of democracy.”

You can find last year’s post about this annual report here.