[As Curmie was kind enough to remind me in the comments below, I wrote about this same poll when it was first reported in January. Then, however, I couldn’t find the actual poll results themselves, and that post mostly focused on that problem. I like this post better anyway…]
Well, polls. Still, Scott Rasmussen yesterday used a podcast appearance to call attention to the results of a provocative poll he took earlier this year, and they are, in one aspect, heartening to your friendly neighborhood ethicist (though I don’t believe them). What he called “terrifying” was another set of results.
What caused me to click was this: To the question “Would you rather have your candidate win by cheating or lose by playing fair?” just 7% of American polled said they would prefer their candidate to win by cheating, if that’s what it took. Rasmussen says that he wished the number was lower , but that it “isn’t bad.” Not bad? I think the number is astounding, and that it’s obvious that people were lying. A vast majority of American students, adults, workers and management cheats in myriad ways to achieve goals far less important than electing national leaders. More people voted for Hillary Clinton than Donald Trump in 2016 despite undeniable evidence that the Democratic Party and Clinton had cheated to get her the nomination. Her then still popular hubby had even cheated on her, and she still went on the Today Show to cheat the public by blaming the Monica Lewinsky scandal on a conservative conspiracy when she knew the ugly story was true. 7%? Utter nonsense, whatever the reason.
The more useful result of the poll—remembering that the previous result is garbage, so it is a fair question whether one should trust anything the poll concludes—was this: American “elites,” a group Rasmussen defined as those having at least one post-graduate degree, earning at least $150,000 annually and living in high-population density areas, have a world view with policy preferences not only out of sync with the rest of the country, but adverse to basic American values and aspirations, like personal liberty, unobtrusive government, free speech, and more. That group is about 1% of the U.S. population as a whole.
To begin with, more than a third of the elite 1% he surveyed would condone cheating by a candidate they supported. Among those who are “politically obsessed”—who responded that they talk about politics every day — the percentage was 69%. I think that number is actually pretty close to the right number for the population as a whole.
BUT….
- 74% of elites say they are financially better off today than in the past versus 20% of all Americans.” My comment: This question was asked, I’m sure, because Republicans are dusting off Ronald Reagan’s old gotcha! that he used against Jimmy Carter in 1980: “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” I’m amazed that anyone would claim they are better off today.
- “Nearly six in ten say there is too much individual freedom in America – double the rate of all Americans.” My comment: Of course the “elites” mean too much freedom for the hoi polloi. They assume they can do whatever they want to, because what they do is always justified, wise and good.
- “More than two-thirds (67%) favor rationing of vital energy and food sources to combat the threat of climate change.” My comment: Thus proving money and higher education doesn’t make you smart.
- ” 70% of the Elites trust the government to do the right thing most of the time.” My comment: See above! The weight of evidence clearly refutes this idiotic belief, which I can only attribute to certainty that a totalitarian government in the U.S. would be run by people like them, and do what they would do, which is obviously wise and good.
- “Two-thirds (67%) say teachers and other educational professionals should decide what children are taught rather than letting parents decide.” My comment: Totalitarian signature significance.
- “Somewhere between half and two-thirds favor banning things like SUVs, gas stoves, air conditioning, and non-essential air travel to protect the environment.” My comment: Hilarious, and also an encore of “Thus proving money and higher education doesn’t make you smart.” Business is, of course, “essential,” but a flight for “the pursuit of happiness” isn’t.
- “About six of ten elites have a favorable opinion of the so-called talking professions—lawyers, lobbyists, politicians, and journalists.” My comment: 1) Fourth encore! 2)…because those people generally believe what the elites and 3) “Morons!”
- “President Joe Biden enjoys an 84% job approval rating from this group – roughly twice as high as the general public.” My comment: How can one be “elite” and hold such an absurd and indefensible opinion?
Nonetheless, the poll results, if accurate, answer the lingering question of why Donald Trump was elected President, and may well be again. Rassmussen says about 75% of his “elites” are Democrats. They are arrogant, smug, objectively untrustworthy and repulsive, and the cognitive dissonance scale dictates that what will defy and foil them is automatically appealing to a large segment of the nation.
Ethics Alarms 
Jack said:
They are arrogant, smug, objectively untrustworthy and repulsive, and the cognitive dissonance scale dictates that what will defy and foil them is automatically appealing to a large segment of the nation.
I resemble that remark. More, I totally and wholeheartedly endorse it.
The “condone cheating” stuff is disturbing at any level, and strongly suggests (if your estimate of the actual percentage is within 30 points of reality) that Americans truly have lost their way. Perhaps it is the pervasiveness of politics, or the perception by both sides that the other cheats, lies, and steals far worse than their favored politicians. Or perhaps it is a consequence of the absurdly partisan mainstream media. Or perhaps I should embrace the healing power of “and“.
No matter what, this makes for a depressing start for the day.
“This question was asked, I’m sure, because Republican are dusting off Ronald Reagan’s old gotcha! that he used against Jimmy Carter in 1980: “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” I’m amazed that anyone would claim they are better off today.”
Two weeks ago, a Facebook friend posted a meme that 4 years ago that week, the Dow closed at 19000 and it closed the current week at 38000.
She was making a point about the use of this Better Off Today campaigning being counterproductive, I’m sure.
However, I commented that pointing out the stock market from four years ago as a comparison to today is unfair. Four years ago, the pandemic was starting.
One of her other friends replied to me to tell me that there was no pandemic four years ago that week. I replied back that there most certainly was a pandemic four years ago. In fact, four years ago that week was when my employer sent us all home to work because of the pandemic.
He then commented that he didn’t mean that there wasn’t a pandemic, but that the stock market was not affected by the pandemic. I quickly found three articles from that time period that demonstrated that the pandemic fears absolutely affected the stock market that week and included the largest single day drop in history.
No more comments.
You are absolutely correct that people are fine with cheating candidates. Just like they are fine with lying candidates. They adopt the lies as their own to the point where they can be gaslit repeatedly.
This guy literally posted that there was no pandemic four years ago and that the stock market wasn’t affected by it.
It is AMAZING to me the percentage of times a post is quoted in a comment and contains a typo. If that was representative, my posts would have to have literally hundreds of typos each. In this case, leaving out the “s” is Republicans was the only one (I think) that got through after three proof-readings, and there it was, the part quoted. Where, oh where, is Pennagain, who sent me the typos in almost every post?
To be fair, I missed it, too. And I read it twice.
I am part of this “elite” group, and I get dismayed that within my social groups (other than a very close-knit group of friends) perfectly reflects the results of this poll.
Dude. You wrote about this in January.
Ha! I completely forgot about it, because, as you will recall, I focused on the “elites” stuff and not the cheating aspect, and also couldn’t locate the survey until after I wrote the post. This time, I got to actually read the thing.
Or…
“I was just seeing who was paying attention,”
or
“Give me a break, al I can remember from that month was Harvard’s implosion,”
or
“I was a different person then: married, happy, and with a business partner.”
“Business is, of course, “essential,” but a flight for “the pursuit of happiness” isn’t.”
Actually, I would disagree that travel is essential for business. Most business can be conducted electronically. Travel for leisure in order to experience a distant location cannot be done electronically even in a VR environment.
When the “elite” have to be chained to a desk and cannot exploit a business trip to play golf or something else the spouse is not to know about then they might have reservations about rationing air travel.
If the elites want to eliminate rationing by price, because we we are so consumed about “equity” any rationing that is done must provide for the bottom income quintiles to receive the some amount of rationed resources through coupon books which would give them market value. Consider it like cap and trade such that everyone gets the same amount but if you want more you have to buy another person’s ration at a price established by the seller. Propose that and watch how fast the elite’s opinions change.
“Rassmussen says about 75% of his “elites” are Democrats.”
Where do I go to file the missing person reports for all those “rich Republicans” that the left keeps telling us about. You know, those people who are making too much money and paying too little tax and keeping the rest of us schlubs from being rich.
Do those “elites” not come outside, especially those living in garden spots like SF, or LA, or even DC? They don’t see the homeless camps, drug ODs slumped in doorways, or the “ghetto diamonds” (the glass fragments from car burglaries) that twinkle in the morning light…?
The take-away from this poll is that the “elites” are seriously misinformed, and they work hard at staying that way.
This morning I looked at the photo at the top of the article and laughed. The ’95 Bulls they ain’t. And President Biden, the “Michael Jordan” of that group, towers above them, tall and proud.