America's Top Fears

[Curmudgeoness]

I found this survey to be frightening, since it looks as if many Americans are buying into all the fear-mongering from right wing media. Too many people are getting really worked up about things that they really should not be so worried about, and I blame Fox and talk radio.

When I first heard about this poll, I knew that my biggest fear is running out of money---a very personal issue that might really happen to me. But that came in at number 9 in the top 10 list. At least it made it to the top 10.

The Chapman University Survey of American Fears, Wave 2 (2015) provides an unprecedented look into the fears of average Americans. In April of 2015, a random sample of 1,541 adults from across the United States were asked their level of fear about eighty-eight different fears across a huge variety of topics ranging from crime, the government, disasters, personal anxieties, technology and many others.

Top 10 Fears of 2015

Corruption of Government Officials 58.0%
Cyber-terrorism 44.8%
Corporate Tracking of Personal Information 44.6%
Terrorist Attacks 44.4%
Government Tracking of Personal Information 41.4%
Bio-Warfare 40.9%
Identity Theft 39.6%
Economic Collapse 39.2%
Running of out Money in the Future 37.4%
Credit Card Fraud 36.9%

The full list and other info on the study:

https://blogs.chapman.edu/wilkinson/2015/10/13/americas-top-fears-2015/


And maybe one of the oddest things on the full list: Zombies at 8.5%. Seriously?

[Fred Sanders]

1. RW media and The Pentagon's greatest fear is Americans running out of fear.

[Curmudgeoness]

2. Well, apparently, they have nothing to worry about. nt

[smirkymonkey]

3. Wow! Out of those listed, mine would be in almost the exact opposite order, with

Running out of money in the future being number 1.

[Curmudgeoness]

6. Ha, zombies is higher on my list

than a few of the top 10. But you and I appear to be in the same boat.

[smirkymonkey]

7. Oh, well of course. The Zombies thing goes without saying.

[maxsolomon]

4. How exactly is one AFRAID of govt corruption?

all things considered, we have one of the most honest governments on the planet.

americans are fucking stupid.

[Curmudgeoness]

5. FOX and friends wins. nt

[Angleae]

8. Corrupt police, NSA spying, protection of the wealthy & corporations.

[Psephos]

11. +1000 n/t

[Fumesucker]

12. Honest governments don't lie themselves into a disastrous war

[maxsolomon]

14. I didn't say it was 100% honest

And I'm not AFRAID of that - I'm afraid of like, swarms of hornets, or falling off a cliff.

[BlueJazz]

9. My #1 worry is Vote Fraud. NOT voter fraud. Vote fraud has led to probably 75 percent of the ..

..problems we're facing now. Bush wouldn't have been elected. Taxes on the rich would have not been lowered. There's a decent chance that 9/11 would have not happened.
I believe that life here would be much better.
Your thoughts may be different.

[Snobblevitch]

10. Since you brought it up,

what are your ten fears?

[Curmudgeoness]

21. I hadn't thought about it.

I do know that my top fears are running out of money, illness that would debilitate me, and loss of independence. That might be because I am older, and these are real things to fear for me.

I would also add climate change, because I believe that we have already passed the point where anything can be done to stop it. And I have always thought that having war on our soil would be one of the worst things to live through.

One that doesn't seem to be there, or I didn't see it, is a fear of corporate power, which bothers me more than government corruption since we can reverse government corruption by voting and holding politicians' feet to the fire. But when corporations own all the politicians, we are screwed.

I would include that I have fears for the future generations. Loss of jobs to automation, loss of the middle class, and pollution.

And then there is spiders.


As you can see, I try not to waste fears on things that I have no control over. I might worry about things, and fight to change things that I don't believe are good for us, but I find it just gives you ulcers to worry about all the things that may never happen.

[hunter]

13. What? Not Climate Change, not lack of food, not homelessness, not false imprisonment?

Not medical debts or student loans that can never be repaid?

Gawd.

36.5% of Americans are afraid of gun control.

35.7% are afraid of Obamacare

Television clearly rots people's brains.

Now I'm afraid of the 1/3 of our population who already are brainless zombies.

[yuiyoshida]

15. I was gonna say, where is Climate Change?

Wasn't that what Bernie Sanders said?

[PasadenaTrudy]

16. My top 2?

Climate change and poverty. That's local and global.

[sarisataka]

17. Zombies were on the list

And so were clowns but why not zombie clowns?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

18. President Donald J. Trump.

[Curmudgeoness]

20. Now THAT is something to fear! nt

[jwirr]

19. Climate change and lose of the safety net are my first and

second on the list.