Why are Americans so angry?

[Bad Dog]

From the BBC website. It's too long an article to print in its entirety but it breaks down into five separate headings, Economy, Immigration, Washington, America's Place In The World, and Divided Nation. If DU is anything to go by, the article is bang on.

Americans are generally known for having a positive outlook on life, but with the countdown for November's presidential election now well under way, polls show voters are angry. This may explain the success of non-mainstream candidates such as Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Bernie Sanders. But what is fuelling the frustration?

A CNN/ORC poll carried out in December 2015 suggests 69% of Americans are either "very angry" or "somewhat angry" about "the way things are going" in the US.

And the same proportion - 69% - are angry because the political system "seems to only be working for the insiders with money and power, like those on Wall Street or in Washington," according to a NBC/Wall Street Journal poll from November.

Many people are not only angry, they are angrier than they were a year ago, according to an NBC/Esquire survey last month - particularly Republicans (61%) and white people (54%) but also 42% of Democrats, 43% of Latinos and 33% of African Americans.

Candidates have sensed the mood and are adopting the rhetoric. Donald Trump, who has arguably tapped into voters' frustration better than any other candidate, says he is "very, very angry" and will "gladly accept the mantle of anger" while rival Republican Ben Carson says he has encountered "many Americans who are discouraged and angry as they watch the American dream slipping away".


Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders says: "I am angry and millions of Americans are angry," while Hillary Clinton says she "understands why people get angry".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35406324

[Paper Roses]

1. Add me to the list of angry ones. Put all my friends there too.

We all all fed up with the government and with the havoc caused by the do-nothing congress. If Uncle Sam can't address the current ills of this country, how can we do it alone? Fight and grouse as we do, nothing can be done without the action of congress.

We have let things go too long and allowed these critters to get away with doing much of nothing, we feel left out and left on our own to cope with these egomaniacs.

I have friends in all income brackets, it is not just the poor and disadvantages that are upset, it is the bulk of the populace.

Some action in Washington to face our current problems is long overdue.

To the few who seem to be accomplishing something, I thank you, to the rest, --words fail me.

[Turbineguy]

2. Republicans are angry

because they keep electing republicans and it doesn't seem to be working.

[tecelote]

3. Yeah, funny how the Republicans in government hate the government.

Maybe voting against your own self interest has negative results? Go figure.

[pampango]

4. Most hold a special vitriol when disappointed by politicians in their own party.

Most are angry at the 'other' party and its politicians and expect little from them. (And are rarely disappointed.) We assuredly blame them for many of the country's problems.

But we reserve a special anger for the RINO's (from their party) and the DINO's (in ours) that seem to either join the 'other' side or are ineffective at doing anything about them.

[Human101948]

5. Because they are gradually realizing that they are not "exceptional"

We have been avidly listening to politicians tell us that we are exceptional, number one in the world. If you're not aq millionaire in this country, it's only because you haven't worked hard enough, or maybe you need an advanced degree or another programming language. It's slowly dawning on the populace that they've been sold a bill of goods. They work longer hours, skip vacations, settle for fewer benefits and meager raises, get degrees and certificates, and they are standing still, or worse, going backwards.

They are slowly coming to the realization that they've been lied to.

[HughBeaumont]

16. Someone pointed out earlier . . .

. . . that this could also be the cause of an increase in suicides among 40-50 year old men. These are people that did everything they were told, worked really hard and find that they're nowhere near a comfortable retirement, have lost ground financially and culturally and are extremely angry they're not on top of the hill anymore.

It's like I asked - If the wealthy really wanted all of us to be successful, then how would that make them exceptional? Doesn't this contradict one of their famous sayings - "All men are not created equal, but all opportunity is equal."?

[AngryAmish]

6. We figured out that we are screwed and our children are getting it worse.

[Amishman]

7. countless years of no wage growth and dwindling disposable income

we are feeling the pinch and know that the system is not working. The only difference is what is believed to be the cause and the proposed solution.

[LiberalElite]

8. "Understands why people get angry" = "Feels our pain" 2.0

Not falling for it this time.

[Are_grits_groceries]

9. They are scared.

Fear can easily translate to anger.
The GOP has scared many of them to death of ISIS, minorities, gays, etc. They have been told that somebody elses gain will be their loss.
Others are angry about everything from shootings by the police, wealth inequality, etc.

[pampango]

13. "They have been told that somebody elses gain will be their loss." The zero-sum, "us vs them"

republican fear campaign.

Gains by minorities, gays, the poor anywhere will come out of your your piece of the pie so you whites need to fight progress by these 'others'. And don't pay any attention to the man behind the curtain.

[Igel]

14. Lots of people believe that.

And they believe that those gaining from them are those gaining in general.

My mother believed this. Her house value went from $160k to $260k to $130k.

She believed that someone "stole" $130k from her when her house depreciated, and that somehow a lot of rich bankers made money off her house. She didn't sell her house at $130k. It finally sold years later for much more than $160k.

Of course, she took no money from anybody when her house appreciated by $120k to begin with, and she cheated nobody out of money when she finally sold her house. She couldn't explain where the paper asset came from; she couldn't explain where the paper asset went to. But it has to be a zero-sum game.

(She also believed that the non-raising of her social security benefits helped the 1% gain money they'd otherwise not have had.)

[Bad Dog]

15. There is a brilliant documentary series.

Called The Power Of Nightmares, about how Radical Islam and Neoconservatism have fed off each other.


The message is that when people are scared they're much easier to control. The Patriot Act relied on fear to get passed.

[Brickbat]

10. Because the poll asked about anger.

I suspect if it gave a list of adjective and asked people to identify how they felt, it would look different.

[NightWatcher]

11. Like Dr Hunter S Thompson said, it's Fear and Loathing

The two easiest ways to motivate the big dumb masses (republicans) is to make them scared or and angry. Fox News does this daily and has done so effectively for a long time now. Having a black guy also focuses this hate and fear like a laser beam.

Don't show people how things are actually going pretty well (unemployment, standard of living...) but make them mad and scared, and the dumb will run for fascists.

[edhopper]

12. after 2008

there was genuine anger at Wall Street. One of Obam's big mistakes was not addressing and using that anger for real reform, as FDR did.
Instead he allowed people like the Kochs to cynically use it, and instead we get the Tea Party.

[bigwillq]

17. I am because I feel like no one is helping me

And my family and friends. The government is not, big business is not, Wall Street is not. The government is broken--it serves mainly corporations and the special interests. And there's very few Democrats who are working for me and my kind. Unless you're very rich or very poor, you're SOL. This country is a mess, and I am not sure it will get better anytime soon. Government is so mismanaged.

[Tsiyu]

18. Because we've worked hard and have nothing to show for it

because of motherfuckers like Dr. Raymond Schinazi, who get rich off of our resources and then cause great harm with their greed.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/congress-outraged-over-hepatitis-c-treatment-va-cant-afford/

Because the Working american bailed out the banks, the auto industry and Wall Street but those goddamned greedy pieces of shit won't do a motherfucking thing to help any of those working americans.

Because of a profane War on Drugs that has done nothing but make a few people rich and a lot of people dead or incarcerated. When we'll kidnap the children of a war veteran because he uses cannabis to ease his PTSD, we are a fucking SHIT country wit absolutely no morals or mercy.

Because I have a dumbfuck governor worth 3 billion dollars who runs a state with some of the worst health outcomes in the country, but he's too busy fondling the Koch Brothers' balls to give a flying fuck.

Because of guys like the Koch Brothers, who would rather spend $400 million protecting all the dough they can never possibly spend in 17 lifetimes than use a cent of it to help lift the working class out of poverty.

Because Congress and Corporations have basically said obscene corporate profits and bonuses are awesome and orgasm-worthy, but a living wage for the workers of America is evidence of greed (because slavery never died, did it?)

And because we are the "greatest country on earth" but we have the worst standard of living of any Western Nation.

Because hoarding money is seen as akin to being divine.

I'd love to see these fat cats hoard water or food, and see the riots that would ensue. But most Americans said "meh" to the Occupy movement that addressed these issues, because most Americans are cowards who also love fondling the balls of the rich, even if it kills them.


Does that answer the question?

[Bad Dog]

22. Yes I suppose it does.

But I wasn't really asking the question. I just cut and pasted the headline from the BBC article which then went on to try to answer the question, covering a lot of the points you've made.

[Octafish]

19. We've run out of people to blame.

Soon we'll only have ourselves to hate for our problems.

[Laxman]

20. It's O.K. To Be Angry.....

there's a lot to legitimately be angry about. It is the act of directing of this anger towards groups of people (and so often towards people with the least amount of power and influence) as a political tool that is highly objectionable and highly destructive to our society. Plus, why concentrate on the nine things we have in common when we can obsess about the one difference?

[Rex]

21. Because their leaders are not listening to them or doing the will of the people.

Congress is a dysfunctional joke at best and the SCOTUS sold out to Wal Mart years ago. We only have the POTUS and he cannot do everything.

Plus there is this HUUUGGGEE racism problem in this country.