62% of Americans Say They Have Political Views They’re Afraid to Share

By ocean-kat on Wed, 10/28/2020 - 2:47pm |

New Cato national survey finds that self‐censorship is on the rise in the United States. Nearly two-thirds—62%—of Americans say the political climate these days prevents them from saying things they believe because others might find them offensive. The share of Americans who self‐censor has risen several points since 2017 when 58% of Americans agreed with this statement. These fears cross partisan lines. Majorities of Democrats (52%), independents (59%) and Republicans (77%) all agree they have political opinions they are afraid to share.

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https://www.cato.org/publications/survey-reports/poll-62-americans-say-they-have-political-views-theyre-afraid-share?&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social-media&utm_campaign=addtoany

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nice to know it's only a rise of a few points since 2017.

Keep in mind it's always been thus, it's why many of us use pseudonyms on the internets when waxing politcal, why moms said it was verboten at the dinner table and, the main one:

why we have private voting booths and private voting.

I like to think about how it was back when women finally got the vote--forget social discord at the dinner table, without private voting many would have never shown up for fear of a beating if they voted differently from their lord and master husband.

by artappraiser on Wed, 10/28/2020 - 5:29pm

nice to know it's only a rise of a few points since 2017.

That was actually one of the problems I had with the survey. The change over such a short period of time doesn't give us much useful information. I'd like to see a graph of changes, or lack of them, over a few decades.

by ocean-kat on Wed, 10/28/2020 - 5:51pm

It's not pollsters who are really to blame for polling errors. After all, they can only work with what people TELL them.

Polls are getting it wrong thanks to an atmosphere created in which millions of people feel they can't reveal what they REALLY think. Even anonymously. https://t.co/S1i1WEtQZV
— Dr Remi Adekoya (@RemiAdekoya1) November 5, 2020

(He lives in London and is half Nigerian and half Polish)

by artappraiser on Thu, 11/05/2020 - 2:21am

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