[governance] Majority Of Americans Don't Mind Being Spied Upon, Pew Study Finds

Tue Jun 11 11:09:44 EDT 2013

While there are discrete "yes", "no" and "dont know" options, we're likely
to see a lot more support for a "don't care" option. Fair few people don't
honestly care what goes on in the government. Also in the "Acceptable" and
"Unacceptable", the choice of "Irrelevant" would garner a lot of attention.
IMHO a lot of people just want to stay out of
politics/government/conspiracy/etc - they just want to "not care" and treat
it as "irrelevant".

Given this choice, fair few people (at least 10-20% of those who voted
under other categories, and maybe a 100% of those who abstained) would
choose "don't care" or "irrelevant".

Just my 2c.

-C

On Tue, Jun 11, 2013 at 6:18 PM, Riaz K Tayob <riaz.tayob at gmail.com> wrote:

>  Majority Of Americans Don't Mind Being Spied Upon, Pew Study Finds
> [image: Tyler Durden's picture]<http://www.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden>
> Submitted by Tyler Durden <http://www.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden>on 06/10/2013 17:48 -0400
>
>
>  In what is likely the most disappointing, if not unexpected, news of the
> day, we find that according to a just released Pew Research study<http://www.people-press.org/2013/06/10/majority-views-nsa-phone-tracking-as-acceptable-anti-terror-tactic/>,
> a *substantial majority, or 56% of Americans*, "*say the National
> Security Agency’s (NSA) program tracking the telephone records of millions
> of Americans is an acceptable way for the government to investigate
> terrorism*." *Only 41% object to having every phone conversation
> intercepted, investigated, analyzed, and recorded for posterity*. Sorry
> Edward Snowden*: you just threw your life away for nothing**. *The sheep
> have been properly and thoroughly conditioned and brainwashed, which is why
> they continue to get precisely the government they so rightfully deserve.
>
>
> <http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2013/06/6-10-13-1.png>
>
> More from Pew:
>
>   The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center and The
> Washington Post, conducted June 6-9 among 1,004 adults,* finds no
> indications that last week’s revelations of the government’s collection of
> phone records and internet data have altered fundamental public views about
> the tradeoff between investigating possible terrorism and protecting
> personal privacy.*
>
> It just gets better:
>
>   <http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2013/06/6-10-13-3.png>
> *Currently 62% say it is more important for the federal government to
> investigate possible terrorist threats, even if that intrudes on personal
> privacy. Just 34% say it is more important for the government not to
> intrude on personal privacy, even if that limits its ability to investigate
> possible terrorist threats.*
>
>
>
> These opinions have changed little since an ABC News/Washington Post
> survey in January
> <http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2013/06/6-10-13-2.png>2006.
> Currently, there are only modest partisan differences in these opinions:
> 69% of Democrats say it is more important for the government to investigate
> terrorist threats, even at the expense of personal privacy, as do 62% of
> Republicans and 59% of independents.
>
>
>
> However, while six-in-ten or more in older age groups say it is more
> important to investigate terrorism even if it intrudes on privacy, young
> people are divided: 51% say investigating terrorism is more important while
> 45% say it is more important for the government not to intrude on personal
> privacy, even if that limits its ability to investigate possible threats.
>
> The survey finds that while there are apparent differences between the NSA
> surveillance programs under the Bush and Obama administrations, overall
> public reactions to both incidents are similar. *Currently, 56% say it is
> acceptable that the NSA “has been getting secret court orders to track
> telephone calls of millions of Americans in an effort to investigate
> terrorism.”*
>
> In January 2006, a few weeks after initial new reports of the Bush
> administration’s surveillance program, 51% said it was acceptable for the
> NSA to investigate “people suspected of involvement with terrorism by
> secretly listening in on telephone calls and reading e-mails between some
> people in the United States and other countries, without first getting
> court approval to do so.”
>
> Perhaps least surprising is that once the most vocal objector to "Dubya"
> pervasive surveillance, the Democrats, are now its most ardent defenders.
> And so once again, political party line stupidity trumps common sense.
>
>   Republicans and Democrats have had very different views of the two
> operations. Today, only about half of Republicans (52%) say it is
> acceptable for the NSA to obtain court orders to track phone call records
> of millions of Americans to investigate terrorism. In January 2006, fully
> 75% of Republicans said it was acceptable for the NSA to investigate
> suspected terrorists by listing in on phone calls and reading emails
> without court approval.
>
>
>
>
> <http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2013/06/6-10-13-4.png>
>
>
>
> *Democrats now view the NSA’s phone surveillance as acceptable by 64% to
> 34%. In January 2006, by a similar margin (61% to 36%), Democrats said it
> was unacceptable for the NSA to scrutinize phone calls and emails of
> suspected terrorists.*
>
> Of course, if the president was Romney, his head would already be on a
> stick. Metaphorically speaking of course.
>
> Finally, the biggest danger to America it appears is not a *turnkey
> totalitarian tyrant*, but broad apathy as it turns out only one in four
> follow NSA News "very closely." The other 3 in 4 are far more concerned
> with who gets to fake-wed the fake-bachelorette this season, or who is the
> victor of Dancing with the Stars.
>
>   *Roughly a quarter (27%) of Americans say they are following news about
> the government collecting Verizon phone records very closely. This is a
> relatively modest level of public interest.  Only another 21% say they are
> following this fairly closely, while about half say they are following not
> too (17%) or not at all (35%) closely.*
>
>
>
> Interest in reports about the government tracking of e-mail and online
> activities is almost identical: 26% say they are following this story very
> closely, 33% not closely at all.
>
>
>
> Attention to these stories is higher among Republicans and
> Republican-leaning independents: 32% are following reports about the
> government tracking phone records very closely, compared with 24% of
> Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents. The partisan gap in interest
> is almost identical when it comes to reports about government collecting
> email and other online information: 30% of Republicans and
> Republican-leaners are following very closely compared with 20% of
> Democrats and Democratic-leaners.
>
>
>
> Overall, those who disagree with the government’s data monitoring are
> following the reports somewhat more closely than those who support them.
> Among those who find the government’s tracking of phone records to be
> unacceptable, 31% are following the story very closely, compared with 21%
> among those who say it is acceptable. Similarly with respect to reports
> about government monitoring of email and online activities, 28% of those
> who say this should not be done are following the news very closely,
> compared with 23% of those who approve of the practice.
>
> Those who wish to be even more depressed can read on here<http://www.people-press.org/2013/06/10/majority-views-nsa-phone-tracking-as-acceptable-anti-terror-tactic/>.
>
>
> As for Edward Snowden, hopefully this will teach you to throw away your
> life to liberate a bloated and apathetic society that couldn't care less if
> the slaughter-gate was slammed shut behind it, and just wants to have its
> rose-colored blinders on in perpetuity.
>  Average:
> 4.52
>    Your rating: None Average: 4.5 (25 votes)
>
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