New poll finds Americans don’t trust Congress or institutions | Opinion

The U.S. Capitol is seen Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2022, in Washington. Faith in government institutions is at a new low in America.

Mariam Zuhaib, Associated Press

In this era of high inflation and political dysfunction, confidence in most of America’s largest institutions is at the lowest point ever, according to a recent Gallup survey.

Average confidence across all institutions is at a new low of 27%, compared to nearly 50% in 1979. It’s astounding that only 7% of Americans have a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in Congress. Only small business (68%) and the military (64%) enjoy the confidence of more than 50% of Americans.

This raises some important questions.

Why the general lack of confidence is America’s institutions — especially the presidency (23%), newspapers (16%), the criminal justice system (14%), big business (14%), television news (11%) and Congress (7%)? Even church/organized religion had only 31% confidence.

Pignanelli: “Things look too bureaucratized, too defensive of and protective of the organization itself. It isn’t good.” — Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal  

For decades, calling someone a “Boy Scout” was a snarky compliment of virtue and wholesomeness. (This accolade was never directed at me, for obvious reasons.) But a multibillion-dollar class-action lawsuit alleging thousands suffered sexual abuse bankrupted the scouting organization and altered this positive perspective. 

This summer, Americans witnessed the video revealing hundreds of well-armed police officers outside a classroom, awaiting instructions for 80 minutes, while fourth graders were slaughtered. 

Reports of sexual abuse, and cover-up actions, were made against religious organizations other than the tragedies besetting the Catholic Church.

These are just recent examples of traditional bulwarks in our society that fell into scorn. Their downfall layers over the hyperpartisan sniping in national politics and federal government bloat. Consequently, confidence in even our most iconic institutions is disappearing. The common themes underscoring the distrust are perceptions the interests of an organization are prioritized over customers, adherents, citizens and the vulnerable.

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Source:: Deseret News – Utah News