Hello and welcome all to our new blog that is meant to discuss the most important issues that our society is facing today.
Some think that websites of this sort have already saturated the Internet market, but we actually feel like there should be even more and we encourage those who are interested to pursue their passion and expose more people to the discussions of problems that concern all of us. It’s the noble thing to do, at least in our opinion.
We hope that you are as passionate as we are about the biggest problems we are up against today and we also hope that you find our reporting to be truthful and comprehensive. Our goal is to educate people on social issues, so there are more engaged citizens who can be the ones enacting change one day.
We will dedicate this post, our first on the blog, to the most important social issues according to various recent polls conducted in the United States. According to our research (looking at recent polls), these are the significant social problems our country is facing today:
- The government/poor leadership (18%)
- Gun control (8%)
- Crime/violence (6%)
- Immigration (5%)
- Unifying the country (5%)
- Ethics/moral/religious/family decline (4%)
- Race relations/racism (3%)
- Poverty/hunger/homelessness (3%)
*These findings come from a poll conducted by Gallup International in June, 2022. You can see the full poll here.
Interpreting the Poll
Let’s look at the poll and talk about the issues that seem to be on people’s mind right now. We picked the top contenders or the ones which received at least 3% of votes on the Gallup survey.
The clear “winner” of the poll is the government and its poor handling of current social and economic problems the US is facing. 18% of the voters picked this option, which is a troublingly high number.
A few things might have influenced this. The main reason is likely the economy as a big portion of the surveyed answered that the most important issue right now is inflation and the state of the economy in general. We didn’t include these issues, because they are not really considered social issues.
Another thing, which probably contributed to this result is the overturning of Roe v Wade. While the current administration is strictly pro-choice, and so are Democrats in the Congress, they failed to codify the Supreme Court case of 1973 into federal law, which brought criticism.
The next issue on the list is gun control. After a string of mass shooting in the past few months, we see why people are concerned.
The issue of gun control is a lengthy topic, which is always relevant. However, despite various states imposing gun control measures, guns will never not be legal in the US due to the Second Amendment. It’s unlikely for the constitutional amendment to be rewritten to suit modern times.
Crime and violence come third on the list. The US has experienced a significant crime wave in recent years and people rightfully point fingers at public officials who appear to be struggling to curb this trend. Democrats are slowly turning away from progressive candidates whose policies have seen many criminals go unpunished.
The San Francisco’s ultra-progressive District Attorney Chesa Boudin, for instance, was recently recalled by voters due to his radical ideas on justice reform. There’s a similar trend in other cities in California and around the country.
Another issue on the list is immigration. We have no context as to what the surveyed meant by their choice, but it’s likely interpreted differently by people from the two sides of the political spectrum. Some believe that American immigration laws are too lax; these people are usually against illegal immigration, and some also support quotas on legal immigration.
On the opposite side are those who think that more people should be allowed to come in the country, and that those who are already here should be given an easier path towards citizenship.
Some of the polled people (5%) feel that the country is too divided and believe that bipartisanship is necessary to unify the country and to basically get things done, which is hard nowadays considering how both parties are highly partisan and make no effort to reach an agreement.
Racism is also an important social issue according to 3% of the surveyed. This number is significantly lower than the one on the same question two years ago. Things have maybe changed for the better, being influenced by the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020.
The last issue on the list regards poverty, hunger, and homelessness. The number of homeless people is likely to rise in the following months and years due to the bad shape of the economy and the Covid-19 pandemic, so this issue is very relevant and concerning.