Our neighbors are often willfully ignorant

Humans are a puzzle, that's for sure. 

It is a well-researched truth that most people consider their own elected representative "just fine," while bemoaning the quality of other reps. Most people say their own neighborhoods are safe while agonizing over crime elsewhere. Most people claim their own financial situation is pretty good, while bemoaning financial issues in the wider country. Most people rate their own local school highly while criticizing the state of American education more generally.

And a large percentage of self-proclaimed religious people seem fine with supporting a man they would prefer not to sit down to dinner with, much less worship with, as he raves about the mentally ill invading the country. And last week some bizarre Third Reich post appeared for a day on his boutique social media site. What a kidder that Trump is!

The stock market recently reached 40,000 (it was below 20,000 four years ago) and hardly anyone seemed to care (it has dropped nearly a thousand points over this past week). Certainly no credit is given to President Biden, but the one thing the stock market appears to do fairly well is reflect investor optimism in the near future. But even Democrats seem downcast about the nation's financial and employment future. Go figure.

The latest polls indicate that young people, in particular, and several minority groups, are abandoning Mr. Biden and that Trump now leads in several of the only states that will matter in November: the "battleground" states.

I find some comfort in deeper analyses of these polls. They are early, of course, and many people don't pay much attention to politics or even current events. If any of them do start paying attention, perhaps Biden's prospects will brighten. The polls also reflect the current views of registered voters, as opposed to those voters who claim they will certainly vote in November. Among that group, Biden has a small lead. And I take away some small glimmer of hope.

Arrayed against that glimmer: a recent Harris poll came up with these gems: 

• 56% of Americans believe that the U.S. is in a recession, which it is not. 
• 49% think unemployment is at a 50-year high, though it is consistently near record lows. 
• 72% think inflation is increasing, though it continues to fall. 
• 58% blame Biden for mismanaging an economy that is in fact the strongest in the world.

It all makes you wonder whether the nation has suffered some sort of stroke. Interestingly, people who get their news mostly from what we call the mainstream press -- network TV, newspapers -- report much more accurate understanding of current events. Unfortunately, the percentage of people getting their news from more considered sources continues to shrink.

There will always be some percentage of our fellow humans who take pride in being blissfully ignorant, perhaps rejoicing in simply being obstinate or provocative. After all, a survey from a decade ago found that nearly a quarter of all Americans stated that the sun revolves around the earth! I wonder if they simply misunderstood the question.

I often suggest to my writing students that they delete phrases that begin with "I believe..." As in "I believe that overwhelming numbers of studies confirm the unshakable fact that the earth is round." To start off this unremarkable sentence with "I believe" adds nothing. Their beliefs are irrelevant.

Yet many voters likely will be choosing based on their "beliefs" rather than readily available facts. 

Tough times for rational thought.