This shouldn’t be a matter of agree or disagree anymore. The key question all Americans should be asking is what becomes of a nation when its citizens no longer trust its government and other leading social and cultural institutions? A new Gallup poll released Sept. 2 found a stunning 89% of those surveyed said corruption in the US government is widespread. The result cuts across all party lines, be it Democrat, Republican, or independent.
“Perceptions of government corruption are now higher in the US than at any point in the past two decades and outpace most other countries, including advanced economies,” Gallup noted. “In a country where many are polarized across a wide range of issues, this is one case where bipartisanship reflects shared alarm as much as shared consensus.”
The new poll is anything but an outlier. For years, Americans have voiced growing distrust of government officials, but recent numbers indicate citizens are increasingly going from routine disgust to abject lack of faith.
Beyond the Tipping Point?
“Just 17% of Americans now say they trust the government in Washington to do what is right ‘just about always’ (2%) or ‘most of the time’ (15%),” Pew Research found in December. “While trust in government has been low for decades, the current measure is one of the lowest in the nearly seven decades since the question was first asked by the National Election Study, and it is lower than it was last year (22%).”
The phrase “historic low” seems to keep coming up again and again.
A December Economist/YouGov survey showed overwhelming hostility to a perceived establishment elite in government that serves only itself and not the people.
Among the findings from the poll on “Americans' views of expertise and political institutions”:
“Graduating from a top university does not make someone better qualified to govern (82% agree)
- “Elites are out of touch with the realities of everyday life (82%)
- “Political institutions have been captured by the rich and powerful (80%)
- “Most important decisions in politics happen behind closed doors, without public accountability (75%)
- “Leaders who come from ordinary backgrounds better represent people like me (74%)
- “Common sense is more important than expert analysis for deciding what the government should do (63%)
- “The people, not experts or elites, should make most political decisions (61%)”
A July Gallup survey indicated this smoldering distrust of “elites” spills over into all aspects of American society.
‘12 of 14 Institutions at or Near Their Lowest Points’
“Americans’ confidence in US institutions remains historically low, as reflected in their average view of 14 institutions measured each year since 1993,” the polling company wrote. “Currently, 27% of Americans express ‘a great deal’ or ‘quite a lot’ of confidence in these core institutions, one percentage point above the record-low average in 2023.”
Gallup found the extent of institutional distrust to stretch nearly across the board:
“The 14 institutions Gallup has rated annually since 1993 include seven public sector (the presidency, Congress, the public schools, the Supreme Court, the military, the criminal justice system and the police) and seven private sector entities (banks, big business, organized labor, the medical system, newspapers, television news, and the church or organized religion).
“Mirroring the overall average, 12 of the 14 institutions tracked since 1993 are at or near their lowest points. Banks and organized labor are the only exceptions, each registering seven points above their historical lows.”
What does it mean for the nation moving forward? One can always cease subscribing to a newspaper or entertainment network, but you can’t boycott the US government. Perceptive observers for some time have been warning that the woebegone nations of Western Europe serve as a canary in the coal mine for the American people.
Demonstrably loathed governments have clung to power in leading continental powerhouses England, France, and Germany for most of this century and have responded to their deep unpopularity by ratcheting up punitive measures for those who oppose their activities. You can be imprisoned in England and Germany for voicing the wrong opinion online, especially when it comes to the issue of mass immigration.
Disconnected Government and Its Bitter Consequences
Liberty Nation News in March 2025 documented the findings of David Betz, a university professor and “specialist in the study of insurgency and counterinsurgency, information warfare, cyberwarfare, and propaganda.” Betz warned that England, fueled by a government that now treated its own citizens as a hostile threat, was bounding headlong toward civil war.
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Betz highlighted symptoms plaguing the UK that every American will instantly recognize infecting the United States today, among them the demonization of national history, the rise of multiculturalism and its inherent divisiveness, a growing sense of a two-tiered system of justice, and the rise of “feral cities” in which lawlessness runs wild.
“[I]s there anyone in power in England today with eyes able to see where unbridled government hubris beyond the breaking point ends?” LNN asked at the end of the article.
It is high time the question be asked of America and its leading officials, before the inevitable disaster commences.
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