Why Americans are mad at everyone

THIS is the summer of our discontent. As Americans celebrate July 4, they are mad at their leaders, mad at their government and mad at each other. A recent Pew poll finds that "public trust in government remains near historic lows". Just 20 per cent of Americans trust the government to "do the right thing just about always or most of the time". The comparable figures were 40 per cent in 2000 and almost 80 per cent in the early 1960s. There has been a long-term loss of trust.

At the same time - as is well known - political polarisation has soared. Republicans and Democrats increasingly harbour dire and even hateful views of each other. Among Republicans, 58 per cent have a "very unfavourable" view of Democrats, up from 21 per cent in 1994, reports another Pew survey. Democrats' views of Republicans are nearly identical: 55 per cent label Republicans as "very unfavourable", roughly a tripling since 1994's 17 per cent. Poisonous politics strains personal friendships.

Historians will argue for decades over what drained public confidence in government. Any shortlist would include the war in Vietnam, Watergate, double-digit inflation in the 1970s (13 per cent in 1980), other economic failures (the 2008-09 financial crisis and 11 post-World War II recessions), the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the tendency of politicians to promise more than they can deliver. The disenchantment precedes President Donald Trump and the Russia scandal, though they now contribute to it.