In a Bloomberg opinion piece, “Americans Warm to Redistribution,” Christopher Flavelle writes, “The erosion of the U.S. middle class is changing how Americans see themselves. It might also be changing the way they view government redistribution of wealth.” Well, wouldn’t you kind of expect it to after (a) at least a decade of middle-class stagnation, (b) exploding high-end inequality, and (c) a financial crisis and near-depression that many blame on Wall Street bankers.
So given that tailwind of circumstance, the Gallup poll (see above) Flavelle highlights should not be so surprising — a marked increase since the late 1990s. Yet this other Gallup poll, like the one above, seems to suggest an overall stabilization of these numbers in recent years.
But do these results really drill down into what people think more concretely? AEI’s Karlyn Bowman and Heather Sims express doubt in a recent blog post:
Polls show that in the abstract, people think government should do more to address inequality, but they do not believe government has a responsibility to do so. Perhaps most importantly, many Americans are skeptical about what government can do about the income gap. A Selzer & Company/Bloomberg survey shows remarkable stability on this point. Since December 2013, Bloomberg has asked three times whether government should implement policies designed to shrink the gap or stand aside and let the market operate freely even as the gap gets wider. Although Americans divide evenly on the question, a significant chunk of the population—between 43 and 47%—believe government should stand aside even if the gap grows. A large majority of Republicans (75%) and a slim majority of independents (52%) also want government to stand aside, compared to 22% of Democrats. …
Americans may also be skeptical of government efforts to reduce income inequality because they see the income gap as a fact of life — an immutable byproduct of the operation of a free-market economy. In January 2014, Fox News asked registered voters, “How do you feel about the fact that some people make a lot more money than others?” Sixty-two percent responded that they were okay with it because that’s how our economy works. Sixty-nine percent of Republicans, 54% of Democrats, and 65% of independents gave that response. Twenty-one percent of registered voters said, “It stinks, but the government should not get involved,” and 13% said, “It makes me angry, and the government should do something about it.”
Yet another reason may be that, at a more fundamental level, Americans have more faith in themselves than the government to improve their lots in life. In a February 2015 Pew poll, a substantial majority (64%) of Americans said the statement “Most people who want to get ahead can make it if they’re willing to work hard” comes closest to their own views. One-third said “Hard work and determination are no guarantee of success for most people” came closer. When Pew first asked this question in 1994, 68% said people who want to get ahead can make it if they’re willing to work hard. Thirty-percent said hard work is no guarantee of success. Americans still think it’s possible to move up. A strong and stable belief in their own abilities may incline people against a greater role for government to help them “get ahead.”
I would also point out a survey last year from GlobalStrategyGroup, where voters said they prefer a presidential candidate focused on “more economic growth” versus “less income inequality” by 80% to 16%. Likewise, voters prefer by 62% to 33% a candidate focused on “economic growth to provide more opportunities for everyone to succeed” versus one focused on “economic justice to level the playing field for middle and low-income Americans.”
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