US Top Fears of 2015

[Syt]

https://blogs.chapman.edu/wilkinson/2015/10/13/americas-top-fears-2015/

Fear   % Afraid or Very Afraid

Corruption   58%
Cyber-terrorism   45%
Corporate Tracking of Personal Data   45%
Terrorist Attack   44%
Government Tracking of Personal Data   41%
Bio-warfare   41%
Identity Theft   40%
Economic Collapse   39%
Running out of Money   37%
Credit Card Fraud   37%
Gun Control   37%
War   36%
Obamacare   36%
Illness   34%
Pandemic   34%
Nuclear Attack   34%
Reptiles   33%
Meltdown   32%
Civil Unrest   32%
Tornado   31%
Global Warming   30%
Grid attack   29%
Illegal Immigration   29%
Drought   29%
Robots Replacing Workforce   28%
Public Speaking   28%
Property Damage   27%
Heights   27%
Pollution of rivers and streams   26%
Earthquake   26%
Drunk Driver   26%
Flood   26%
Hurricane   26%
Trusting Artificial Intelligence to do work   25%
Insects   25%
Blizzard   25%
Overpopulation   24%
Robots   23%
Unemployment   23%
Artificial Intelligence   22%
Break ins   22%
Loneliness   22%
Dying   21%
Theft   21%
Water   21%
Drones   20%
Claustrophobia   19%
Volcano   19%
Aging   19%
Ponzi Schemes and other financial crimes   19%
Technology I don't understand   19%
Needles   18%
Whites no longer majority   18%
Dying   16%
Germs   16%
Mass Shooting   16%
Walking Along at Night   16%
Murder by a stranger   16%
Mugging   15%
Police Brutality   15%
Flying   15%
Rape by a stranger   14%
Gangs   14%
Whooping Cough   13%
Kidnapping   13%
Mammals (Dogs, rats or other animals)   12%
Measles   12%
Stalking   12%
Dismissed by Others   12%
Blood   12%
Hate Crime   12%
Weight   11%
Rape by someone you know   11%
Murder by someone you know   10%
Ridicule   10%
Romantic Rejection   10%
Expressing Opinion   9%
Ghosts   9%
Talking to Stranger   9%
Gossip   9%
Dark   9%
Appearance   8%
Zombies   8%
Vaccines   8%
Clowns   6%
Age   5%
Race   5%
Gender   4%
Dress   4%

Gun control and Obamacare - scarier than a nuclear attack!

[DGuller]

You can blame Obama if a nuclear attack on US succeeds, so there are pluses and minuses there.  On the other hand, if Obamacare succeeds, then it's unmitigated disaster.

[Valmy]

Gun control and Obamacare - scarier than a nuclear attack!

I have to admit I am not scared at all about a nuclear attack since I have no idea why one would occur. But I guess since the Supreme Court ruling I have no idea why people fret about Gun Control, the Feds can hardly do anything now. I guess they might be worried about their state government.

[Eddie Teach]

1 Americans
2 The World
3 I can't help it

[Malthus]

Clowns got only 6%? Poll must be inaccurate. 

[Eddie Teach]

You and Katmai are special like that.

At least they beat "gender".

[Valmy]

Clowns got only 6%? Poll must be inaccurate. 

Some of them are weirdly vague.

Blood.

Age.

Gender.

Well what about blood, age, and gender? Just a general fear of blood? Is Age a fear of aging?

[Admiral Yi]

#1 to me is totally bizarre.

[Valmy]

#1 to me is totally bizarre.

True. Being concerned or angry about corruption is expected, but being afraid of it? Or is it a fear that the country is corrupt?

[Eddie Teach]

Is Age a fear of aging?

Aging   19%
Age      5%

Maybe it's fear of old people?

[Malthus]

Clowns got only 6%? Poll must be inaccurate. 

Some of them are weirdly vague.

Blood.

Age.

Gender.

Well what about blood, age, and gender? Just a general fear of blood? Is Age a fear of aging?

It is also weirdly specific. "Whooping Cough   13%". I mean, who answers a poll like this "I fear whooping cough"? 

[lustindarkness]

Dress   4%

[Malthus]

Dress   4%

Dresses can be very frightening, as every husband knows and dreads: the wife asking 'does this dress make me look fat?' 

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

#1 to me is totally bizarre.

True. Being concerned or angry about corruption is expected, but being afraid of it? Or is it a fear that the country is corrupt?

I'm guessing it is fear of being victimized by a corrupt government official, directly or indirectly.  Take all the hand-wringing in certain circles about the "prison-industrial complex" and the fear that corrupt police departments are locking up people on trumped-up charges for the benefit of private prisons.

Note that there is nothing saying these fears need to be rational...

[Admiral Yi]

I'm guessing it is fear of being victimized by a corrupt government official, directly or indirectly.  Take all the hand-wringing in certain circles about the "prison-industrial complex" and the fear that corrupt police departments are locking up people on trumped-up charges for the benefit of private prisons.

Note that there is nothing saying these fears need to be rational...

You think 58% of Americans have this kind of fear?

I think a reasonable list would be something like:

1. Random psycho mass shooting.
2. Identity theft
3. Terror attack