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Most of the Americans are concerned by the mass shootings
A poll conducted by the Associated Press in collaboration with Times Square Alliance looked at the most important events of 2015 in the opinion of random Americans.
According to the poll’s findings, the most important events of the year were related to the mass shootings happening in San Bernardino, in Paris but also to the atrocities of the Islamic State in general.
The majority of the Americans (57 percent) believe that this year was worse than the last one at a global scale. In 2014 only 38 percent thought that year was worse than the previous one so this year is quite a change. Only 10 percent responded that this year was better than the previous while 32 percent haven’t seen much difference.
When it comes to the United States, only 17 percent of the Americans think that 2014 was better than 2014, compared to 30 percent who thought that in last year’s poll. Most of the participants (44 percent) thought there wasn’t much difference from 2014 to 2015 while 37 percent think that this year was worse.
Things might not be that negative on a personal level since 29 percent of respondents say that this year was better for them than the previous one and only 21 percent think that it was worse.
When asked about the most important news of the year, 68 percent of the Americans polled have noted the mass shootings in Charleston, Roseburg and Chattanooga, besides the one in San Bernardino.
The next big concern for 64 percent of the Americans during this year were the attacks in Paris, including the ones targeting Charlie Hebdo earlier this year but also the mass shootings of civilians in November.
For 63 percent of Americans the third big news of the year were the atrocities committed by the Islamic State.
Among other important events of the year, 44 percent of Americans listed the deaths of many young people killed by the police this year, events which started the “Black Lives Matter” protests in Chicago and Baltimore.
That is closely followed by interest in Iran’s nuclear program and Europe’s migrant crisis as well as the presidential race and the Paris Climate Pact.
Another 36 percent of those interviewed marked as important for this year the legalization of gay marriage.
When it comes to plans for the near future, as in the last two years, most of the Americans (56 percent) will watch the New Year’s events in Time Square and the majority of them (95 percent) will watch it on TV. The majority of Americans will celebrate New Year’s Eve at home – 48 percent in their own home and 20 percent in that of a friend or family member. Another 9 percent will go to an organized event or to a bar or restaurant while 22 percent won’t celebrate at all.
Image source: pixabay
