To be fair, it’s big government that is a threat to freedom. Not the minimalist kind we should have.
A Gallup Governance poll conducted from September 9-13 found that 49 percent of Americans believe the federal government poses “an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens.” An equal percentage denied that government posed such a threat, with the other two percent apparently having no opinion.
Gallup provided a history of its polls asking the same question back to 2003, when just 30 percent viewed the federal government as a threat to their freedom. The polling organization attributed that low number back then to the more positive attitude Americans had about government in the years immediately following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The percentage viewing government as a threat to their freedom gradually increased to 44 percent by 2006, and hovered in the 46-49-percent range in four surveys that Gallup conducted since 2010.
Gallup’s connection between a smaller percentage of citizens fearing their government in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks reflects a somewhat natural phenomenon: When citizens are fearful of danger from outside their borders, they tend to look upon government more as a protector and less as a danger. Though Gallup did not project this mindset further, it serves to explain why authoritarian governments often attempt to focus their citizens’ attention on an external threat, as they work to increase the centralized power of their own regime.
Gallup: Almost Half of Americans View Government as Threat to Freedom
A Gallup Governance poll conducted from September 9-13 found that 49 percent of Americans believe the federal government poses “an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens.” An equal percentage denied that government posed such a threat, with the other two percent apparently having no opinion.