Global poll: The world feels left out of the ‘normal order of life’

On the 18th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the nations of the world appear to be turning to personal concerns within their own borders according to a massive new Ipsos global poll.

“A majority of citizens across the world feel left out of the ‘normal order of life’ in their country,” said the poll of close to 19,000 people in 27 countries.

Seven-out-of-10 say their economy is rigged to favor the elite. A majority in every surveyed nation but Sweden agree with this sentiment. Another two-thirds feel that politicians and political parties don’t care about “people like them” while 54% agree their country’s society “is broken.”

It’s not as bad as it used to be, though. The belief of failing societies worldwide has dropped by 4 percentage points since a similar poll was conducted three years ago; it has fallen in the U.S. by 6 percentage points in that time. So there’s that.

“Populist sentiment is widespread: 64% say their country needs a strong leader to take it back from the rich and powerful,” the poll said, while another 62% say the “culturally elite” experts within their borders don’t understand the lives of everyday people.

Open borders and immigration appear to be a hard sell just about everywhere these days.

“Only 15% of adults globally agree that their country ‘would be better off if we let in all immigrants who wanted to come here.’ This proportion has barely changed between 2016 and 2019 (up just 1 point) and no country records an increase or a drop of more than 5 points. An outright majority of adults in 24 of the 27 countries surveyed disagree with this opinion,” the poll said.

Find more numbers in the Poll du Jour at column’s end.

50 THINGS YOU MUST KNOW

It is not your imagination. Lots of viable news simply does not get reported. Certain topics have been selectively edged off the public radar by the liberal elite, activists, radical professors, the news media, politicians and others who seek to control culture and politics.

Just in time to chronicle this phenomenon: “50 Things They Don’t Want You to Know,” a new book by Jerome Hudson, entertainment editor of Breitbart.com.

He provides clear examples of those things you should know, chapter by chapter: “America’s most deadly and dangerous cities are run by Democrats,” “The U.S. settled more refugees in 2018 than any other nation,” “Drug overdoses kill more Americans than gun violence,” “Amazon paid $0 on $11.2 billion in profits in 2018” and “Hillary and Bill Clinton made millions and Russia got 20% of all U.S. uranium.”

There are 45 more matters to consider in the book, on subjects ranging from racial strife to defense, education, abortion and much more. Mr. Hudson gives an explanation for each topic with facts, figures and meticulous footnotes so you know the exact sources.

“On each issue we see elites weaponizing emotions at the expense of facts and data that don’t yield the politically correct conclusions they desire. This must stop,” writes Mr. Hudson.

The publisher is Broadside Books, the conservative imprint of HarperCollins. The book arrives next week.

WHAT ELIZABETH WARREN USED TO KNOW

The great neutralizing power of the campaign trail has emerged — and it could influence the trajectory of one Massachusetts Democratic senator and her quest for the White House.

“Elizabeth Warren used to be more interesting. Her ascent in the Democratic presidential campaign is the oft-told tale of a politician becoming boring, telling voters what they want to hear and disguising it as something else. Yet she may be making a classic political blunder,” writes Warren Henry, a senior contributor to The Federalist.

Ms. Warren also does not have the calm and collected demeanor or the rhetorical ability of former Presidents Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama to counter the boring factor, Mr. Henry points out.

“Warren lacks the skills of a Reagan or Obama. And so far, it does not appear that America will be in an economic or international crisis in 2020. In such an environment, Warren starts to look like a textbook example of winning the primary to lose the general. The ghost of Elizabeth Warren past would have a better shot at victory,” the columnist concludes.

WHAT COLLEGE STUDENTS DON’T KNOW

One organization which champions an increase of college-level civic education offers a new survey to make their point. It reveals the “alarming” things that the 1,002 respondents actually believe, due to faulty academics.

The American Council of Trustees and Alumni’s poll of these college graduates reveals that 26% of them believe Brett M. Kavanaugh is the chief justice of the Supreme Court, while 14% of respondents selected Antonin Scalia, who died in 2016. Fewer than half correctly identified John G. Roberts Jr.

Meanwhile, 18% of the respondents agreed that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the author of the New Deal, a suite of public programs enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s. The New York Democrat, of course, introduced the Green New Deal earlier this year.

Meanwhile, two-thirds of the respondents also do not know how long U.S. lawmakers serve in office.

The organization blames such misinformation on the “steady deterioration” of the U.S. college curriculum.

“When American history and government courses are removed, you begin to see disheartening survey responses like these, and America’s experiment in self-government begins to slip from our grasp,” says Michael Poliakoff, president of the nonprofit group — who adds that just 18% of colleges now require students to take courses in the U.S. government or American history.

POLL DU JOUR

• 66% of the world’s population agree that traditional politics “ignore people like me.”

• 60% say their nation is not better off accepting all immigrants.

• 60% say employers should favor native citizens “when jobs are scarce” in their country.

• 54% agree their country’s society is “broken.”

• 49% want a “strong leader” willing to break rules to fix the country.

• 43% agree that immigrants take social services away from native citizens.