Europe Thinks Trump Sucks

Evidence from the Pew Research Center

I am a data and research kind of guy, and sometimes take great comfort in numbers that support how I feel.

I got an email from the Pew Research Center this morning with highlights from some of their recent work. Among them was the following story:

How the world sees the U.S. and Trump in 9 charts | Pew Research Center

The following chart in particular gave me reassurance:

These results come from the UK, France, Spain, and Germany. However, Pew says “ Of the 25 countries surveyed, a median of 70% lack confidence in Trump to do the right thing regarding world affairs.”

That tells me that in the midst of all of the noise in the media about Trump, and the divergent opinions within the country about whether the “Us versus the World” approach is the right one, I am not alone.

I’m not going to lie. I don’t have a lot of faith in the Democrats’ ability to pull it together, even if they do miraculously gain a majority in the legislature come November. There is a lot of talk of civil war and societal collapse around my house these days. On Medium, I see a lot of people pointing out all the warning signs and the fact that many nations throughout history saw the same things we are seeing now just before they fell.

So I spend time thinking about what might happen if we fall apart. What happens when foreign nations get involved? Will I be more or less free?

Consider this chart:

Fifty-seven percent of the people in the four countries mentioned above believe that the U.S. government currently does not respect the personal freedoms of its people. That is an increase from 18 percent in 2013. That’s pretty huge.

So people on the outside, watching the trainwreck happening in the states, believe the government has taken a rapid downward turn, and no longer cares about individuals’ freedom.

That doesn’t make me feel better about our current situation, but it does give me more confidence that I am seeing things accurately. And it gives me some hope that when things do finally fall apart, the outside forces who get involved are likely to be sympathetic to people like me.