Recently, Charlie Pierce got thinking about how well Americans of one group know others outside their group. He got a polling organization to ask a set of “Do you know anyone who…?” questions, and here are the results:
Results: The percentage of Americans who don’t know anyone who…
- Died in Iraq or Afghanistan: 87%
- Is part of a married gay couple: 76%
- Was a victim of gun violence: 73%
- Has HIV/AIDS or died of AIDS: 72%
- Is an illegal immigrant: 71%
- Is a millionaire: 63%
- Is in jail: 62%
- Committed suicide: 59%
- Had an abortion: 49%
- Lost his/her job in the financial crisis: 46%
- Doesn’t have health care: 31%
- Has been arrested: 26%
- Owns a gun: 22%
- Served in the military: 17%
In reading through the list, I realized I do, in fact, know people who meet almost all of these criteria.
Here are my responses:
- Died in Iraq or Afghanistan: No
- Is part of a married gay couple: Yes
- Was a victim of gun violence: Yes
- Has HIV/AIDS or died of AIDS: Yes
- Is an illegal immigrant: Yes
- Is a millionaire: Yes
- Is in jail: Yes
- Committed suicide: attempted, yes, succeeded, not that I can think of.
- Had an abortion: Yes
- Lost his/her job in the financial crisis: Depends on how you define ‘financial crisis’
- Doesn’t have health care: Yes
- Has been arrested: Yes
- Owns a gun: Yes
- Served in the military: Yes
So, I apparently have a much broader experience than the average American. I would like to think that it makes me more accepting, but I don’t want to flatter myself. I’m not sure what else to take from this survey and my answers except to try to keep in mind that many of the people around me do not have such broad experience with their fellow residents of the US.