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60 Minutes/Vanity Fair Poll: August Edition

Welcome to the 60 Minutes/ Vanity Fair Poll for August. Summer is in full swing and while Americans are enjoying some well-earned time off, they can turn their attention to the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Since their revival in Athens in 1896, the Olympic Games have grown to become a worldwide extravaganza, a source of national pride and the ultimate opportunity for athletes to compete at the highest level. Despite scandals, politics, commercialism and even terrorism, the Olympic ideal still thrives.

The founder of the International Olympic Committee, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, expressed it this way: "The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well."

Let the Games begin! And, now the results of our poll...

Seventy percent of Americans said that it is their morals and principles that prevent them from behaving badly. Eighteen percent claim that it is their religion that keeps them from behaving in an anti- social manner. Seven percent say it's the fear of being caught that restrains them and two percent just do bad things anyway. Human nature and free will are powerful forces for both good and evil, and despite society's well intentioned laws that attempt to curb bad behavior, it appears that most of the good in people comes from within.

Check out the Vanity Fair slideshow.
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Six out of 10 Americans feel that they are generally about the same kind of parent as their own parents were. Thirty-six percent think they are a better parent and only three percent think they are worse. It is hard to quantify what "better parent" means. Is it better to shield your kids from trouble or let them learn from their mistakes? Time and attention are key, but they pale in comparison to the most important thing a parent has to give a child, love.


About a third of Americans usually tip their server 15 percent and another third tip around 20 percent. Eighteen percent tip only 10 percent while eight percent tip over 20 percent. Only three percent tip less than 10 percent and one percent don't tip anything. The whole ritual can be kind of strange. How does it make sense that your morning waitperson can give you great service for a $10 breakfast and receive a couple of bucks for the effort while the snooty waiter at the expensive restaurant that you dine at later may get 10 times that for service that may not be nearly as good?


Only 14 percent deposited votes identifying JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon as a New York banker. Nine percent voted for him being a Texas congressman, 11 percent guessed that he rolled either as a skateboarder or a daredevil motorcyclist. A whopping two thirds of Americans did not know who he was. With the troubles that big banks have been having lately the other CEOs might envy that level of non-recognition.


It depends on who you are and who catches you but nearly half of the Americans that were asked agree that it would be pretty embarrassing to be caught reading "A Shore Thing" by Snooki from "Jersey Shore." Sixteen percent (presumably Republicans) chose President Obama's memoir and only half as many (presumably Democrats) chose Mitt Romney's memoir. Eleven percent would be ragged if they were caught reading the National Enquirer and six percent would turn 50 shades of red if they were caught reading "Fifty Shades of Grey."


This month's historical fantasy question is thought provoking. What national treasure would you save from a fire? Only two percent would save the "King's" letter to Nixon. Nine percent would liberate the Emancipation Proclamation from the flames. Thirty-eight percent would save the Declaration of Independence, our sacred and seminal founding document that explains the reasons for our revolution. Finally, 50 percent of Americans would rescue the U. S. Constitution, the organizing document of the U.S. government and the supreme law of the land.


Not to be judgmental, but six out of 10 Americans did not know that there are nine justices on the Supreme Court while four out of 10 did know. Thomas Jefferson stated that "the cornerstone of democracy rests on the foundation of an educated electorate. The shocker is that even after four years of college, nearly half of those graduates that were asked were still unable to answer the question correctly. Does anybody think that there should be a national civics exam that every young American must pass before receiving their high school diploma?


Your money or your wife? (or husband?) Two out of three Americans think it is worse for a person's reputation to file for bankruptcy. Only 27 percent thought that filing for divorce was worse. Social scientists can ponder this one all they want, but both practices were very rare until fairly recently in America. What is it that causes modern Americans to abandon such long held moral traditions? Some might say it is the death of shame while others might say it is a loosening of centuries old puritan values. Ben Franklin warned against excessive borrowing, he was a little looser about marriage.


Eighty percent of Americans think the reward of heaven is more important for the human race while 10 percent feel the punishment of hell is more important. Americans overwhelmingly chose the carrot over the stick, however Dante noted that "the path to paradise begins in hell." In other words, how can one fully attain heaven without first knowing and confronting evil and its consequences?


Can you name anyone on the FBI top 10 list?

In another example of Americans not keeping up with their civic responsibilities, 95 percent said they could not name anyone on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List. It gets worse, when asked to name one person on it, 99.9 percent could not do it. Admittedly in the old days, criminals were a more colorful lot with nicknames like Baby Face, Bugsy and Machine Gun but there may be another reason for our lack of awareness, people used to see the posters when they went to mail a letter, who goes to the post office anymore?

This poll was conducted at the CBS News interviewing facility among a random sample of 990 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone June 22-25, 2012. Phone numbers were dialed from random digit dial samples of both standard land-line and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher.

This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls. Read more about this poll by clicking here.

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