60 Minutes/Vanity Fair Poll: May Edition
Welcome to the 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair Poll for the beautiful month of May. In olden days, May 1, also known as May Day, was a day for dancing around the Maypole to celebrate the arrival of spring. After a long, tough winter, many of us could use a little partying like that. Next up at the starting gate is America's most famous horse race, The Kentucky Derby. With all of its pomp and pageantry, it is still best known for the sheer beauty and speed of the thoroughbreds striving for the Winner's Circle. May is also famous for beautiful flowers brought up by April showers - pick some for Mom on Mother's Day. No one can love you like a mother can. Finally, the last Monday in May is reserved for Memorial Day, a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. President Kennedy once said, "the cost of freedom has always been high, but Americans have always paid it." And now, our poll results:
If Americans could turn back time for the purpose of picking a company to invest in, the winners with 28 percent and 27 percent respectively would be the phenomenally successful Google and Apple. If you went further back in time, 17 percent knew that buying Coca-Cola would have been a sweet deal (ask Warren Buffet). The always growing social networking site Facebook got friended by 15 percent and the ever conservative blue chip company IBM received seven percent.
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The verdict is in and it says that almost one third of Americans dread the thought of being summoned to jury duty. The next piece of mail that makes people go postal is the mortgage with 27 percent followed by the credit card statement with 22 percent. Weddings (six percent) and birthdays (three percent) are still considered pleasant celebrations by the vast majority of Americans.
During the Vietnam War, an 18 year old soldier asked "if I'm old enough to die for my country, why can't I also vote or buy a drink?" With no good answers, many states lowered the drinking age to 18 and the federal government lowered the voting age to 18. The lowering of the drinking age didn't turn out to be a good idea for obvious reasons. A generation later, 42 percent of Americans now think that both ages should stay the same as they are, 21 for drinking and 18 for military service. Thirty four percent think that both ages should be 21 and 20 percent think both should be 18. With two wars being waged it's a good time to reopen the debate. Things are different: we now have an all-volunteer army, unlike the 60s and 70s, when 18 year olds were being drafted. The moral irony of telling someone they are old enough to die for their country but not to drink no longer holds water.
Half of Americans do not know how many miles away they live from the nearest nuclear plant. Forty seven percent say they do know. With what is now happening in Japan perhaps it's a wake-up call for all Americans to pay closer attention to this issue.
52 percent of Americans surveyed think that all-male clubs should allow women to become members, while 42 percent think that it's okay for a club to be "Men Only." It has been long established that public and commercial establishments and organizations must be open to anyone. Private clubs on the other hand continue to provide equal opportunity for proponents and opponents of the issue to continue the debate.
Americans are very evenly divided on whether Space Shuttle missions are a worthwhile use of their tax dollars. At $450 million a shot that's a stratospheric cost. Forty nine percent think that it is not a good use and 47 percent think it is. Maybe the 49 percent thought the money could be better used on things like early childhood education. And maybe the 47 percent think that considering one plane or ship that we might not even need costs that much, what the heck? As the Space Shuttle program winds down, NASA is going to have to create a compelling narrative of its vision for the future. Even if it succeeds, the budget cutters will be circling. Houston, we might have another problem.
The global crisis that Americans fear most is another World War, with 38 percent. With the tragedy in Japan still unfolding, American thoughts and fears are focused on what is happening there: 28 percent fear a nuclear accident while 11 percent fear an earthquake. Another 11 percent fear overpopulation, six percent fear an oil shortage and only four percent fear a close encounter of the third kind.
They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, unless you're a beautiful movie star in close contact with other beautiful movie stars. Then, history tells us there may be problems in the marriage. Fifty one percent of Americans agree their marriage might not survive such a prolonged absence. One note with which to filter this result should be explained. Two thirds of the 51 percent that said "probably not" were either divorced or separated. Of the 42 percent that said "probably," more than half were married. It appears these verdicts were rendered by sympathetic juries.
Fifteen percent of Americans picked city living, while 21 percent enjoy suburban living. The big winner for the place most Americans want spend their "golden years" with 63 percent of the vote is the countryside. As people age, life in the fast lane becomes more of a chore and the call of the countryside with its beauty and more relaxed pace of life beckons.
What is Reuters? Forty two percent of Americans knew that it is a global news agency. That was news to the 36 percent that didn't know. Nine percent thought it was a London bank, six percent thought it was a college in New Jersey, five percent went with fast food chain and only two percent took a flier on it being a German Airline.
When it comes to customer support 47 percent of Americans prefer speaking to a real person, while 43 percent would rather speak to a competent American made robot. No matter how competent the man made machine with artificial intelligence is, think of HAL from "2001: A Space Odyssey" for an example of how the best laid plans can go horribly wrong if left to a machine. When they finally answer the phone, the real person on the other end of the line may give you something that no robot can give you, empathy.
This poll was conducted at the CBS News interviewing facility among a random sample of 1021 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone March 31-April 3, 2011. 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.