What a new Gallup poll shows about the depth of Americans' gloom

[dalton99a]

https://apnews.com/article/poll-gallup-optimism-future-republicans-democrats-4dc287cdbbaefb077895746613fea4e4

What a new Gallup poll shows about the depth of Americans’ gloom
By LINLEY SANDERS
Updated 8:36 AM CST, February 10, 2026

WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans’ hope for their future has fallen to a new low, according to new polling.

In 2025, only about 59% of Americans gave high ratings when asked to evaluate how good their life will be in about five years, the lowest annual measure since Gallup began asking this question almost 20 years ago.

It’s a warning about the depth of the gloom that has fallen over the country over the past few years. In the data, Gallup’s “current” and “future” lines have tended to move together over time — when Americans are feeling good about the present, they tend to feel optimistic about the future. But the most recent measures show that while current life satisfaction has declined over the last decade, future optimism has dropped even more.

The finding comes from a longstanding Gallup question that asks Americans to rate their current and future lives on a scale from 0 to 10. Those who give themselves an 8 or higher on the question about the future are categorized as optimists.





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[LisaM]

1. What is there to look forward to?

Every day there is some new, awful story. Disease is on the rise. AI is mucking things up. Ageism is rampant in the workplace, and generations are pitted against each other (I actually think this is an underreported phenomenon at the moment). Families are spread apart. People in cities where ICE is are afraid to leave their houses. The cost of housing won't abate. All the movies are about dystopia and mayhem and panic.

I am supposedly at retirement age with absolutely no clear path to retiring and am putting in longer hours than ever with a crushing workload.

I don't even want to get out of bed some days.

[Biophilic]

2. I'm optimistic about one thing. Well, it's a hope really.

That trump and crew break the US so badly that when we put ourselves back together we address racism right up front and central . That we don't let it sneak back down into the nations unconscious. Either we attack it full force this time or we lose. What happened after the Civil War/Reconstrution gives us fair warning. We can't do half measures again. Trying to be nice to our enemies doesn't work out well for us and those that follow.