What do Americans fear the most–big government, big business, or big labor?

December 14th, 2011

Resoundingly, big government. I guess this entire 99% garbage is just that, garbage.

Even in the throes of the Enron scandal, Americans still feared government more.

Historically, Americans have always been more concerned about big government than big business or big labor in response to this trend question dating back to 1965. Concerns about big business surged to a high of 38% in 2002, after the large-scale accounting scandals at Enron and WorldCom. An all-time-high 65% of Americans named big government as the greatest threat in 1999 and 2000. Worries about big labor have declined significantly over the years, from a high of 29% in 1965 to the 8% to 11% range over the past decade and a half.

I also think this maybe something distinctly American–a distrust of big government. The Leviathan is viewed not as a friend, but a foe. What did Reagan say? The scariest words are “I’m from the Government, and I’m here to help?”