Direction of the Country

A common question on public-opinion surveys is something like: Is the country moving in the right direction or not? For example, for more than 40 years, Gallup has been asking:

In general, are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way things are going in the United States at this time?

 Fewer that 50% of respondents have given a positive answer most of the time. The last time half the respondents answered yes was in January 2004. The fewest people answered yes in October 2008. Both these extremes were during the George W. Bush presidency. Apparently, Americans have not been sanguine about their country for more than two decades.

I have always found this question difficult to answer. In recent years, I was mostly satisfied with the Biden administration but was alarmed about the right-wing MAGA crowd. Today, I would assuredly answer no to the right-direction question. The Trump/Musk administration is rapidly destroying both democracy and prosperity. I suspect that my answer is not going to change anytime soon. The Gallup poll my soon hit a historic low.