I'm alright Jack but the rest of the country is going to hell in a handbasket

This is an interesting contrast. I actually have been aware of the disconnect in the past but hadn't thought about it in a long while. I wonder if anyone has done any research on the apparent contradiction between the levels of personal satisfaction with the way things are going in the respondents lives and the level of perceived satisfaction with the way things are going in the United States at this time.

Are you satisfied with the way things are going in your personal life at this time (Gallup January 2016).

As you can see, pretty steady in the long haul. In recent times, satisfaction was about five percentage percentage points in the Bush years and a big dip during the Great Recession and tepid recovery under Obama, but back up to 85% in January 2016.

85% with the way things are going for them is not too bad.

Now what about how citizens see things going for the nation as a whole? Are you satisfied with the way things are going in the United States at this time (Gallup July 2016).

In contrast to their own lives, citizens see the country heading in the wrong direction. By a wide margin. Only 17% believe that the country is headed in the right direction.

Is this simply fear of the future? I am doing alright now but am worried about future risks?

I am guessing that that is probably a big part of the disconnect. There is a lot of authoritarianism floating around.

I (the government) will make you buy insurance you don't want but its for your own good.

I will take away your Second Amendment rights despite what the Constitution says, for your own good.

I will continue to admit immigrants to the country even if they end up carrying out a disproportionate number of terror attacks.

I will suppress free speech so that people don't get upset.

I will use the IRS to suppress opinions contrary to my own.

I will use executive orders if the people's Representatives don't give me what I want and even if the Supreme Court rejects my use of that power.

The list is long and grows longer all the time. People are concerned that the system is not looking out for them, particularly if they are in the middle, lower middle, or bottom classes. The FBI tells us that a major politician broke the law, jeopardizing national security, but that it isn't worthwhile charging her. Journolist reveals that the media elite are indeed coordinating against the views and interests of half of Americans. Wikileaks shows us that the system is indeed rigged against anyone threatening to upset the apple cart and endanger the insider dealings.

So perhaps the working hypothesis is: Things are going well for me now (85% personal satisfaction) but I am worried about the direction the country is taking (83%). The problem is, reciting the above known facts, people are right to be concerned.

We are back to the issue that our elites and the institutions they dominate (the academy, the executive branch, the legislative branch, the news media, the entertainment industry) have dramatically lost the trust of the citizenry. In fact, most those groups have trust ratings ranging from 7%-20%. If those elites behave better (honestly) and work towards the betterment of the whole community instead of their own pockets and their selected special interests, then we might see a reconciliation between personal satisfaction and national stisfaction.

Till then, I suspect not.