WASHINGTON, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- Most Americans have a dim view of the first decade of the 21st century, a survey suggests.
Those who have a negative view of the decade outnumber those with a positive view almost 2-to-1, the Pew Research Center survey found.
The results stand in sharp contrast to the public's assessments of other decades. The 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s all polled more positive than negative feelings, Pew found.
In the latest survey, respondents associated the decade with words like downhill, decline, chaotic, disaster and depressing. The negative assessments of the 2000s were also broad-based, with few respondents in any political or demographic group offering positive evaluations.
By a wide margin, the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks are seen as the most important event of the decade, with Barack Obama's election as president a distant second, even among his political supporters.
Most Americans, meanwhile, said they were optimistic that the 2010s will be better, with 59 percent saying they think the next decade will be better than the last.
The survey polled 1,504 U.S. adults between Dec. 9-13 and carried a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
