58% Have Political Views they are afraid to share

I believe it. Cato has an interesting article on how many people stay silent about their political views:

The Cato 2017 Free Speech and Tolerance Survey, a new national poll of 2,300 U.S. adults, finds that 71% Americans believe that political correctness has silenced important discussions our society needs to have. The consequences are personal—58% of Americans believe the political climate prevents them from sharing their own political beliefs.

Democrats are unique, however, in that a slim majority (53%) do not feel the need to self-censor. Conversely, strong majorities of Republicans (73%) and independents (58%) say they keep some political beliefs to themselves.

The article points out that liberals feel freer to share their political beliefs while conservatives and independents do not. However,  it is understandable since the report also points out that 51% of staunch liberals say it’s “morally acceptable” to punch Nazis. Remember, most staunch liberals and those who are not so staunch think all Republicans are Nazis so they think it is morally acceptable to hit or hurt people who have a differing view. The problem is that there are fewer repercussions currently for liberals who harm conservatives, or liberals at least think there are.

I have even noticed that in my neighborhood, people seem to feel free to put up signs for Democrats running for local office and there seem to be fewer signs for conservatives.  It could be that those who are more conservative are less likely to express their politics as they are more polite, but it is also reasonable to think that they don’t want any trouble or that they don’t want to display their political leaning because of discrimination. And this is in East Tennessee! I can’t imagine what people deal with in liberal states.