Well, I Think It's An Interesting Thought

A survey on the "popularity" of various countries around the world, ie whether people think the countries are doing good or doing bad, so forth. Perceptions, you know...

Well, it turns out, Iran is widely seen as problematic. Of course, so is the US, although not quite as much.

Here's my theory: Truly problematic people/regimes, etc, are widely understood to be so. For instance - the biggest asshole in school is almost always known as the biggest asshole. BUT, and this is important, the most popular people/regimes, etc, are usually the biggest phonies and have sold out principles in order to be well liked. That is why popularity is a good gauge for the extreme negative, but not a good gauge for a weak or strong positive.