Although I suspect “popular opinion” (when people start agreeing with me, I immediately reexamine my position):
The No. 1 Job With No Respect
It's not about
money or celebrity. And it's not even about getting your hands dirty. The job with the least prestige is: stockbroker.
That's the word from a just-updated nationwide Harris
Poll of 1,217 randomly selected adults that measures Americans' perception of the most and least prestigious professions. It's easy to see that
money and celebrity do not necessarily equal prestige. If they did, actors, journalists and real estate brokers wouldn't be on the bottom of the list and firefighters, scientists, doctors and nurses wouldn't be near the top. Rather,
prestige is strongly associated with respect and helping others. Professions with high prestige are those which are widely seen to do great work which benefits society and the people they serve.*
The professions with the greatest prestige and the percentage of people who think so:
1 Firemen (56 percent)
2 Scientists (56 percent)
3 Doctors (54 percent)
4 Nurses (50 percent)
5 Military officers (49 percent)
6 Teachers (47 percent)
7 Police officers (40 percent)
8 Priests/ministers/clergymen (36 percent)
9 Engineers (34 percent)
10 Architects (27 percent)
11 Members of Congress (26 percent)
12 Athletes (23 percent)
Although I might quarrel with some of the choices and rankings above, the principle* driving most of the choices is sound and worthy. By these measures, the CruisersForum and it’s contributing
membership, must be judged respectable, admirable, and worthy.
I also
tender my thanks to all who have the confidence to ask, and all who have the expertise to reply.