But would you go so far as to say that this increase in discontent is wholly due to buying the bad-mouthing hype of the English-press?

Are conditions such in Germany that "objectively" Germans today should be feeling better about things rather than worse?  If so, that is giving a lot of credit to the English press.

If on the other hand conditions are indeed worse than they were in the past, but not as bad as they are in the U.K. and the U.S., then maybe this is not just irrational worrying on the part of Germans, but also perhaps a matter of higher expectations, higher "quality standards" so to speak, with more rigorous demanding of satisfactory results from the government.

If only the ARD could come over to the U.S. to do a similar survey to release the results just in time for the midterm Congressional elections.

Rien ne réussit comme le succès.