Number of the Day: 45

In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings, several public opinion surveys have been conducted, with the goal being to take the temperature of a country post-crisis.

And while many of the polls' questions covered the intricate facets related to acts of terrorism in the United States, they all essentially focus in on the public's feelings toward safety, modern terrorism and civil liberties.

And as it turns out — the results have been quite telling.  

A recent Washington Post poll indicates that most Americans, while convinced that future terrorist attacks are quite likely, don’t feel personally threatened by terrorism. Furthermore, the poll shows that an increasing share of the public is skeptical about sacrificing personal freedoms for security.

Specifically, when the Washington Post poll asked, “Have you or has anyone in your household started avoiding crowded places such as shopping malls because of the chance of terrorism, or not?” — More than 90 percent of respondents said no.

Figures in a recent Fox News survey confirm this finding.

According to Fox, for the first time since 9/11, more respondents claimed to be unwilling (45 percent) than willing (43 percent) to sacrifice personal freedoms to reduce the threat of terrorism. 

And while this may come as a surprise to some — especially after a week when the entire Boston metro area cooperatively locked itself down in an effort to streamline a manhunt— one could also infer that the emphasis and heightened value that Americans have placed on civil liberties in the wake of the events in Boston may be a sign of a growing resolve to live with the threat of terrorism.

What do you think? Will our desire for unencumbered civil liberties outweigh our need for increased safety measures in the modern day?