I've heard people say that -- again, online. I just wonder how much it has left online and made it to the real world, particularly when it comes to the enlisted class and not the would-be officers. The older enlisted veterans that I know (and I know several, mainly through church connections) don't seem to be this way. They might shake their heads at some of what's happening, but I haven't heard any of them imply that it's no longer a good life choice. One of them recently had a daughter join the Navy, and he was very proud of it.
It's based on surveys that show an utter collapse in enthusiasm for the military and joining the military among white Democrats, while white Republicans are basically unchanged -- on a slight downward slope since 2018, but above 2015 levels.
The argument from the data is that white Democrats went from being roughly 70% as likely to join the military as white Republicans in 2015 to being around *15%* as likely in 2021. And the decline was even more severe among white Democrat *men*.
Maybe this can be debunked but I haven't seen anyone challenge it, I've just seen everyone keep on asserting that the shortfalls are coming from the right without any data to support it.
A lot of conservative veterans are spreading the word to the next gen not to enlist in the military.
I've heard people say that -- again, online. I just wonder how much it has left online and made it to the real world, particularly when it comes to the enlisted class and not the would-be officers. The older enlisted veterans that I know (and I know several, mainly through church connections) don't seem to be this way. They might shake their heads at some of what's happening, but I haven't heard any of them imply that it's no longer a good life choice. One of them recently had a daughter join the Navy, and he was very proud of it.
Following up, here's the piece I was thinking of:
https://themissingdatadepot.substack.com/p/the-militarys-white-democrat-problem
It's based on surveys that show an utter collapse in enthusiasm for the military and joining the military among white Democrats, while white Republicans are basically unchanged -- on a slight downward slope since 2018, but above 2015 levels.
The argument from the data is that white Democrats went from being roughly 70% as likely to join the military as white Republicans in 2015 to being around *15%* as likely in 2021. And the decline was even more severe among white Democrat *men*.
Maybe this can be debunked but I haven't seen anyone challenge it, I've just seen everyone keep on asserting that the shortfalls are coming from the right without any data to support it.