General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: GAWD DAMN -This Florida shit is going too far - [View all]ancianita
(37,672 posts)I've never said anything to the effect of old people being crazy Republicans. Everyone I know who's old and Left have stayed that way.
I know quite a few old folks down here who are all Democrats. St. Petersburg has one of the highest elderly populations in the state, and it votes consistently blue, as do larger FL East coast towns. I don't even know where the 7:1 party differential that was mentioned in the thread comes from, but FL's party voting difference got close by 2000, with the Bush v Gore decision (Florida's even had Democratic governors), and though it seems that Repubs outnumber Democrats, I highly doubt the registration ratio is 7:1.
When things work the way they're supposed to, they fade into the background. Same with government. But they're not hard to see when one actually looks. Many only see "government" or "military" when they're not working.
One example is how everybody paid attention to Wm Barr and Trump's DOJ. But many of the same people now think the DOJ is 'doing nothing' of substance around the Jan 6 seditious insurrection, or has turned political. Another example is the kind of national civics lesson that went on during Trump's dysfunctional four years, resulting in record breaking voter turnout in 2020, greater than the voter blue wave of 2018. So, I'd say be glad you've never seen the "military actually used to protect America."
Ending both wouldn't feel sudden. But in a short period of time, you would suffer without them. Doing away with something because you don't see it working is kinda like having to learn the hard way, imo.