Why Would So Few Americans Defend Their Country?
18th March 2022
For many of us war voyeurs watching the news with a glass of whiskey, admiration of the little-engine-that-could Ukrainian fighters is underwritten by unease. As families escape to safety, plenty of feisty Ukrainians are remaining behind to battle a far more powerful aggressor, and they’re not all men, either. The question nags, then: in the same circumstances, would we stick around to defend our homelands, or would we cut our losses and get out?
Earlier this month, that’s precisely what a Quinnipiac poll asked Americans. Some 7 percent answered “Don’t know.” But an astonishing 52 percent of Democrats predicted that they’d skedaddle. Among Republicans, a full quarter would carpool with the hightailing “to hell with this!” Democrats, while 68 percent would stand their ground — or think they would. Among all respondents, 55 percent would stay and fight, while 38 percent would flee. Scaled up, that would be 125 million Yanks storming from the Land of the No Longer Free and the Home of the Not Especially Brave all at once. Quite a stampede.