Thread by @jimgolby

I'm going to make a point about the civ-mil gap and the AVF, but bear with me for a few tweets.

In grad school I learned that 1 of the most durable findings in behavioral political science is that when people don't know the answer to a survey question, they just make one up. 1/

https://twitter.com/taskandpurpose/status/1017778062900031488

Comedians like Jimmy Kimmel & shows like The Daily Show exploit this all the time for laughs. See, for example, this clip on #SpaceForce: 2/

That’s why it was so surpring when Peter Feaver @lindsaypcohn & I found in “Warriors and Citizens” that a large/growing portion of the public refused to answer survey questions when asked about service members or the military. cc: @KoriSchake 3/
amazon.com/Warriors-Citiz…

This trend didn’t show up among “elites” and it hadn’t shown up in 1998-99 during the last big survey of public attitudes about the military. 4/

I’ve tried to make sense of this finding.

I’m proud of the fact that volunteers serve so the other Americans can live happy and productive lives without having to worry about their security every day.

I think that’s a really good thing. 5/

And I agree with @pptsapper that entitlement among those of us who serve he’s a real and growing problem. @lindsaypcohn Peter & I found evidence that service members do in fact feel more entitled than they did before the wars. That is dangerous. 6/
google.com/amp/s/angrysta…

But, some days, it still can be difficult to not be a little angry that not only do people not know about their military, but they know they don’t know & don’t seem to want to learn more about why people are dying in their name. 7/

I don’t mean to get on a soapbox, but if you’re reading this, take some time today to read an article about U.S. foreign foreign policy. Maybe read about the #NATOSummit. 8/

Read this great piece about what it’s like to be a veteran coming home by @PeterLucier 9/
therevealer.org/not-your-messi…

Remember SFC Celiz and the thousands of others who have died in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Niger, or Somalia over the last 17 years. Learn about your military. 10/
icasualties.org

And, no matter what your views are or whether you support/oppose recent wars, participate in our democracy. Be informed. Exercise your free speech. Honor service members’ sacrifices by ensuring that every sacrifice we ask current/future service members to make is worth it. 11/

You may not know anything about the military, but it doesn’t have to stay that way. 12/12

Oops. Here’s the link:
facebook.com/ComedyCentral/…

https://twitter.com/jimgolby/status/1017798026159587330?s=21