The rich want us to go to war against Russia
Poll shows direct link between income and support for military involvement but not why you think
The richer you are, the more likely you want the U.S. military to get involved in a war in Europe. That’s the conclusion of a recent Rassmussen poll of likely voters.
Overall, half of Americans say the U.S. should send troops if the Russian invasion of Ukraine spreads to the West. But support goes way up — and way down — depending on how much money you make. And, to my surprise, it has nothing to do with whether you’re the one doing the fighting.
For all likely voters in the poll, there was a 20 point split in favor of going to war — 49% in favor and 29% against it. I got the spreadsheet of the total poll crosstabs from Rassmussen, which is uploaded at the bottom to read.
Then there’s the income gap. This tweet showed the dramatic difference from the lowest income to the highest -- it’s a 30-point spread — from 37% to 66% in favor. Look at this:
I replied:
Looking at the whole poll, it shows that of all factors, income is the biggest divider for going to war — more than gender, political party, race, support of Pres. Biden, education or even military service.
Most people commented on the poll to say the income split because the rich don’t know people in the military and/or they will profit from war spending. But only one of these factors proved accurate by the same poll.
Military polled
One person tweeted at Rassmussen to get the polling company to ask the same question about support for the war to active-duty military and veterans. The man expected the results to show less support, read:
He was wrong.
The poll included this question: Are you or a member of your family currently on active duty in the U.S. military? Nine percent said yes.
The biggest difference for the military is just that they are more likely to have made an opinion on this issue.
While 22% of the overall popularion is not sure about going to war, only 16% of the military is not sure. That made their yes and no responses increase to 52% in favor of going to war and 32% against it.
But notice that active-duty military and families have the exact same margin as everyone else — 20% more in favor of war.
Why do the rich want to get into a war more than the working class? And do you the Russian invasion of Ukraine will spread to Europe? Let me know what you think in the comments.
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