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A pretty vague question. What does having a "great deal of confidence" in the U.S. military even mean. I suspect most people were using their answer as a prox

A pretty vague question. What does having a "great deal of confidence" in the U.S. military even mean. I suspect most people were using their answer as a proxy for expressing the sentiment that they don't generally support state sanctioned violence. Which is the answer we want people to give, isn't it...? It's also interesting to note that the current value is still higher than many previous years, yet the tone implies it's somehow unprecedented. Two decades is a comically short time period. Come back in two centuries, THEN we got an interesting trend!

csmpltn 3y ago
The question is indeed vague. It could very well be interpreted as the public's confidence in the ability of the government, through the use of the military, to safeguard America's interests both domestically (ie. Puerto Rico) and globally.
sandworm101 3y ago
And how many respondants really are making the statement that the modern US military isnt the same as it was when they were part of it? Most who join the US military only do so for a few years. Cange happens. They then percieve the current state as untrustworthy as it no longer mirrors memories formed during their brief exposure years ago.
oneTbrain23 3y ago
Basically is like feeling lack of respect but still agreeing to some extent when you get told USA was defeated by Talebans. Or arguing that it was "just" a draw down and retreat when half way into argument you realize that USA took 20 years and spent about 10T USD to replace Talebans with Talebans and the conversation switch to vs Russia. At that point you know Russians shovels will easily mangle even the best Seal Team 6 today...and you just no longer want to talk about USA military prowess. That is what it means "great deal of confidence". In some military circles in many countries I am privy to participate informally their social gathering, many jokes about USA military quite badly and offensively (alphabet, drag queen, Patriots on ground stopping incoming missiles, tiktoking soldiers, skin flakes off F35, Abrahms taken out by "nonfreedom fighters", dementia+pedophilic+bribery Commander-in-Chief, etc). It wasn't like that 20-30 years ago. Even during the fall of Saigon, I've not experienced the kind of lowdown disrespect of American forces compared today.

csmpltn 3y ago

The question is indeed vague. It could very well be interpreted as the public's confidence in the ability of the government, through the use of the military, to safeguard America's interests both domestically (ie. Puerto Rico) and globally.

sandworm101 3y ago

And how many respondants really are making the statement that the modern US military isnt the same as it was when they were part of it? Most who join the US military only do so for a few years. Cange happens. They then percieve the current state as untrustworthy as it no longer mirrors memories formed during their brief exposure years ago.

oneTbrain23 3y ago

Basically is like feeling lack of respect but still agreeing to some extent when you get told USA was defeated by Talebans. Or arguing that it was "just" a draw down and retreat when half way into argument you realize that USA took 20 years and spent about 10T USD to replace Talebans with Talebans and the conversation switch to vs Russia. At that point you know Russians shovels will easily mangle even the best Seal Team 6 today...and you just no longer want to talk about USA military prowess. That is what it means "great deal of confidence". In some military circles in many countries I am privy to participate informally their social gathering, many jokes about USA military quite badly and offensively (alphabet, drag queen, Patriots on ground stopping incoming missiles, tiktoking soldiers, skin flakes off F35, Abrahms taken out by "nonfreedom fighters", dementia+pedophilic+bribery Commander-in-Chief, etc). It wasn't like that 20-30 years ago. Even during the fall of Saigon, I've not experienced the kind of lowdown disrespect of American forces compared today.