Something missing from the displayed data, not sure if the article goes into it (not going through NYT paywall bullshit to find out) but Idaho, Utah and Texas will very likely gain a blue voting electoral college vote. If, after this Trump bullshit concludes (providing it concludes), we don’t have a major overhaul of how elections work including a change to first past the post, we kind of deserve fascism or all out civil war.
You say all that in jest but I’m old enough to have seen the change. Old enough and from a remote enough area that the change happened late for me.
I’d say it was about 1994-1995 when I noticed it. The police became more militarized and the standards of law enforcement were changed to be a revolving door where if they fucked up, they just got moved far enough away from the fuck up that no one knew about it there. Basically following the Catholic church system.
So law enforcement went from being socially embedded in the community to being outside of it a bit. And then over time, above it. And mind you, this is very rural. Towns smaller than 10k people were considered our cities. Cops have always been class traitors but looking back, this all felt like a calculated sea change.
And then of course 9/11 happened and police started getting the militarized hardware to go along with the attitude. And then Fox news started to warp what were pretty decent people into being xenophobic hate worshippers.
But right before all that, if you were caught causing trouble, underage drinking or even drinking and driving, the cops would bring you to your house to face your parents. Not to a jail cell.
We had a decent amount of freedom. Actual freedom. Capitalism was reigning supreme at larger scales, but it hadn’t been applied to every single thing in life quite yet. It didn’t have its act together enough to suck the fun out of just existing. Even state government (in a low-population state) felt pretty community driven. Legislators would come by and visit even my tiny village.
You didn’t see no trespassing signs on every piece of fence because frivolous lawsuits hadn’t been made popular yet. My mom, a single mother, she did struggle financially but she still was capable of raising my brother and I in safety on a waitress’ wage. And again, this is a tiny ass town she was waitressing in. Fewer than 500 people.
The 80’s and 90’s were far from perfect but it does allow me to know we can do better. We can have it better. And it’s one of the few things that keep me working and fighting. The younger generations deserve better and they can have a better life than has been provided to them.
You’re right, we’ve got several states, mostly Republican leaning, that are winner take all. But these extra blue seats could potentially allow for an entire state swing in some states as yaroto98 pointed out. If it doesn’t do that, what it will do is piss enough people off because they’re not represented to get the groundswell needed to force changes.