4.6 million people voted for desantis, and 21 million people live in Florida. Less than a quarter of the people that live in the state voted him into office. It is deeply unfair to say “a lot of people voted him into office” because it ignores the people that are affected by this decision and either voted against it, can’t do anything about it, or just didn’t. I know you said most people don’t vote at all but Florida isn’t a monolith and it’s really important to remember that when things like this negatively affect millions of people that either didn’t want this to happen or had no say.
At some point, people need to take responsibility for their government. DeSantis won by 19 points with >50% turnout. That’s pretty convincing to me. Florida is no longer a swing state. GOPers moved their in droves because of DeSantis’ politics.
Sure, to an extent, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t also be empathetic to those of whom who are adversely affected by this and didn’t really have a say in the matter – kids are an example I brought up in another comment, but all of the victims of voter suppression as well. Florida should be responsible for platforming desantis but that doesn’t mean that florida deserves desantis.
You realise voter suppression is a thing right? It’s unfair to say these people asked for it. It’s also unfair to everyone stuck there and too poor to leave, or don’t want to leave because it’s their home.
By these people not voting, we assume that they are OK with how things are going in their state. In which case, they asked for it.
people have already chimed in but, as just one example of how not-clearcut this is: Florida essentially refused to implement a policy which was democratically passed that enfranchised felons. Florida has over 1 million felons, a disproportionate number of whom are black and would otherwise likely vote Democratic. when they finally had to implement the policy, they made it much harder for felons to be re-enfranchised (against the will of voters)—such that in practice, the state maintains a ban on voting while being a felon which disproportionately impacts Democratic voters. you cannot seriously blame people for the situation the state is in, except in a very abstract sense.
Unless I’m mistaken, the vast majority of the people who own houses, and therefore stand to lose them, are middle-class white people with no criminal record, not black people or felons.
i have absolutely no idea what point you’re trying to raise here when the context of the conversation is whether the people of Florida, collectively, deserve to suffer for voting in the wrong guy when:
the vast majority of them explicitly didn’t vote for the guy, and;
large—and literally decisive—numbers of them were legally disenfranchised from voting against the guy and continue to be disenfranchised under Florida law. DeSantis won the gubernatorial election in 2018 by approximately 32,000 votes against a million felons, many of whom are Black.
My argument is that the people who now stand to lose their homes are not the same people who have been disenfranchised.
Black felons did not vote for DeSantis, but the wealthy white law-abiding homeowners who are now losing their homes did vote for DeSantis, unless I’m mistaken.
My argument is that the people who now stand to lose their homes are not the same people who have been disenfranchised.
then that’s a fundamentally incorrect understanding of the situation and of how class and race disparities are going to play out during the climate crisis. white, middle-class homeowners aren’t going to lose their homes—and if they do they’re just going to move because they have the capital to do that even at a loss. the people who are going to lose their homes, or who will be stuck in their position even if they need to leave will overwhelmingly be Florida’s working poor and minority groups. this has been the story of every natural disaster in that part of the country. take, for example, Hurricane Harvey:
Among black Texans impacted by the storm, 60 percent say they are not getting the help they need. That compares to 40 percent of Hispanic respondents and 33 percent of white respondents.
Half of respondents with lower incomes say they’re not getting the help they need, compared 32 percent of people with higher incomes. The survey classified people into two income groups — those making double the poverty-level income and those making less than that threshold. Twice the poverty level is an income of $24,280 for a single person and $50,200 for a family of four.
Meanwhile, 27 percent of Hispanic respondents affected by Harvey said their previous homes remain unlivable. Twenty percent of black respondents and 11 percent of white respondents said their previous homes cannot be lived in. And 27 percent of Texans earning lower incomes say their previous homes aren’t safe, while only 9 percent of higher earners said the same thing.
The 21 million includes everyone, not just registered voters. Until 2015, I couldn’t vote because I wasn’t a citizen. Still had to live with the shitty policies that Floridian politicians passed into law.
1.4 million in florida have felony convictions, and a disproportionate number are minorities in florida. Then 1.8 million non-citizen immigrants in Florida, from Mexico or Cuba or other places in the Carribean. And that’s not including the people that didn’t vote because of local efforts of voter suppression, which is a nebulous number but still statistically significant.
4.6 million people voted for desantis, and 21 million people live in Florida. Less than a quarter of the people that live in the state voted him into office. It is deeply unfair to say “a lot of people voted him into office” because it ignores the people that are affected by this decision and either voted against it, can’t do anything about it, or just didn’t. I know you said most people don’t vote at all but Florida isn’t a monolith and it’s really important to remember that when things like this negatively affect millions of people that either didn’t want this to happen or had no say.
At some point, people need to take responsibility for their government. DeSantis won by 19 points with >50% turnout. That’s pretty convincing to me. Florida is no longer a swing state. GOPers moved their in droves because of DeSantis’ politics.
Sure, to an extent, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t also be empathetic to those of whom who are adversely affected by this and didn’t really have a say in the matter – kids are an example I brought up in another comment, but all of the victims of voter suppression as well. Florida should be responsible for platforming desantis but that doesn’t mean that florida deserves desantis.
By these people not voting, we assume that they are OK with how things are going in their state. In which case, they asked for it.
You realise voter suppression is a thing right? It’s unfair to say these people asked for it. It’s also unfair to everyone stuck there and too poor to leave, or don’t want to leave because it’s their home.
people have already chimed in but, as just one example of how not-clearcut this is: Florida essentially refused to implement a policy which was democratically passed that enfranchised felons. Florida has over 1 million felons, a disproportionate number of whom are black and would otherwise likely vote Democratic. when they finally had to implement the policy, they made it much harder for felons to be re-enfranchised (against the will of voters)—such that in practice, the state maintains a ban on voting while being a felon which disproportionately impacts Democratic voters. you cannot seriously blame people for the situation the state is in, except in a very abstract sense.
Unless I’m mistaken, the vast majority of the people who own houses, and therefore stand to lose them, are middle-class white people with no criminal record, not black people or felons.
i have absolutely no idea what point you’re trying to raise here when the context of the conversation is whether the people of Florida, collectively, deserve to suffer for voting in the wrong guy when:
My argument is that the people who now stand to lose their homes are not the same people who have been disenfranchised.
Black felons did not vote for DeSantis, but the wealthy white law-abiding homeowners who are now losing their homes did vote for DeSantis, unless I’m mistaken.
then that’s a fundamentally incorrect understanding of the situation and of how class and race disparities are going to play out during the climate crisis. white, middle-class homeowners aren’t going to lose their homes—and if they do they’re just going to move because they have the capital to do that even at a loss. the people who are going to lose their homes, or who will be stuck in their position even if they need to leave will overwhelmingly be Florida’s working poor and minority groups. this has been the story of every natural disaster in that part of the country. take, for example, Hurricane Harvey:
“They said nothing, therefore they asked for it” isn’t a great opinion, friend.
The 21 million includes everyone, not just registered voters. Until 2015, I couldn’t vote because I wasn’t a citizen. Still had to live with the shitty policies that Floridian politicians passed into law.
You know kids are adversely affected by desantis’s policy and cannot vote, right? just as a single example.
Theres only ~5 million kids in Florida - that still leaves about 16 million people who are eligible to vote who didn’t.
1.4 million in florida have felony convictions, and a disproportionate number are minorities in florida. Then 1.8 million non-citizen immigrants in Florida, from Mexico or Cuba or other places in the Carribean. And that’s not including the people that didn’t vote because of local efforts of voter suppression, which is a nebulous number but still statistically significant.