A Bitch Slap for the Chickenhawk Crowd

An analysis of the socio-economic distribution of military recruits from 2000-2004 has some telling numbers and trends. During the five years analyzed by the DoD, the number of recruits from the middle and upper class has been steadily trending upward, both as a percentage of total recruits and as a percentage of the population.

In fact, since 2004 the upper middle, upscale and wealthy have been overrepresented as a percentage of population. That's right, the well-to-do aren't just pulling their weight, they're carrying the poor folks' load, too.

I can't wait for the spin from these people.

Update: A reader, who I presume is on the opposite side of this argument, comments:

Your math looks pretty creative. 25% of recruits are wealthy. How are they "carrying the poor folks' load" when lower-mid - poor are carrying the majority (75%) of the recruiting load--by your diagram.

Now I see why we can't win on this and other socio-economic issues. The other side believes 75% of the population is "poor."

Open posted in Mudville and Argghhh!