A Letter of Response to the Polk County Young Republicans
What must it be like to be a young Republican? I'm trying to envision your average young Republican in 2026. It's not the Protestant Ned Flanders archetype or the disenfranchised band geek. It's something a little more hateful than that.
You say in your letter that you intend to fight for the soul of this nation. What do you define that soul to be? Is the soul of this nation embodied in the body armor of the ICE agent as he marches into elementary schools to abduct children? Is it embodied in the spirit of Nick Fuentes selling Jeffrey Epstein merch? Is the soul of this nation the slashing of social services in every municipality in Florida due to Amendment 3? Less healthcare, fewer hospitals, less infrastructure, and yet somehow the soul of the nation is preserved. It seems a little ridiculous, don't you think?
You speak about not wanting to allow the radical Islamists to take over Polk County. Do you live in the same reality as the rest of us? Where are these radical Islamists? Are you so incapable of discussing the issues that actually affect the working class that you have to create a boogeyman?
There's a reason the GOP received a resounding defeat in the midterms. There's a reason Florida is looking a shade of purple. People are tired of the boogeymen. They're tired of being told that the transgenders, the immigrants and the Muslims are their enemy, all while their check doesn't go as far, their groceries cost that much more, and the hopes of young people in this country to actualize, to have a family, to own a home, to integrate into the economy dwindle day by day. They're tired of do-nothing politicians who warp language to paint a picture of a boogeyman while ignoring the issues that affect everyday life for working-class people.
You say you don't want to allow the radical anarchists, communists and socialists to have power in this county, and yet I don't see you out feeding the people. I don't see you serving meals. I don't see you organizing sock drives. I don't see you providing mutual aid. How could you? The people we at the Polk County DSA provide mutual aid for are in need as a direct result of your policies, whether that be the over-criminalization of people in poverty or the ICE abductions that break up working-class families.
What does the Republican Party offer young people in this country? Nothing. That is the answer to that question. And your group offers nothing to the young people of this county. That is the answer to that question.
There is no culture in this county without socialist beliefs. Central Florida and Polk County have an incredible art scene, an incredible music scene, an incredible cultural scene. Every art gallery, every show, every institution, every get-together is predicated on the exact values that make up socialism: mutual aid, working together, cooperation, building something bigger than yourself, community-oriented politics. That's what socialism is. We reject the individual "fuck you, I got mine" mindset that makes up what a Republican is.
Your mandate is coming loose. Polk County will be blue. You will live to see that.
Erik Houdini
