Note that if you argue with Happy, you are derailing the topic, which is his goal. If you make the conversation about him, you've also derailed the topic and helped him meet his goal. He does not want people to get useful information about gaming from this forum, especially new members.
So meanwhile back on the topic ...
How hard is it to find gamers right now who just want to play damn RPGs and not bring contemporary crap into it? Where are effective places to actually find them? Is there anything non-D&D, non-Paizo that people are actually playing in large numbers?
Harder than it once was, not impossible. Since you said you like to GM, you've surmounted the first, most difficult barrier to starting up a niche game.
First, if the GM runs a good game of anything, you can get players worth having.
However, some of them may be casual players. They may not be up for a serious pretend elf game that happens with focused dedication 3-4 hours every week or every other week. They probably won't be up for a really involved system (at least not right out of the gate) or switching systems often. Once they start having fun and develop some trust for you as a GM, they'll be willing to try more of that.
With the friends and family and acquaintances not the best avenue in your case, you'll have to explore a little and takes some chances. If some of those people haven't gone completely off the rails and
might be interested, set up a casual game and see what happens. If you get a player or two out of it, they may know more like-minded people you can invite to try.
Hide a lot of the complexity of whatever system you use (even, say, 1980's Basic D&D) from these players until they seem ready for it. Use pregens or at least a simplified form of decision making in character building. Try to have it where they can make their first characters in 30 minutes, and once they know how can do it in no more than 15. Then launch them into a simple game with some obvious decisions. Remember that anything that might seem old hat to you is all new to them.
If you find a dedicated gamer out of this early bunch or someone that is becoming one, get them to help you. Think specifically about how to make it fun to recruit casuals, get them having fun right away, and then learning the game gradually. Even one "expert" on the other side of the screen helps a lot, especially if that expert is onboard with bringing them into the game (i.e. not dominating the game but keeping the party unstuck).
Your eventual goal is to host somewhere that you or a like-minded member of the group is in control. Ideal is home or apartment. Next best is some reasonably private room in a public venue. You want this game to be "invitation only". As the group grows, you want everyone explicitly aware of why they were invited and the criteria for new members. At a minimum, it has to include the "no politics" clause you want plus a "good fit for the group". If you find good players that don't fit with the group but you like, give serious consideration to starting a second group. (My criteria is that I won't game with anyone that I wouldn't invite to my home for some other reason, such as a dinner or some other activity.)
Getting there, is the conundrum that you want to vet players to see if they fit but to do so you have to temporarily bring them partially into the venue and/or group. There's no perfect answer to that, and it very much depends on what is available. This is where starting a separate online game may be useful even if it isn't your first choice--specifically starting such a game with online players that are reasonably local and could be invited to the table later. You'd be surprised what kind of radius that can cover too. I've had players drive 2+ hours one way for a game.
Next hardest part after finding a GM is getting started. Because as soon as you have a couple of players worth keeping, it's easier to get more. So don't get discouraged if it takes some floundering to get to that point, because that's where it can begin to take off.