timemachineyeah
drives me up a wall living in a very very red district, like “no democrat is ever going to win any local election, let alone a real leftist” district, like “our school board members ran on who was the most anti-mask” red, like “I pass white supremacist signs on the way to buy weed” red
and being in the local leftist community and the guy who runs the anarchist book club and the lady who helps keep the warming shelters open and the people who marched on city hall when a local business was getting death threats for having a drag show are all members of a discord and we get on this discord and have frank discussions about how best to vote
the people who do the protests and the mutual aid and all the real work
going “okay, they’re both fascists, but this one lacks ambition and seems happy to just glide in the position” or “they both suck, but this one can be reasoned with if you frame it patriotically enough” like we don’t even have a democrat to vote for. we know what a vote is. we know what we hope accomplish with it. we know what it can do, and we know what it can’t.
and going from those discussions to here where people think that your vote is some kind of fucking??? enabling maneuver??? as if someone isn’t going to end up in that seat regardless of what you do???
we didn’t build this system, we just live in it. we’re just trying to survive. a vote isn’t a statement of your values, it’s not an endorsement, it’s not a marriage contract, it’s a strategic play you make to keep alive.
the biggest mistake I see leftists making is overestimating their own popularity. “well but everyone would be leftist if they just-” no, stop, 1) you can’t possibly know that 2) everyone will not just
But this solution doesnt kill any billionaires, install linux, implement communism or defund the police! It accomplishes nothing!
I heard that when you install Linux for the first time, a billionaire dies. The only way to stop this is for a right-winger to clap three times and say “I believe in the free market”
Goddam you sound so insufferable. You love your ineffective, status-quo, compromise-with-naked-fascists, liberal Democrats, and you want me to love them too. They don’t fucking represent me or my values. If I vote for them, my concerns are ignored until the next campaign when I’m told my concerns are unrealistic fantasies and that while there is certainly no hope of improving things, they can get worse more slowly than with the Republicans.
Democrats are a failure as a party in opposition to conservatism (or even fascism!). Why is it so much to expect for party leaders to show some fucking leadership? Do politics. Have a vision and do more than pretend to fight for it. Make room in the party for the left if you want our votes.
You do realize that the previous commenter was joking right?
At the end of the day, people have no option but to vote for the lesser of two evils, hense why people need to “Do politics” and create better parties or infiltrate existing ones and improve them from the inside. For those who can’t do that, voting to minimize harm is the best many can do. By not voting, you choose to let the status quo remain the same or worse, regress.
You only hear this argument pop up when they’re admitting their candidate is shit but it’s the only choice you have besides the other guy.
THIS ISNT A REAL CHOICE AND WE NEED TO STOP PRETENDING IT IS. This is literally how the system maintains it’s 2 party nature.
Yes, you should vote. And vote for who you actually believe in and who you think will actually make a difference, not just the “safe bet”. It’s a prisoners dilemma and we’re all too afraid to make the right move.
Oh I read it. It’s a load of crap. “Leftists” are part of the broken system too. US “liberals” are still conservatives in most other nations.
Voting “just to survive” is voting to keep the system intact. But keep arguing how you’re not part of the problem while voting for the current ruling class that keeps it entrenched.
You can say whatever you want. Doesnt make it true. And requoting it thinking that’s sufficient to change someone’s mind shows how out of touch you are with discourse as well. Just keep shouting the same thing over and over and eventually it’ll be true. Sound familiar?
Why? I don’t live in an undemocratic country with only 2 parties.
Why should I need to read it?
why are you commenting if you self admittedly don’t care to read the post or understand its context. what ur doing is tantamount to trolling and super annoying.
Here in Huntsville, AL, a Democrat recently won a representative position by a wide margin.
It’s possible to turn a red city blue or keep a blue city in a red state. It just takes all people to show up to vote.
And here’s the rub: Democrats far out number Republicans, so the more people that vote, the higher the percentage that Democrats can win by.
It doesn’t just take that in situations where deep red is the only real color. Perhaps in smaller elections, I don’t know. What I do perceive is how divided we are as a Nation and as communities. I’m hoping we come together in agreement despite various valid arguments being made.
I’m just also expecting us to continue slap fighting as the Right gains a stronger hold due to our own inability to take cohesive action. This tends to be an unpopular opinion. Yet I’ve noticed the same trend for the last twelve years. So I try and talk about it whenever I can.
did you guys get anything concrete out of this effort? is actual policy changing in a meaningful way? is this just about the blue guy winning?
It literally just happened, so that remains to be seen.
What I do know is that the Republican representatives have been taking away freedoms and enacting bad policy for decades. So the change is welcome.
This is good. I like this actual explanation way more than the shitty bus metaphor.