Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) shares his message to voters in the Uncommitted Movement who are considering not voting in the presidential race over the Biden administration's handling of Israel.
I promise you, my protest against killing innocent people will have no effect on Trump winning. You might be seeing things in black and white.
I don't know why you can't take me at my word.
that’s why I’m keen for common sense to prevail, and for Harris to win
I'm not fond of a 'common sense' which allows for the killing of innocents. Can we please establish a 'common sense' which agrees that killing innocent people is wrong? Reducing harm is great, I agree, but not from a benchmark of 'still kill innocent people'. That is simply not acceptable.
Also, to some people 'common sense' is to vote for a fascist. It's what people want. If enough people want that in a democratic system, what are you going to do? 'Common sense' won't help, if it is 'common' enough to 'sense' that fascism is good.
Perhaps 'common sense' was a poor choice of terminology there, because it's often far from common, or sensible, and I suspect your idea of common sense would differ from mine. in any case.
That said, what I meant by the term was that if you look at the bigger picture, instead of fixating on one aspect, you'll see that there are so many other factors to consider here - woman's rights, lgbtq recognition, racism, sexism, work class quality of life, minimum wage, unions, and so much more,, and that every single one of those would become worse under a trump presidency, for everyone except methheads with guns, and the disgustingly-wealthy. I'm going to assume that you're not in either of those groups.
I do not wish to participate in a system where I am forced to trade the lives of children for my own rights as a queer person, as a feminist, etc.
I do not accept that my health and ease are more important than the health and ease of others.
I will die, at some point, regardless of who wins the election.
I will know suffering, at many points, regardless of who wins the election.
I will have my identities scoffed at, at many points, regardless of who wins the election.
The one thing I can be sure of is that I protect my values, which tell me that I am not better than anyone else simply because of my perspective, and that I accept the loss of their life for no good reason as little as I would accept the loss of my own.
Don't worry - the Terminally Online Leftists will change their tune from "It won't change the election" to "If Palestine gets genocided by Israel, it's only fair minorities in the US are genocided too".
People will do what they want. I'm queer, neurodivergent, and an immigrant - violence has been done to me and my family for our identity/identities. I am tired of it.
People will do what they want. I’m queer, neurodivergent, and an immigrant - violence has been done to me and my family for our identity/identities. I am tired of it.
I love how your argument changes from "Even if we can't change it we have to oppose it, no matter who it harms!" on Palestine to "We can't do anything about it and we shouldn't try" when it comes to potential US genocide. 10/10, no notes.
I don't think you know what an argument is? Me being tired of human violence against the outgroup is not an 'argument', it is merely my experience.
I think you might be less good at talking and listening than you are at being angry that people don't seem to agree with you. This might be why people work so hard to make a world which harms people. That world is definitely what makes me tired of it.
I don’t think you know what an argument is? Me being tired of human violence against the outgroup is not an ‘argument’, it is merely my experience.
Yet that experience is what you invoke as a defense when your position of allowing genocide is attacked. Rather sounds like an argument.
'Experience' is not some magical word that absolves you of responsibility for your positions.
I think you might be less good at talking and listening than you are at being angry that people don’t seem to agree with you.
Sorry, I'll try not to be angry at people calling for my genocide because they think it makes them more morally pure in the future. I'll meekly accept my genocide, like you seem determined to.
Again, you're treating both options as if they were equally bad, and they are most certainly not.
You say that both will result in the deaths of innocent people, but you completely ignore the scale. It's like if you had to choose between being punched in the face once, or every day for the rest of your life, you would choose neither, because you don't want to be punched in the face, but while you're standing on your soapbox protesting face punching, the election rolled on, the worse option won by a handful of votes, and now you're going to be punched in the face every day, regardless of what you wanted.
If Trump wins, and you think that you can absolve yourself of any responsibility for what he will do in Gaza, or Ukraine, or for any other suffering resulting from his callous narcissism, then you're just fooling yourself. If trump wins, I will have no sympathy whatsoever for people who refused to vote, out of some sad idea of holding themselves to their principles, while at the same time allowing a literal fascist to take power.
Who exactly do you think is sending arms to Israel? Who is rubber stamping the budget?
There are several actors involved in this dance including the Republican House of Representatives and the military industrial complex.
Russia is killing innocent people and will kill many more when Trump “ends the war in Ukraine” by giving Russia Ukraine. Trump will give Gaza and likely Lebanon to Netanyahu. So because innocent people have been killed you’re like whoa, guess I gotta step back and advocate for the terrible perspective of not voting at all, a stance that is supported by propaganda actors backing a Trump win.
Evil includes seeing evil being done and choosing to do nothing, and advocating for the side of doing nothing.
Evil includes seeing evil being done and choosing to do nothing
Agreed, and it is terrible that Dem politicians do that. It makes it hard to pick between the two parties when they both allow the killing of innocents to happen.
What do you want me to do? I can't vote in an election for a country which I am not a citizen, a country I've never even visited.