This just emphasizes to me that every vote matters. Sure, both parties are terrible and the chance of a third party making any headway, nevermind winning an election is, at best, unlikely.
But not voting is being complicit in what comes next. Good or bad, you're okay with whatever happens.
Harm reduction through voting is surreal, but it's required at this point. Don't be a filthy fucking collaborator, go vote.
Problem is even if the attorney general doesn't prosecute, local courts can. We need votes for local elections THE MOST, so please vote for every small thing.
it'd be cool if we could like vote for shit. But like, also fix the fucking voting system.
Would like to see more talk about that alongside voting itself. People seem too content with the shitty system we have. And i get it, it's a kill or be killed world out there or whatever the fuck, but like, we should have standards also.
Currently our standard is "literally fucking doing the bare minimum possible" and i honestly just cant fucking take this shit seriously anymore.
the “Voting is Not Harm Reduction” article is possibly the most covert insidious thing that’s happened to online political discourse since 2019.
somehow, it’s managed to SEO weasel its way on top of every other article since the dawn of the internet for the search terms “voting harm reduction” and similar. and not just once, but reposted to every corner of the internet imaginable. literally try it now, if you set your google search to find articles before February 5, 2020, you will see inumerable articles with diversity of positions on the topic. after that? literally just the same article reposted and crosslisted, with the occasional reddit/twitter/tumblr comment thread.
it’s not even a bad article per se, it’s just indecently self-contradictory as OOP says, admitting at the beginning that small rights can be preserved by engaging in voting, and then pulling a 180 and accusing those who vote of perpetuating white supremacy.
like i get it, harm reduction has a specific meaning originating in addiction treatment. but for heavens sake, this flub of language doesn’t mean you should throw away one of the only miniscule rights the oppressor class has granted you to help your neighbors.
editing to add this comment thread and article which i think give helpful insight.
Your voting system is so fucked. Like voting should be something that people like to do. I want to vote for people that align with my values the most. But no, you have to be strategic and choose the lesser evil to not accidentally end up with fucking fsscists like Trump again. It's fucked. Still tho, please prevent Trump.
I ran into someone like this on Lemmy just yesterday. They said that "we" deserve to suffer if Trump gets elected. I said that I was guessing they weren't queer or a person of color. They were not. Therefore they were not part of "we." 'Innocent people that are definitely not me deserve to suffer so that America gets what it deserves' is a really fucking galling attitude.
280*
The lack of snide comments about the US educational system is deeply disturbing.
1,254,809 - 1,254,529 = 280
Usually when I read “both sides are the same”, it’s a blue conservative like you trying to make people critical of the Democratic party seem unreasonable.
Both sides are capitalist and conservative, but there are differences for sure. Dont you want more differences?
If you wanna really shut up those people bitching from the sidelines, the best way to do so is to put them in the game! Force them to show us how to do things since it’s so easy and they have it all figured out.
Switching away from first past the post voting allows people to vote for who represents them best while still counting their vote against those they dont want to win. Just search for videos on FPTP voting if you want an explanation on how and why the spoiler effect exists.
Electoral reform is possible in each individual state (for now), we dont need federal reform! Maine and Alaska have already passed electoral reform.
Republicans are moving to make alternative electoral systems illegal in their states. Why would you want to use the same voting system republicans prefer?
More political parties means a higher percentage of the population is representedby their choices in the voting booth. More people involved in the electoral process, more people engaged.
Its a win win win all around for not just the people, but also for the democratic party. More people voting means more democratic votes. The numbers dont lie. So what’s the hold up blue states?
You believe it’s critical to vote for the democrats to beat the Republicans, thus you should 100% be fully invested in passing electoral reform in your state.
Electoral reform needs to be the number one priority for every democrat. This is a existential threat to our nation, so we must use EVERY tool at our disposal. No more waiting. This especially goes for those in blue states.
Consider starting a campaign to change how we vote in your own state! Force our representatives to compete with fresh outside ideas. We deserve the best representation, not excuses.
Where's the white people twitter?
Just remember there are people Mango who respond to every single post on the entire thread but can't handle reacting to a single counter argument to their ideas. That's why you need to vote, and if you are Mango and you try to over analyze this post and can't even see something hitting you in the face your vote wouldn't help me achieve my interests anyway. If you vote, keep doing what you are doing.
Speaking personally as a brit i'm not going to comment on whatevers going on with the american election but in the case of britain at least im absolutely not going to be voting for Keir Starmer since most of the left neoliberals in this country telling me i have to swallow my pride and vote for the most right wing and second worst (to his "credit", unlike Tony Blair, he doesnt have the blood of a million iraqis on his hands, only 30,000 palestinians) party leader labour's had in recent memory were the exact same people 5 years ago saying they couldnt in good faith vote for the most far left, trans positive labour leader in decades because he criticised Israel which led to the largest conservative majority in years.
Under Sir Kid Starver, Labour stopped members from voting for a ceasefire right at the start of the Palestinian genocide, members have repeatedly been expelled over bogus antisemitism charges, starmerite labour's trying to push to have the NHS privatised, the party has pivoted so far to the right that you have promiment members saying “Margaret Thatcher was a visionary leader for the U.K; no doubt about it", they've proposed policies to segregate trans people out of single sex NHS hospital wards and those are just the things from the last few months or so that i remember off the top of my head.
I'm going to vote for the Greens instead.
not twitter (tumblr)
no evidence that any of these people are white? advocates a position that protects the interests of POC?
why is this posted here? this is such a useful and well formed post but i have this community blocked and only found this thru some modlog drama. whatever lol. saving this for later reposting somewhere more relavant. thanks for sharing OP. :)
Agreed, it's never okay to sacrifice the unborn for political reasons.
I vote, but I can't really pretend that it accomplishes much.
We hand Democrats a majority and all they do with it is find a way to spend another half trillion on war that wasn't budgeted. When I point out that perhaps it'd be good if we didn't neglect our own people's needs, people call me a traitor or a Russian shill. (Neither of which are true.)
And for those trumpeting the AZ decision here, go look at Idaho, where abortion was criminalized and they got away with it. In a year 2/3 of the states will have similar laws just like in 2/3 of the states it's still legal to pay someone $7 an hour.
That is what people are talking about when they say voting doesn't matter, because if you're poor or working class, there is no effective difference between the two ruling parties.
Fucking kill me now hoo lee dude. It's the same every time I'm so joever this shit. Take me off the wild ride, take me out of the fucking time loop. Is there a way to like block every single "voting advocacy" post, or something? I don't necessarily care to block users or communities but hoo lee shit it's like a drill plunged deep into my cortical nerves. It's like I'm trapped in groundhog's day but then it's just inane bitching about how everyone is a CCP or russian shill and a vote for biden is a vote for democracy, and a vote for anyone else is a vote for trump and fascism. And ummm errmmmm ackshually how maybe the democratic party should nut up and go full communism and wouldn't it be nice if I had a free pony, actually electoralism and reformism sucks because nihilism. Nobody has heard of dual power. Kill me please, kill me with hammers.
Never any discussion of, oh, are you in a district that is going to vote blue almost inevitably? Maybe a protest vote makes sense. What should you do in a swing state? What could you do in other cases? What are suitable times for protests or local advocacy, what are potential local advocacy groups? Any discussion on alternative voting systems, advocacy for those systems, etc. Nope, fuck that shit, easier just to bitch and moan. I'm doing it right now, because it's so easy, actually. Exhausting. Hoo lee. Please stop feeding the mao zedong CCP trolls, if that's what you think they are. Publically shaming their stupidity is not a good strategy. If they are stupid, which they are, then it will be self-evident to onlookers, you don't have to coddle the fence and in the process end up feeding the trolls more and engaging in unproductive schlock conversations about unproductive things. That's giving them what they want.
Oh look. It's time for another round of "the ethically bankrupt decisions of the powerful people in the world are your fault because voting is real."
It must be all the lead poisoning making people so shallow minded as to believe the toys they're sold and occupied with are anything but a means to keep them in line and shift blame. Your cheap TV tells you what they want you to think and exists for that. Voting is a black box that exists to convince you that there's a chance you can improve outcomes rather than just serve the rich. Political faces are literally only faces.
Change my mind. Prove to me that voting is actually implemented and a functional interaction with the world. Hint: Some words on my screen will be about as meaningful as a Harry Potter book at best. I see voting to be about as real of an attempt at achieving something as praying. It's a way to convince yourself your supposedly good intentions will have any sway over reality.
I need something better than faith.
