• gAlienLifeform@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    101
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    10 months ago

    This is what we’re doing

    Young people have not been as enthusiastic supporters of the Biden administration [even] before President Biden was elected. So what’s different about Gen Z generation in particular, who’s known to be politically active, also very diverse and caring about a variety of social issues, is that when they’re disappointed in what the government is doing or what the leaders are showing them, they’re willing to take the issue in their own hand and try to intervene, try to get involved sometimes by speaking up by their vote.

    But by and large, they have voted more than other generations have as youth, regardless of how disappointed they say they are in the government. So if the past couple of elections’ trends hold, young people have been disappointed in the government and their elected leaders, but they voted.

    [Bolding added]

    • LordOfTheChia@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      31
      ·
      edit-2
      10 months ago

      The big thing is that movements start from local political offices and can grow from there.

      It can start with representatives, the rare senator, or even taking over of a party at the state level:

      https://apnews.com/article/nevada-bernie-sanders-las-vegas-harry-reid-6f834efcd0dcc3644ce2365447aabab0

      Participate in local elections, back primary candidates. Once the numbers are there at the nationwide level, we can push for a more representative electoral system.

      We can push system that uses ranked choice voting like Alaska did. We can also increase the size of the house of representatives to better match the idea of representation the founding fathers had for us. It’s been nearly a 100 years that the house was capped at 435

      The founding fathers had envisioned a house that grew with the size of the country:

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congressional_Apportionment_Amendment

      This laid the intent that we have 1 rep per 30,000 people and increase the constituents per rep by 10,000 each time the house reached another 100 seats.

      Or in other words, the max constituents represented by each rep in the house should be:

      30,000 + RoundedDown(Number of house seats/100)*10,000

      So at 400+ seats (1 rep per 70,000) would make sense for a country of 28 million. Really, with the wording of the amendment and understanding that the examples lay out a mathematical formula for expanding the house indefinitely (but with more people per rep as it goes up) we would have over a 1,000 reps! In fact, some quick math shows that per the original intents, we would have 1700 reps with at most 200,000 constituents each. This would hold until our population reaches 340 million when we’d switch to 1800 reps and a cap per rep of 210,000.

      There’s a current “Uncap the House” movement, however, I’m unsure of how much momentum they’ve been gaining.

      To see how the number of constituents has grown per member over the years:

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_congressional_apportionment#Number_of_members

      In other words, we’re being shorted almost 1300 reps!

    • Pratai@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      9
      ·
      10 months ago

      Pretty hard to just hope that all these tankies are bullshitting about knowingly allowing Trump to fleece America while they sit at home blaming democrats for getting him elected.

        • Pratai@lemmy.ca
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          arrow-down
          4
          ·
          edit-2
          10 months ago

          Thanks for proving my point. Enjoy your video games While the rest of us try and keep democracy alive for you to have something to keep complaining about while doing nothing.

          • go_go_gadget@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            4
            ·
            10 months ago

            I’ve been voting for 20 years bud. I’ve phone banked, canvassed and donated. I voted for Biden in the 2020 general because I wanted to give the claim that we could “push Biden to the left” a chance. It was a lie.

            I will be voting in the upcoming general election as well. Just not for Biden or Trump. And when Biden loses I’ll hear you asking “how could this happen??” instead of just acknowledging reality: you need to compromise with leftists if you want our votes. Otherwise you’re going to lose to fascists for a second time.

  • samus12345@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    85
    arrow-down
    19
    ·
    10 months ago

    both parties ultimately stand for the same values

    This is an extremely privileged take. Yes, both parties support corporations and capitalism. However, one party also supports the eradication of people they don’t like. This is a very significant difference.

  • Turun@feddit.de
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    71
    arrow-down
    9
    ·
    10 months ago

    If voting prevents literal murder then both parties obviously don’t stand for the same values.

      • mhague@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        10
        arrow-down
        5
        ·
        10 months ago

        Yeah one party is so bad they repeal things like DoMA while the other literally persecutes LGBT groups

        • Tinidril@midwest.social
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          19
          arrow-down
          2
          ·
          10 months ago

          And, who was it that signed DoMA into law? Ah, yes, Bill Clinton.

          LGBT became good business so the Democrats jumped on the bandwagon. I’m glad they are on the right side, but they are followers, not leaders. They support the disenfranchised when it benefits their larger cause of shoveling wealth to the top.

  • Neato@ttrpg.network
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    40
    arrow-down
    4
    ·
    10 months ago

    We don’t have fascism in the US yet. We have a party trying to get into fascist control. Voting can still stymie their attempts to do so and exposing their plans can cause them to lose supporters. Using the legal system to remove those breaking the laws and impeaching justices not upholding the constitution are how you prevent this.

    These things are hard. If it was easy to prevent fascists from seizing power, we wouldn’t have ever had fascist takeovers. Stopping fascism from taking root requires eternal vigilance as fascist sympathies ebb and flow.

    I heartily disagree with the last panels initial premise: both parties don’t stand for the same values. They both share values among some of their most prominent members. Namely neoliberal economic policy. But they are clearly not in sync with all policies: hence only one party attempting a fascist takeover. Ignoring the other things Democrats have accomplished that absolutely help people because they aren’t the huge sweeping reforms we hoped for is doing the fascists’ jobs for them.

    These memes also press for Revolution, which is definitely the dumbest thing to propose at this point. Revolution definitely has its place: namely if fascists actually disband democracy. But a revolution is a HUGE risk no matter who does it. Look at revolutions in the rest past, especially those started by popular sentiment: many ended in a totalitarian government, often backed by the military, who took power the moment the leaders faltered. In many of these instances the people didn’t win; they just traded one dictator for another. In order for a revolution to succeed, those revolting need to have both coordinated force of arms and a method of government ready to step in and take control to prevent societal collapse.

    But revolution also devalues what HAS been achieved by those still working within the system. The most obvious of these in the US are the great strides unions have made in recent years. Unions went from something only a handful of industries had and were largely despised by the general population, to exploding in numerous industries.

    • Ottomateeverything@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      13
      ·
      10 months ago

      I heartily disagree with the last panels initial premise: both parties don’t stand for the same values. They both share values among some of their most prominent members. Namely neoliberal economic policy. But they are clearly not in sync with all policies: hence only one party attempting a fascist takeover. Ignoring the other things Democrats have accomplished

      While I agree with your stance, I don’t think that conflicts with the panel’s stance or the way many of the memes are posing.

      I think the point here is more “they’re slightly different shades of the same color, but we need something very different.” In the grand scheme of politics and views, US Democrats and Republicans are extremely similar, especially right now. I wouldn’t discount democrats refusal to step into fascism, nor some of the progressive policies they push for, but these are minor differences in the grand scheme of things. Many of the things many people want in this country are vastly different than either party’s stance, and that’s what’s being pointed to.

      These memes also press for Revolution, which is definitely the dumbest thing to propose at this point. Revolution definitely has its place: namely if fascists actually disband democracy. But a revolution is a HUGE risk no matter who does it. Look at revolutions in the rest past, especially those started by popular sentiment: many ended in a totalitarian government, often backed by the military, who took power the moment the leaders faltered.

      I think you’re blowing this out of proportion. They’re pressing for drastic change. Is that revolution? Sure, but it’s not necessarily violent. The majority of these memes don’t seem to push that. Maybe some do, but those are definitely not the majority here.

      I’d summarize by this comment lower in this thread - I think it summarizes the same stance as these memes from an outsiders perspective:

      Can you US people make a party that isn’t a bunch of ghouls already so we can stop having this argument every day

    • kofe@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      14
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      10 months ago

      Counterpoint to yours on revolution: democratic systems are revolutionary. Elections can result in the overthrow of current governments in favor of new ones with the peaceful transition being a key factor.

  • fidodo@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    33
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    10 months ago

    More important than the president or Congress, remember that you’re also voting for a ticket to the supreme Court, and that vote really really fucking matters.

  • flames5123@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    31
    arrow-down
    5
    ·
    10 months ago

    Voting takes like 10 minutes

    100% false. In the 2020 election in Mississippi, I had to wait in line for 2 hours. My wife had to call into the vet clinic she worked at to make sure she could to take a 3 hour lunch to vote even though it was 2 miles from where she worked. It was so disorganized and so slow.

    I’m so glad I vote via mail now in Washington.

    • splonglo@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      10 months ago

      That’s not the worst of it, people were waiting for over 10 hours in Georgia. All because the GOP rigged it so there’d be a shortage of voting locations. And they have the nerve to turn around and lie about the dems stealing the election. Absolute scum.

    • Daxtron2@startrek.website
      cake
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      10 months ago

      I voted by mail in 2016 and my ballot never got counted even though it was sent weeks before the deadline. I now vote in person unless I have no other choice.

      • flames5123@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        10 months ago

        The great thing about Washington is that it’s opt out mail in voting. When you get your license, you register to vote at the same time, and they just send your ballot via mail. It’s nice!

    • hglman@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      10 months ago

      Voting is the minimum effort required of actual change the system. Any arguments about it being hard are here to stop more direct action.

  • CouncilOfFriends@slrpnk.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    21
    ·
    edit-2
    10 months ago

    10 minutes might be the average, as even my backwards Republican controlled state has moved to vote by mail. I get the ballot, do a quick internet search on people or issues I don’t understand, and move on with my day in less time than that typically. As a bonus, mail ballots are far easier to audit and recount than those ridiculous electronic voting machines which print the voter’s choices next to the non-human readable QR code which is actually used for counting.

    I don’t have experience in states which put up barriers or hours of waiting in line for in-person and mail voting, and I admire those who put up with that shit

  • Aceticon@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    17
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    10 months ago

    It’s deeply ironic the use of an Icelandic singer in a meme to justify participating in the performance of the Theatre Of The Vote in the, unlike in Iceland, far from Democratic American Duopoly system.

    Unironic would be to use Putin or some well known Russian figure.

      • barsoap@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        edit-2
        10 months ago

        Now you’ve made me curious. The depths of the interwebs reveal that she says she casts an empty ballot, no reasoning given. Iceland doesn’t have compulsory voting.

        Staying in Iceland: Jón Gnarr is also an anarchist and ran for office. Then, I’m an anarchist and the opposite of anti-electoral, if nothing else it’s necessary to combat depoliticisation and protect liberal democracy as the stopgap measure it is. Fascists won’t stop voting to try and capture the state least you can do is cancel out their vote by voting non-fascist.

        I’m not even sure there’s many anti-electoral anarchists around, actually arguing against voting instead of simply personally not voting (which lots of people do for various reasons), practically all the arguments you hear from that side is egg-headed theoretical moralising without reference to praxis.

  • Pratai@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    27
    arrow-down
    13
    ·
    10 months ago

    I’m so glad to be seeing a lot more of this type of content lately. It gives me hope that logic and reason can play a bigger role here on lemmy moving forward.

    Was getting a bit bummed that it seemed to be a far leftist tankie haven.

    • LadyAutumn@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      20
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      10 months ago

      Idk why you’re equating far leftists and marxist-leninists. Lemmy will have a political bias depending on what your instance is. But the majority of Lemmy has had in the past, continues to have in the present, and for the foreseeable future will have a leftist bias. The software is made by leftists and has strong ties to the self hosted and GNU communities, which themselves are heavily associated with leftists and leftist politics.

    • Tinidril@midwest.social
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      16
      ·
      10 months ago

      It’s way out of proportion to the tiny percentage of the politically active left that doesn’t vote or doesn’t vote Democratic. It’s a feel-good virtue-signaling that does nothing but validate the lame excuses the establishment uses every time they lose to a fascist.

      Despite the noise you see online (from people who’s mind you won’t change) leftists overwhelmingly hold their noses and pull the Democrat lever every 4 years. We don’t need to be reminded of how much it sucks every damn day.

      It’s the ordinary non-policy-wonks that stay home on election day, and it’s pathetic Democrats that make that happen. Sane Americans have checked out of the process because they don’t see the point and have better things to do. They also aren’t here to be preached at.

      You don’t need the left to show up to vote. We already do that. You need us donating to campaigns, passing out flyers, making phone calls, and countering the endless flow of bullshit from the right, and all the other things that you aren’t doing because you are here feeling good about preaching to the choir.

      The Democrats have my vote, but I can’t stomach doing the establishment’s work anymore. Just once I would like to be able to confront a rightist and not have them be able to counter with accusations of elitism and corruption that are absolutely true. Just once I would like to explain to someone how the Democrats actually will help them figure out how to get out from under a mountain of debt. I just don’t have whatever it takes to advance campaigns of grift, elitist bluster, and empty promises.

        • go_go_gadget@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          6
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          10 months ago

          You mean the voters who didn’t show up to vote for Hillary Clinton didn’t show up for Joe Biden? How could they??

          Where’s your ire for the people who voted for Biden in the primaries and fucked over progressive and leftist efforts hm? No lectures for them?

        • Tinidril@midwest.social
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          10 months ago

          You got the talking point wrong. 12% of Bernie’s supporters voted for Trump, but that doesn’t mean what you think. This has been analyzed into the ground. Bernie attracted the left, but he also attracted generally anti-establishment centrists. The Democrats lost those votes by going with Mr. Establishment, just like they lost them with Mrs. Establishment 4 years prior.

          The ENTIRE argument for Biden in the primary was that he could get pro-establishment centrists to beat Trump. Are we now being told that being able to reach voters that other Democrats can’t is a bad thing? (By the way, pro-establishment centrists barely exist, but that’s another issue.)

          Now look at how many Hillary supporters voted for McCain instead of Obama.

          https://acbc89.medium.com/more-sanders-voters-backed-clinton-than-her-own-supporters-backed-obama-c5dc37658fe5

          • Pratai@lemmy.ca
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            arrow-down
            9
            ·
            10 months ago

            It’s not up for debate that a large amount of Bernie Bros stayed home instead of voted. That 12% is only a portion of those that chose to vote against their own interests- the remaining asshats that threw a temper tantrum and stayed home were no different than the kids now.

            Same show- different band.

            • Tinidril@midwest.social
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              4
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              edit-2
              10 months ago

              First of all, fuck you for “Bernie Bros” slur. Bernie had the most inclusive campaign of any candidate.

              The people who stayed home were not steadfast Bernie supporters. If they were, they would have done what Bernie asked them to do when he endorsed Hillary, and then Biden. Also, 12% is the smallest number we have seen in the last 50 years.

              A huge part of this country absolutely hates establishment politicians of either party. Voter turnout in the US is abysmal because of that. Bernie had a unique ability to rouse those voters, and we could have had them in the general, bot nothing was going to make them show up for Joe Biden.

              The insane logic behind your tantrums is that being a politician with a broader appeal than other politicians in your party is a bad thing. It’s no wonder Democrats managed to lose to a circus clown.

              You are not going to berate anti-establishment voters, especially conservative anti-establishment voters, into showing up at the polls. That is not a thing that happens in this reality. The only thing you might achieve is to convince even more voters that the system is hopeless and not worth their time to get involved.

              The bottom line is, that this country was very likely doomed when Biden won that primary. He was the wrong candidate, and the reasons why are playing out before your eyes. The absolute best case scenario is that Biden manages to edge our Trump, and then God help the Democratic party in 2028.

                • Tinidril@midwest.social
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  ·
                  10 months ago

                  Yeah, getting pissed about genocide actually is kinda like getting pissed about a medical system that is killing people by the thousands. Setting aside your slur, you aren’t entirely wrong.

                  If I were a Republican strategist, I would have trolls doing exactly what you are, in addition to trolls attacking Biden. Maybe that’s even you, but I don’t know how we could tell.

                  If you want to argue that Biden isn’t as culpable for what’s going on as many think he is, I think there is a case to be made. Biden sure makes it difficult, not to mention Pelosi’s latest idiocy, but foreign policy is complicated. I personally don’t think “Genocide Joe” is entirely fair, but I also know that you aren’t going to convince people of that by being an asshole and throwing slurs at them.

            • go_go_gadget@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              4
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              10 months ago

              Buddy, those were traditionally Republican voters who decided to vote for someone running as a Democrat. That’s how much appeal Bernie had. I know this because I phone banked during the primaries and after people living in open primary states realized how primaries worked and I wasn’t calling to fight Trump they got excited hearing about Bernie.

              You’re imagining that a bunch of voters who voted for Obama suddenly voted for Trump in 2016. Sure bud.

              • Pratai@lemmy.ca
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                2
                arrow-down
                6
                ·
                edit-2
                10 months ago

                No, not all of them were. There were TONS of democratic voters that bailed when Berne dripped out. Don’t play it down. We were all there.

                • go_go_gadget@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  3
                  ·
                  edit-2
                  10 months ago

                  Oh I definitely bailed. I’m not denying that at all. But we were talking about Bernie supporters who voted for Trump. I voted but I didn’t vote for Trump or Hillary.

    • mightyfoolish@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      10
      arrow-down
      14
      ·
      10 months ago

      Absolutely. So glad that under Biden the lives of many non white men got better.

      1. Police don’t attack black people anymore
      2. Abortion is now legal again thanks to Biden’s efforts
      3. Native Americans recovered so much of their land
      4. Puerto Rico got fully rebuilt
      5. There isn’t an army on the southern army calling itself “The Army of God”
      6. The country isn’t aiding genocide
      7. Americans can afford basic necessities even houses

      This country was ran so differently under Trump. I couldn’t even recognize it anymore. So different. Well, at least we know the secret that our two parties are so different. Stupid tankies and their talk of making things better.

      • Pratai@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        7
        arrow-down
        9
        ·
        edit-2
        10 months ago

        lol… thanks for illustrating my point.

        Those things have/haven’t happened under EVERY president. So therefore what you’ve done was given yourself (in your own ignorance) an excuse to never vote for anyone- EVER.

        what you kids need to understand is that it’s happening with or without your participation. At lease if you participate, you have a chance to reduce the potential damage.

        But you don’t care, do you? You’re too busy thumping your chest and suggesting dumb shit someone you didn’t know existed a year ago- wrote about book you never read.

          • Pratai@lemmy.ca
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            4
            ·
            10 months ago

            Yes, it is the problem. However, sitting on your hands and not voting?

            Show me an instance in history where NOT voting resulted in a desired outcome for those that didn’t vote.

            Just ONE.

            • mightyfoolish@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              2
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              10 months ago

              I do agree with you people should vote [but for a third party]. I misread your comment as basically saying “you people not supporting Democrats are just tankies doing a protest” which is nonsense I see all over Lemmy. I have seemed to mix up several topics. I do apologize for missing your point. Voting is important.

              Still:

              1. You agree that the meme says that voting is near useless (except it “helps certain minorities”).
              2. Then you agree with that minorities have the same issues no matter who gets voted in.
              3. Now I have to go look for a specific time where someone did not vote and was still satisfied with the outcome? Every election has those kind of people. Not all non-voters are mad at the results of every election.
              4. Voting for the MAIN two parties doesn’t improve the status quo.
              • Pratai@lemmy.ca
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                3
                arrow-down
                2
                ·
                10 months ago

                We’re in a vote to save democracy state right now. Any other time, or in times past- I’d be totally fine and completely understand third party voting. Hell, I’d support it as much as possible.

                Not now.

                We might be in the final moments of democracy’s life as we know it and I really wish people understood this enough to take it seriously.

                I can’t stand Biden to be honest with you. He represents something that Donta in any way- resemble the direction America needs to go in. But we’re beyond those things being relevant right now.

                Basically, what’s happening right now… is that we need to eradicate a cancerous tumor and all these kids want to do is cry about the side effects of the medication.

    • JimboDHimbo@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      8
      ·
      10 months ago

      Nah the leftists are still here. We’re either on burner accts and lurking or on defederated instances maintaining our peace from the rest of y’all.

      • Pratai@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        4
        arrow-down
        21
        ·
        edit-2
        10 months ago

        Never said you weren’t here, just that a lot of you are finally being put in your place.

        And as long as those defederated instances don’t find their way back- I couldn’t care less. You kids can scream at one another day and night- so long as noone has to put up with that ignorant garbage

          • Pratai@lemmy.ca
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            3
            arrow-down
            10
            ·
            10 months ago

            My place is reason and logic. And not turning sensationalization into a trend.

              • Pratai@lemmy.ca
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                4
                arrow-down
                5
                ·
                10 months ago

                Yeah. I get that expecting these kids to understand that life is nuanced, and that things are far more complicated than what the cool kids at school say they are. It’s actually very funny now that I think about it.

                I did the same shit what I was 15.

        • JimboDHimbo@lemmy.ca
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          11
          arrow-down
          3
          ·
          10 months ago

          Never said you weren’t here, just that a lot of you are finally being put in your place.

          As a POC, this reads like some old, condescending racist wrote it.

          • Pratai@lemmy.ca
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            3
            arrow-down
            11
            ·
            edit-2
            10 months ago

            You should probably fix how you read things, because there was absolute nothing racist about what I said.

            • JimboDHimbo@lemmy.ca
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              6
              arrow-down
              3
              ·
              10 months ago

              Tell me, what “place” do I need to be put in, Pratai? Is it one where I do as I’m told and vote along the party line, in fear of the exact same shit happening no matter who’s in charge?

              • Pratai@lemmy.ca
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                4
                arrow-down
                10
                ·
                10 months ago

                lol… so you equate one being put in their place as a direct insinuation of racism?

                You’re proving my point right as we speak. Manufactured outrage. There it is. You’ve purposefully misread my comment so you can create an argument outside of its own topic.

                Stop doing this. It’s not helpful to anyone.

  • Synapse@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    13
    ·
    10 months ago

    I would like to remind all EU citizens we are voting for the parlament in June. Make sure you are properly registered to vote !

  • Patapon Enjoyer@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    14
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    10 months ago

    Can you US people make a party that isn’t a bunch of ghouls already so we can stop having this argument every day

    • lugal@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      10 months ago

      German here. He had parties that weren’t a bunch of ghouls. Some don’t exist anymore or have never been in power, others either replaced the good guys with ghouls or the good guys were corrupted by power and became ghouls themselves over time. Face it, electoral politics aren’t enough.

    • aew360@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      12
      arrow-down
      5
      ·
      10 months ago

      Yeah, if everyone voted. I don’t understand why people are confused by this. Just vote. Get your friends to vote. We know that most Americans aren’t evil. Otherwise this entire country would be like Florida. But only like a third of Americans able to vote do so.

      You know who votes like, all the fucking time? The ghouls. They love to vote. And we don’t show up. Defeating Trump one more time should end the MAGA movement and then we can focus on propping up a candidate in 2028 who will actually capture the change that we want to see. Midterms too!. But this process only starts if we ensure Biden remains in the White House. You may not like his foreign policy, but he believes in climate change and won’t suppress democracy. Trump will effectively end it via Project 2025, courtesy of the fascist Heritage Foundation.

      • assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        7
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        10 months ago

        You know who votes like, all the fucking time? The ghouls.

        This is actually the greatest evidence for why voting works. The ghouls maintain a hold on government because the ghouls consistently vote.

      • PrettyLights@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        10 months ago

        Isn’t it also “evil” to know all you have to do is spend a couple hours once a year and not do it?

        Why are people who vote Republican evil in your eyes, but those who are too lazy to vote against it not evil?

        • aew360@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          2
          ·
          10 months ago

          I don’t think it’s malicious. I think that most people are just wildly misinformed or uninformed.

          Like, I saw a pro-Trump account on youtube share a Family Guy clip about 9/11 and Iraq. Peter kept asking what Iraq had to do with 9/11 and they said they kept saying “there’s no connection”. So then all the Trumpers were celebrating Family Guy.

          If they were informed, they would know that the GOP in 2003 and 2004 would CONSTANTLY say Democrats were “aiding and abetting terrorists” by questioning why the Bush administration was so fixated on Iraq. It’s all Republicans. It’s the same party. They’re celebrating Family Guy without realizing Family Guy is shitting on their favorite political party.

          Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck and Tucker Carlson and every other slimy piece of shit who defends Trump today were the same ones defending Bush back then. If they were informed, they would likely be more inclined to vote but again, the GOP has successfully waged war on education and critical thinking.

          So we’re sort of at this deadline where democracy could realistically cease in the U.S. and the alarms are going off but no one is panicking. I want to think it’s evil to not show up and vote, but it’s not evil. It’s just evidence of how the Republicans have victimized so many people abroad and domestically.

          • PrettyLights@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            arrow-down
            2
            ·
            10 months ago

            Thanks for the thought out response! Can you apply this same logic to the people voting right then? Aren’t many right wingers just misinformed or outright manipulated by the political and media machine?

            Why is it evil to do what they truly think is good? They can’t grasp the full impact of their vote in your opinion nor remember history.

            I think we need to stop demonizing everyone we disagree with.

            • aew360@lemm.ee
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              10 months ago

              I think you’re mostly right about that. I’ve been having this conversation with my wife too. If most people understood how dangerous it is to ban abortion because abortion is absolutely healthcare, then maybe we wouldn’t see so much widespread support for national bans and strict limitations.

              At the same time, we have to come to grips with reality and accept that a significant portion of Americans are aware, and simply don’t care or think it’s better for the woman to die. In their minds, at least the woman can go to heaven? I don’t really get their points, but it’s something like that?

              There’s also the border. People are dying every day making that crossing. Not all deaths occur at the border, but many occur along the long, perilous journey they’re making in search of a better life. The U.S. is a massive country and can support them. It could use the additional labor. We can assimilate them if we accepted them. And yet, they don’t want that. They clutch their pearls and grip their bibles while simultaneously advocating for a stance that cannot be further from the teachings of Christ

              When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.

              And then we have the case of trans rights and same-sex marriage. This is more of a Constitutional crisis than a biblical one, but both make the same case that the Republicans disagree with. The Constitution ensures a separation of church and state. They don’t care, and use Judeo-Christian values to influence public policy. The Bible goes on and on about tolerance and acceptance, and withholding judgement for the creator. And yet, here’s Ken Paxton, trying to kick off the second round of the Salem Witch Trials.

              They love this shit. They love it when Trump says horrible shit about minorities and women. Whether it’s Nikki Haley, Mitch McConnell’s wife, or Liz Cheney (all three of which served under him or alongside him when he was President). They love it when he says he’ll kick out foreigners because they’re poisoning the blood of America, which is Neo-Nazi as fuck. They eat it up when he stokes anti-Asian sentiment and praises Putin and Netanyahu for killing thousands of people. They can’t get enough of his endless appetite for revenge against people who simply disagree with him.

              I don’t see how anyone who isn’t evil can support him today, but I can agree with not labeling people evil who aren’t aware of just how demented he is and will inevitably vote for him this year because “gas was cheaper under Trump” even though the U.S. has had the greatest recovery from COVID among all developed nations and is producing the most domestic energy in the history of any country on the planet.

              • PrettyLights@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                10 months ago

                In my opinion people say they care about a laundry list of things but really only care deeply about a couple, or sometimes a single issue.

                For your abortion comment I think the answer is pretty simple. They believe it is murder, and that makes it black and white for them. In their eyes “letting” a woman die is the lesser evil compared to actively ending the pregnancy and committing “murder”. I believe abortion is healthcare but I can also understand their position however much I disagree. Trump is the guy who got them an abortion victory, regardless of whatever else he’s done he accomplished their one true goal in their eyes.

                Also you seem to equate Republicans and actively Religious people as the same group. People can be nuanced, not every trumper is religious. The majority I’ve met in person probably haven’t been to church since their mom made them as a child, or never went at all.

    • Neato@ttrpg.network
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      6
      ·
      10 months ago

      Ghouls as in age? While there’s quite a lot of septuagenarians in Congress, there’s also quite a few junior congresspeople who are younger.

      If you mean ghouls as in those not chomping at the bit to hurt people: Democrats have quite a few progressive congresspeople. Not the majority, but that follows the US’s population: the US isn’t super progressive yet. It’s getting there and quickly but centrist candidates still get more votes (as they do nearly everywhere) so the center needs to keep sliding.

      Besides, exactly what countries are doing that much better right now? Which democracies aren’t sliding into far-right? We’ve got Brexit in the UK, Italy has an actual fascist. Far-right Marine Le Pen got 41% in France. Germany’s far-right party gained 13% since last election; and while they are doing well to protest that and aren’t approaching majority, it’s still quite a concerning trend.

      This is nearly a world-wide trend which is quite concerning.

  • tubaruco@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    10
    ·
    10 months ago

    idk whats worse, having an uncropped reddit watermark or an uncropped ifunny watermark