“Every previous president would have ended it by now.”

“Biden literally couldn’t do worse.”

  • agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works
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    8 months ago

    As I said, ‘No genocide’ is not one of the two options that’s going to win. The race is close, not voting for ‘less genocide’ only helps ‘lots of genocide’. So you’re helping ‘lots of genocide’ beat ‘less genocide’, congrats.

    • Sybil@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      voting against genocide doesn’t help genocide. this is pure doublespeak.

      • agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works
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        8 months ago

        Voting against genocide doesn’t reduce genocide. In American elections, the only votes that have an effect are those for one of the two front-runners. Any other vote is an admission of equivocation of the two front-runners. The two front-runners are ‘some genocide’ and ‘lots of genocide’. Equivocating the two means you think ‘some genocide’ and ‘lots of genocide’ are equally acceptable. Q.E.D. you accept lots of genocide.

        • Sybil@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          Equivocating the two means you think ‘some genocide’ and ‘lots of genocide’ are equally acceptable.

          no. i don’t find either of those acceptable. that doesn’t make them the same. it just means that neither of them meets the bar of acceptability.

          • agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works
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            8 months ago

            Unfortunately the American electoral system is not ranked choice, so “bar of acceptability” isn’t a functionally meaningful concept. In American elections, the situation is as I’ve described above. Refusing to choose one of the two primary options functionally means you find both primary options equally acceptable.

            • Sybil@lemmy.world
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              8 months ago

              Refusing to choose one of the two primary options functionally means you find both primary options equally acceptable.

              false.

              • ieatpillowtags@lemm.ee
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                7 months ago

                You’re going to allow one of them to be president, so no it’s not false. Throwing your vote away on a third party is equivalent to not voting.

                • Sybil@lemmy.world
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                  7 months ago

                  Throwing your vote away on a third party is equivalent to not voting.

                  election misinformation. my vote must be counted just as everyone else’.

                • Sybil@lemmy.world
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                  7 months ago

                  you find both primary options equally acceptable.

                  i don’t finde them equally acceptable, but i find them both unacceptable.

            • Sybil@lemmy.world
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              8 months ago

              duverger’s “law” has no predictive value. it’s a tautology as empty as “supply and demand”.

              • agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works
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                8 months ago

                That’s not what a tautology is, Duverger’s Law is a mathematical derivative of First Past the Post election systems. Yes, under FPTP systems, voting third party is equivocating support for both primary parties. Performative ethics without pragmatics is moral masturbation.

                Splitting your responses is rhetorically ridiculous.

                • Sybil@lemmy.world
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                  8 months ago

                  under FPTP systems, voting third party is equivocating support for both primary parties.

                  no, it’s not.

                • Sybil@lemmy.world
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                  8 months ago

                  it is a tautology and saying that it’s not doesn’t change that. it has exactly no ability to predict the future outcome of any election.

                • Sybil@lemmy.world
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                  8 months ago

                  Performative ethics without pragmatics is moral masturbation.

                  deontological ethics are preferred by professional philosophers and are the basis of most ethical systems. most people grew up with an understanding that “the ends justify the means” can be used to justify some pretty horrific shit.

                • Sybil@lemmy.world
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                  8 months ago

                  Splitting your responses is rhetorically ridiculous.

                  if you don’twant to talk to me, please don’t

              • Leate_Wonceslace@lemmy.dbzer0.comOP
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                7 months ago

                Tautologies are statements that are necessarily true by virtue of their construction. In order to show that something is tautological, you must reduce it to an open statement and be able to show that it’s true independent of the variables. Tautologies include “Not Q or Q” and the equivalent “If Q then Q”. Furthermore, stating that something is a tautology implies that you believe it’s true. The last time I encountered someone claiming that something didn’t have predictive value “because it’s a tautology” was a creationist saying the same of evolution, and I realized they had essentially granted their opponent’s conclusion.

                • Sybil@lemmy.world
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                  7 months ago

                  in a show of good faith, i’m about to break from my usual rhetorical style. i hope you find this explanation helpful


                  Duverger’s Law is a tautology because, from a critical rationalist perspective, a tautological statement is one that cannot be empirically tested or falsified—it’s true by definition. Duverger’s Law states that a plurality-rule election system tends to favor a two-party system. However, if this law is framed in such a way that any outcome can be rationalized within its parameters, then it becomes unfalsifiable.

                  For example, if a country with a plurality-rule system has more than two parties, one might argue that the system still “tends to” favor two parties, and the current state is an exception or transition phase. This kind of reasoning makes the law immune to counterexamples, and thus, it operates more as a tautological statement than an empirical hypothesis. The critical rationalist critique of marginalist economics, which relies on ceteris paribus (all else being equal) conditions, suggests any similarly structured law should be viewed with skepticism. For Duverger’s Law to be more than a tautology, it would need to be stated in a way that allows for clear empirical testing and potential falsification, without the possibility of explaining away any contradictory evidence. This would make it a substantive theory that can contribute to our understanding of political systems rather than a mere tautology.

                • Sybil@lemmy.world
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                  7 months ago

                  The last time I encountered someone claiming that something didn’t have predictive value “because it’s a tautology” was a creationist saying the same of evolution

                  i don’t know the exact context you’re referencing, but i do know that trying to pigeonhole me with creationists is underhanded.

                • Sybil@lemmy.world
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                  7 months ago

                  stating that something is a tautology implies that you believe it’s true.

                  i believe anyone may claim that the price of a good can be described as the point at which temporal demand met temporal supply, but that doesn’t make it a useful observation. it’s not even disprovable, as there is no way to test it. so there is no reason to believe it’s actually true.

                  • Leate_Wonceslace@lemmy.dbzer0.comOP
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                    7 months ago

                    I’m not getting in another argument with you; you’re dishonest and annoying. I replied to educate, because despite your claims otherwise you’re clearly ignorant.

                • Sybil@lemmy.world
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                  7 months ago

                  a tautology is also an appropriate term for any post hoc explanation of material facts that gives no insight into how the future will happen.

                  duverger’s “law” is storytelling, it’s not science.

            • Sybil@lemmy.world
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              8 months ago

              “bar of acceptability” isn’t a functionally meaningful concept.

              it is in ethics

        • Sybil@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          Any other vote is an admission of equivocation of the two front-runners.

          false dichotomy

          • Hamartia@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            Loving your dauntless energy. Nothing gives a bully the shits quite like looking them in the eye.