• Nougat@fedia.io
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    2 months ago

    Turns out, if you’re further left than either realistic candidate (because FPTP), it makes it really easy to figure out who you should vote for. “I wonder if I should vote for the person who’s not left enough for my liking, or the one is so far beyond that as to be the diametric opposite of left. Whatever shall I do?”

    • umbrella@lemmy.ml
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      2 months ago

      eh. one thing is to choose a candidate who seem less bad somehow, another is to be an actual liberal.

    • lengau@midwest.social
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      2 months ago

      Yeah, the “you’re voting for genocide” argument is also ridiculous, as the choices essentially boil down to:

      🔲 One genocide (with a potential of partial mitigation)
      🔲 2+ genocides (and the one being even worse)
      🔲 Don’t care (in green)
      🔲 Don’t care (in yellow)

      etc.

      Genocide is bad. That should not be a controversial statement. I will use my vote to choose the least genocide that it has the power to choose, and I will use my other energy to advocate for less (and hopefully zero) genocide.

      You don’t have to like that fact. I certainly don’t like it. But this is exactly what harm reduction looks like.

      • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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        2 months ago

        This is just a monstrous reframing of a bipartisan genocide. Voting dem or voting rep is a vote for genocide, full stop, because they support the same genocide to the same magnitude, materially. Pretending Dems are better because genocide makes some of their voterbase sad is wrong.

        I will use my vote to choose the least genocide that it has the power to choose

        Then vote Greens or PSL.

        • lengau@midwest.social
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          2 months ago

          Then vote Greens or PSL.

          Sorry, I’m not going to vote “don’t care” on genocide no matter how many faux leftists pretend it’s the morally superior option.

          • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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            2 months ago

            It’s morally superior to vote for genocide but pretend your flavor of genocide isn’t the exact same as the other flavor of genocide.

            • lengau@midwest.social
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              2 months ago

              Look, if you don’t care about LGBT folks, women who need abortions, asylum seekers, etc. you can pull that “don’t care” lever. But “I care about making a symbolic, but ultimately toothless, gesture about Palestine more than I care about the lives of thousands, possibly millions of others” is what voting third-party is telling the system right now. If that makes you feel morally superior, we’re at an impasse because I don’t know how to explain to someone that an action to save lives is more powerful than an unrealistic gesture about saving even more lives, but which will realistically increase the amount of death and suffering.

              • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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                2 months ago

                Is there a red line for you in the sand, or would you vote for Hitler if 101% Hitler was running? When do you abandon hope in the Democrats, if being genocidal Imperialists doing nothing to help marginalized groups, and are running to the right of Trump in 2016 with respect to immigration, doesn’t?

                • lengau@midwest.social
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                  2 months ago

                  That’s a non-sequitur, because that’s not what’s happening by any means. But thanks for ceding the point that you’re okay feeling morally superior by doing something that’ll get more people killed.

              • Achyu@lemmy.sdf.org
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                2 months ago

                Look, if you don’t care about LGBT folks, women who need abortions, asylum seekers, etc. you can pull that “don’t care” lever

                Not a person living in USA, wouldn’t a coalition govt be better then, as the Roe vs Wade issue happened while the Democrats were in power?
                Or are coalitions not allowed?
                Or is the central govt powerless in such issues?

                • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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                  2 months ago

                  The US government is essentially a theatre troup trying to convince the public there is nothing outside the 2 party system, while both parties serve their donors alone.

                  • Achyu@lemmy.sdf.org
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                    2 months ago

                    Aah. Thank you.
                    Would the govt be able to create any laws to counter the case being overturned?

                    And unrelated:
                    Could the Green party and Democrats form a coalition and choose the President accordingly, if the results are bad?
                    I’m an Indian, where we have parliamentary democracy.
                    Parties can form coalitions and the leader set by the coalition becomes the Prime minister and the President is not as powerful, eventhough they’re technically the head of the nation.

                    Is it different in USA? If Trumps gains most votes, can the Greens and Democrats channel votes against him by creating a coalition?

          • zarkanian@sh.itjust.works
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            2 months ago

            You’re going to have to explain this convoluted logic to your grandchildren when they ask you why you voted for genocide.

            • lengau@midwest.social
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              2 months ago

              What I’m going to have to explain to them is why I voted “don’t care” in 2016. That’s a mistake I will forever have to live with. But if I can convince a few people not to make that same mistake, I will at least be able to reduce the harm I did.

      • Seasm0ke@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Dont care may be not voting at all, not automatically applicable to people who vote for the candidates libs dont like.

        • lengau@midwest.social
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          2 months ago

          Voting third party is telling the system that you don’t have a preference between the two candidates who have even the slightest chance of winning. It sucks that there’s such constrained communication one can do (and we need a better voting system), but in the short term, the three options I’ve listed are what you have the options to communicate.

          • Seasm0ke@lemmy.world
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            2 months ago

            The cool thing about independent thought is I dont have to ascribe the same value judgement or perspective as the DNC. Im able to vote closer to my principles by choosing a socialist candidate every time the DNC nominees move toward the right.

            Bad faith lemmings will paint that as not caring about the outcome, but I can sleep at night knowing that when offered a choice between slow descent to fascism and rapid descent to fascism, I chose no fascism.

    • basmati@lemmus.org
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      2 months ago

      Both candidates fall under the latter category. An AG that was a prosecutor with a history of perpetuating the war on drugs and arguing in court innocent men should stay imprisoned because prison labor is good for the economy, who was also vice president to one of the most right wing men ever elected?

      That’s literally the state half of the fascist alignment of corporate and state power.