this post was submitted on 24 Oct 2024
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It's the Trolley Problem. Many people finding themselves in that problem would say, "Of course I flip the switch, one person is less than five people".
But if you take a step back it's reasonable to ask, "WHY did I suddenly find myself in this Trolley Problem? Trolleys don't spring into existence fully formed like Athena springing from Zeus' forehead. They are designed and built, piece by piece. The switch was setup by the agency of someone. People were kidnapped and tied down by force. I was placed here on purpose."
So given that realization it's also reasonable when told you must choose to say, "Why? You designed this system. You tied the people down. You could have done it differently and instead deliberately did THIS. I had nothing to do with it and I refuse the premise that I must participate in your fucked up game. No matter what happens the blood is on your hands and I refuse to share in your guilt."
That's the essential argument. There's the realpolitik decision to do "less harm", but you can also reject the fucked up premise.
You can reject the fucked up premise, and find you still live in a reality that doesn't give a shit. In reality there are two outcomes to this election, and just a smidge of knowledge of game theory would show it doesn't make sense to help the worse side, both in the short and long term.
I hate that we have 2 options, I hate that there is no 'no genocide' option. Me hating that shouldn't cause me to make worse decisions with clearly worse outcomes for everyone
The critique of the trolly problem isn't that you don't still make the choice, it's that the outcome was predetermined before you even got there.
Leftists who are making a point of abstaining are doing so to point out that voters have no control over the trolly to begin with - that the choice is artificial because the outcomes were pre-selected by someone/something else to ensure a particular outcome, and that participating in that choice only ends up legitimizing that process.
The no genocide option is to protest against the current regime instead of vote shaming people who probably don't even live in a single swing state (where your candidate brought Liz Fucking Cheney btw).
There is no "No Genocide" option. There only Same Genocide with Harris and More Genocide with Trump.
Do you even hear yourself?
Do you know the reality of our electrical system?