this post was submitted on 14 Nov 2023
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2020 was... truly unique. It was so hard to stay away from doom scrolling, and I (and many others) were pretty disillusioned by the sad fact that so much of our country legitimately supported the Orange Man. I didn't get a wink of sleep the night of the election because I genuinely considered it to be a make or break decision for America.

My point is that looking back on it, in the end the only real difference I made was at the ballet box. This year I'm going for the Head-in-the-Sand approach. I'm done with the political memes. Done with the Twitter screenshots. It just riles me up and this year I'm gonna do my best to fight that.

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[–] shiveyarbles@beehaw.org 6 points 1 year ago (4 children)

A lot of trolling about voting green party, not voting, not voting Biden. Any of these positions is pro Trump, and that's the simple truth.

So admit that at least, you WANT a dictatorship.

[–] OprahsedCreature@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I do want a dictatorship...of the proletariat

[–] shiveyarbles@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Oh you'll get what you deserve then

[–] lemillionsocks@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Eh I understand the long term apathy and eventual giving up.

They cant keep winning votes by just not being republicans. They will always not be republicans and eventually people are going to want more out of them.

[–] shiveyarbles@beehaw.org 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I don't understand accepting tyranny. The two party system kind of sucks and we can work on it, but once you accept the tyranny of an authoritarian, you're fucked. Oh boohoo Biden is old and centrist, the option is a dumpster fire that is infinitely worse.

[–] OprahsedCreature@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

old and centrist

You forgot to put "and genocidal". Which I guess is centrist in Amerikkka these days.

[–] Rudith@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Unfortunately he's still the better choice. There is a sum to this comparison. Do we think Trump would not be genocidal in the ways you're referencing?

[–] OprahsedCreature@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

Let's assume you're right. Why would anyone vote for anyone committing genocide? Voting third party or abstaining would be your only moral option in this scenario, otherwise you're complicit. At this point the number of dead Palestinian children is conservatively 4000. If you contribute to reelecting a leader enabling that, their blood is on your hands.

[–] MisterScruffy@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

When will tyranny happen? Trump was president before and everyone thought that he was going to take over as tyrant but he never did because he's too lazy for that. Biden has been involved in murdering civilians overseas for like 40 years and trump hasn't. Trump is the lesser of two evils

[–] shiveyarbles@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You weren't paying attention, there was a failed attempt at a coup of the US government.

[–] MisterScruffy@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

The coup failed because Trump is a lazy moron and tried to asked the military to back him up on the day and they said no. A coup cannot happen without military support and trump is never going to get that from the generals and officers who run the us military. Too many of them are democrats.

The bad outcome that you're worried about is happening right now the current president is supporting genocide overseas and has supported mass slaughter for his entire long career

[–] shiveyarbles@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago

No you're being hilariously ridiculous. Good day

[–] Count042@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Not at the cost of supporting a genocidaire. If the Democratic party wanted to not have a second Trump term, they shouldn't have supported genocide.

[–] shiveyarbles@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I warned you Dems! Now I'm going to vote for a fascist dictatorship! That'll show you!

[–] Count042@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

Great reading comprehension.

[–] MisterScruffy@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

A party that wants my vote should do something I like to earn that vote. This is politics not religion.

[–] shiveyarbles@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yes but in reality, no party can please everyone.. and a crappy democracy is much better than any dictatorship.

[–] MisterScruffy@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

American voters have zero say over our foreign policy. That isn't democracy.

[–] thesmokingman@programming.dev -2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

If my two options are a fascist who will end the US and a conservative who will continue favoring the rich, is that really a choice? How is one a success vs the other? Neither one of them or their supporters care about the world I want to live in and both will materially harm me and mine (albeit in different ways). Why should I perpetuate either when I could vote a different way and, at worst, perpetuate the shitty system that has given me no choice?

[–] luxyr42@lemmy.dormedas.com 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

One supports the killing or elimination of lgbtq+ people, the other doesn't. That is enough reason for me, even outside of the other reasons they are not the same.

[–] thesmokingman@programming.dev 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Oh really? What has Biden done to reverse any of the Trump policies? What laws have been enacted that enshrine protections? What is Biden doing to prevent the removal of said groups from schools and the stripping of their protections? What is his party doing to support and protect?

You’re so focused on the vitriol from one side you’re ignoring the complacency and damn near explicit support from the other side. Just because one side doesn’t say mean things doesn’t mean they don’t allow bad shit to happen.

[–] ondoyant@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

i mean, at the state level blue states are both not trying to get queer people killed, and are expanding access to resources. blue senators aren't voting with the anti-queer positions on the federal level. they aren't safe, but complacency and support are not the same thing, and the outcomes for actual people are materially worse in places where republicans have control.

[–] thesmokingman@programming.dev 1 points 1 year ago

The shit I’m getting is for my federal voting stance, not my local or state voting stance.

Complacency and support are the same thing at a political level. Doing nothing is a an explicit choice. The party doesn’t care about labor or anyone that isn’t a capitalist. Manchin and Sinema are great examples. They haven’t faced any consequences nor will they.

[–] shiveyarbles@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don't have words. Trump literally admires Hitler and aspires to be like him. Biden is just a somewhat centrist old guy. See if you can spot the whataboutism

[–] thesmokingman@programming.dev 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

What, exactly, has Biden done to reverse anything Trump did? What, exactly, has his party done to reverse the changes made? Where’s the rhetoric condemning Trump? Where’s the sense of urgency to reverse course?

You’re not giving me any choices here ergo I’m choosing another option. If that means I’m supporting “the bad” then the experiment has failed and we’re just circling the drain. I can choose to actively support circling the drain or I can try something new. I’m not going to play the old game because it’s already lost.

[–] FoolishBrainiac@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] thesmokingman@programming.dev 4 points 1 year ago

The big issue here is that the Biden administration is attempting to play by some old rules the Trump administration and current Republicans ignore. Sure. They’re pushing policy. Where’s the daily executive order undoing something or adding something? Where are the test cases constantly being pushed up like the right is doing? Where is the constant rhetoric to combat the vitriol? Where is the tit-for-tat removal of federal support for states fucking with people? Sure, lots of it will get thrown out. Some of it sticks, though, like blocking Garland’s nomination, and then seven years later you have people on the internet saying the Biden administration, doing fuck all novel, is actually trying to make a stand.

[–] shiveyarbles@beehaw.org 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

None of that matters in practical terms. One choice leads to the end of democracy and tyranny, the other is not perfect but you still have freedoms and rights.

The two options are not the same. I'm not sure if you're receiving the signal

[–] thesmokingman@programming.dev 4 points 1 year ago

If you’re telling me I have one choice to avoid tyranny, that’s tyranny. There is no more democracy. The game is over. We lost. Why continue to do the same shit over and over expecting a different result? Why delay the inevitable?

If I vote Trump, I am supporting fascism. Not going to argue for anyone doing that; no positives in that camp.

If I vote for Biden, I give explicit support to attacks on labor, a complete lack of response to the attacks on everyone that Trump did, and prop up a party so supportive of our current Gilded Age you can’t talk shitty wealth policy without mentioning Democratic tech worship. War crimes, genocide, and surveillance were issues I’ve had with the party for years and Biden just continued them with a smile.

If I vote 3rd party, there’s a small chance something positive could happen. Worst case scenario it’s like I didn’t vote at all, but at least I didn’t vote to support fascism or billionaire ownership of common resources.

I have this debate a lot. If there’s only one choice in a two-party system, we don’t have a choice or a democracy. Call me all the names you want; I won’t vote for someone that thinks the way that Biden or Trump does about labor or foreign relations.