I think it's an acceptable course of action to vote 3rd party if you are in a solid red or solid blue state. However, I think the way you phrased it got people's hackles raised.
this post was submitted on 11 Apr 2024
-58 points (24.6% liked)
Lefty Memes
4298 readers
426 users here now
An international (English speaking) socialist Lemmy community free of the "ML" influence of instances like lemmy.ml and lemmygrad. This is a place for undogmatic shitposting and memes from a progressive, anti-capitalist and truly anti-imperialist perspective, regardless of specific ideology.
Serious posts, news, and discussion go in c/Socialism.
If you are new to socialism, you can ask questions and find resources over on c/Socialism101.
Please don't forget to help keep this community clean by reporting rule violations, updooting good contributions and downdooting those of low-quality!
Rules
0. Only post socialist memes
That refers to funny image macros and means that generally videos and screenshots are not allowed. Exceptions include explicitly humorous and short videos, as well as (social media) screenshots depicting a funny situation, joke, or joke picture relating to socialist movements, theory, societal issues, or political opponents. Examples would be the classic case of humorous Tumblr or Twitter posts/threads. (and no, agitprop text does not count as a meme)
1. Socialist Unity in the form of mutual respect and good faith interactions is enforced here
Try to keep an open mind, other schools of thought may offer points of view and analyses you haven't considered yet. Also: This is not a place for the Idealism vs. Materialism or rather Anarchism vs. Marxism debate(s), for that please visit c/AnarchismVsMarxism.
2. Anti-Imperialism means recognizing capitalist states like Russia and China as such
That means condemning (their) imperialism, even if it is of the "anti-USA" flavor.
3. No liberalism, (right-wing) revisionism or reactionaries.
That includes so called: Social Democracy, Democratic Socialism, Dengism, Market Socialism, Patriotic Socialism, National Bolshevism, Anarcho-Capitalism etc. . Anti-Socialist people and content have no place here, as well as the variety of "Marxist"-"Leninists" seen on lemmygrad and more specifically GenZedong (actual ML's are welcome as long as they agree to the rules and don't just copy paste/larp about stuff from a hundred years ago).
4. No Bigotry.
The only dangerous minority is the rich.
5. Don't demonize previous and current socialist experiments or (leading) individuals.
We must constructively learn from their mistakes, while acknowledging their achievements and recognizing when they have strayed away from socialist principles.
(if you are reading the rules to apply for modding this community, mention "Mantic Minotaur" when answering question 2)
6. Don't idolize/glorify previous and current socialist experiments or (leading) individuals.
Notable achievements in all spheres of society were made by various socialist/people's/democratic republics around the world. Mistakes, however, were made as well: bureaucratic castes of parasitic elites - as well as reactionary cults of personality - were established, many things were mismanaged and prejudice and bigotry sometimes replaced internationalism and progressiveness.
- Absolutely no posts or comments meant to relativize(/apologize for), advocate, promote or defend:
- Racism
- Sexism
- Queerphobia
- Ableism
- Classism
- Rape or assault
- Genocide/ethnic cleansing or (mass) deportations
- Fascism
- (National) chauvinism
- Orientalism
- Colonialism or Imperialism (and their neo- counterparts)
- Zionism
- Religious fundamentalism of any kind
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
Yeah, it's not a terrible idea. Another idea is to send the message that the Republicans will continue to lose the popular vote by 10+ million votes if they don't start putting forth solutions to the real problems that Americans are concerned about.
I agree. My distant hope is that the republican party will weaken to the point that the left-wing of America will be able to take advantage of the Vaccum left behind. The events talking place in the GOP are remarkably similar to what the whig party did right before they became irrelevant.
Thanks for agreeing. š¤
How would you have phrased it?
"It's alright to vote 3rd party if you're not in a swing state" or something like that. The Overton window shifted away from the idea that there's some moral failing for voting for Biden because of the anti-voting astroturfing that happened recently.
Where are you getting this idea of anti-voting astroturfing? All the propaganda I see seems to be catered to getting people to vote for the lesser of two evils.
Also don't get me wrong. I'm very much against not voting. I just don't see any money being spent on pushing anti-voting but maybe I've missed it. š¤·
Russia is known to do this at this point. A sudden spike in talking about how voting for [current DNC candidate] is immoral usually fortells a report a few months later that it was started by Russians being paid to spread that message. The fact that lemmygrad, .ml, and Hexbear users suddenly started pushing it 2 weeks ago right after Biden started making serious progress against Israel suggests this is the case. I don't know that Russian bots are using Hexbear as a staging ground, but even if they aren't it's still at the very least directly downstream from Russian propaganda.
Kind stranger, I will keep an eye out for this. Thank you for bringing this to my attention and for talking with me like a normal person. š
I hope you have a great day. šš
It's russia and their shills but it's also tankies and other shills, fash, stooges, etc.
They want the fash cheeto.
You think "tankies" want trump? I'm going to need a source for that one.
The other groups I'm totally with you on. But I don't understand why more moderate lefties are so quick to pretend that far lefties are fascist. Unless you meant something else by that term, I've only ever heard it used to describe socialists.
Liberals are just a hop and a skip away from being full blown nazis so they hate on the actual Left to try and convince people they are radical crazy people and the liberal nazis are the norm.
I guess so. Cut a liberal a fascist bleeds š
They're not actually the same, btw. The person's absolutely cracked.
Edit: to be more specific, they just equated liberals with Nazis and then accused me of being a liberal (and thus adjacent to being a Nazi) because I disagreed. These are the kinds of people you should generally distrust.
load more comments
(3 replies)
Iirc, Infrahaz is or was in favor of Trump, as was Caleb Maupin (who also notably worked for Russia Today) when he was still around. Also, Tankies aren't socialists.
What does tankie mean to you? Genuine question I promise. This is what I see when I Google the term. 
Generally, tankies are individuals who advocate for authoritarian regimes while claiming both they and the regimes are leftists. These regimes usually include russia, china, or North korea. Communism is a classless, moneyless, stateless society. Every single country that tankies usually advocate for fails in every single one of these criteria, and so I do not believe it is useful to refer to them as communists.
These definitions may be flawed, but they are what I am currently using, which was the question.
Thanks for clarifying šš
While I donāt doubt that russia benefits from trump winning and Democrat voters not voting, the reason why hexbears (and other communists or socialists) donāt believe in voting is accurate, but shitty.
Voting for a communist party wonāt work in america, since such a party will never be able to gain political power due to state repression stopping their movements, generations of anti-left propaganda, and probably a dozen other reasons that were debated before bush was even in office. While I donāt understand a lot of ML theory, I do know itās old.
While anti-voting rhetoric already exists on hexbear, I think itās a terrible place to try and reach people who would actually vote for biden since most instances arenāt federated. While lemmy.ml is federated, a lot of people are hyper-vigilant about tankies there, and therefore will distrust anything against the grain that ckmes from there.
As an anarchist, I donāt believe in voting either, but Iād be stupid if I didnāt recognize that voting does have consequences, even if they arenāt what Iād want. Anarchists often believe that means and ends are entwined, and therefore supporting a hierarchical system can never get rid of it, much less that supporting the state could ever topple it.
I agree with OP that itās perfectly fine to not vote biden in a solid red/blue state, and since I live in such a state, Iām not voting for Biden. But I havenāt really seen an uptick in anti-voting posts (admittedly I have some hexbear communities blocked).
About 2 weeks ago (it feels like less, but that's what my history says) there was a deluge of them in a few meme communities that I happen to frequent, notably on blahaj 196.
accurate, but shitty
Please explain. Edit: oh, do you mean they won't vote because they can't vote in a communist?
The accuracy comes from the fact that in the american system, there is not, and wonāt be, a candidate or hopeful that can have an impact to bring america in a socialistic direction, or for the more electoral MLs, there is no communist/socialist candidate. Either way, most people on the far left, anarchist, communist, etc, also recognize that if there is a person of their values who gets into power, odds are they will either be milquetoast in the end and coopt the movement. Or if things are particularly bad, there will be a conflict due to such a candidate winning.
I think those people are silly. They are too far-sighted to consider the local scale of elections and the conditions that come from them, even though I generally agree with the critiques of the electoral system
load more comments
(3 replies)
Spelling/grammar fixations are a way to be biased against people with less education, less experience with English... it's obnoxious and rudely dismissive.
Honestly kind of feel like crying seeing the comment section. I like the articles on Lemmy, but the attitude of the commenters is so mean. I don't know how anyone decides that the best thing to do is to belittle someone for a typo, and how it's so upvoted. That's not praxis, it's elitist and bullying someone when you don't know if they have a disability, less access to education than you, maybe they're just tired.
Thanks you strangers āŗļø. I didn't have a good education growing up. I actually grew up in a cult. I managed to leave on my own when I was 16. Since I've gotten myself a degree but I've never really gotten spelling and grammar completely figured out. There are a lot of things I honestly just missed out on basic education wise.
I always assume the people focus on that have no way of reasonably disagreeing with me. I guess they just get mad they're wrong š¤·. Just a bunch of classist elitist assholes who couldn't think their way out of a paper bag.
I mean, by your logic, wouldnāt that turn every state into a swing state after the election? And does your advice only apply to a small group of people? Because, well, if it applied to everyone with problems with Biden (which is nearly everyone), it wouldnāt track logically.
How would that turn every state into a swing state? š¤£
Do you think I'm going to change the mind of every single person who would vote for Biden? Despite how almost every single person that sees this idea reacts extremely negatively. Getting a viable third party is a long-term strategy. It's an important, long-term strategy. But it's not going to happen this election lol. What I'm hoping for this election is a third party candidate gets enough votes that their third party becomes more mainstream and that over time we will have better options.
Iām just saying, your logic only works if enough people dont follow it. That kind of makes it bad advice.
When youāre aligning yourself with pro-fascistsāor at least have the exact same tactics (minus an exception), you cannot be on the right side of history.
Iāve been wrestling with this for my whole life. I was a young anarchist, Iāve been a third party voter most of that time. Now Iām an adult anarchist. Andā¦I just canāt bring myself to do exactly what pro-fascists are pushing for people just like me to do.
We all get it. The system is broken. Two party systems are doomed to be a road to fascism. We are reaching the end of that road. None of us can stomach whatās happening in Gaza. But gambling with an even more pro-genocide candidate winning justā¦canāt be tolerated. It doesnāt make emotional sense. Because we canāt stomach supporting someone who is participating in genocide. It hurts. But itās kind of on us to bear the brunt of that conundrum because we are fighting bald-faced fascism. Getting to hold your head up high because you didnāt support the guy aiding in a genocide is a pretty small victory for gambling with the lives of Palestinian people. Trump wants to āfinishā the situation in Gaza. And not in a good way.
Itās a shitty situation for us to have to negotiate. But weāre not the ones gambling with our own lives. Weāre gambling with the lives of trans people, women who need abortions, those living in poverty, the environmentā¦just so we can āsend a measage?ā
The system is arranged to keep third parties from being viable. Voting for them just doesnāt make sense, because there is no changing that without changing the system. Especially in this election. Because we are staring down the barrel of fascism, for one, and secondly, there isnāt enough support for the idea to really have the impact you want. It can only go bad. Waiting until the day of the election to send that message or put some plan to change things in place is so incredibly foolish when you consider all youāre gambling with. You want to change things? Put in the groundwork, year in, year out.
All youāre doing is throwing extra danger into the pot and supporting the people who are pushing your same messaging in order to see trump win. Justā¦how can you justify it?
I am going to try to show you the same kindness and genuineness you are showing me.
"Iām just saying, your logic only works if enough people dont follow it. That kind of makes it bad advice." I think this is a key part. I know the vast majority of people that hear my advice will not take it. So I am depending on that. I also feel it's correct. I think it wouldn't be unrealistic for me to expect everyone or even most of the people who hear it to take it to heart. Do you think I'm wrong?
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/rfk-fires-staffer-endorsed-trump-reelection-1235002839/ I think I see this news article a different way then you do. I hate rfk and wouldn't recommend voting for him unless that vote was going to go to trump instead. I also don't believe most of the votes going to rfk would have gone to Biden. I believe the COVID conspiracist that want to vote for him were much more likely to be trumpers. I think a lot of the fear on the media that all third party votes would ha e otherwise gone to Biden is wrong. I may be crazy but I think of the Dems pied Piper strategy and wonder if this related. They really seem to like catching us in thos lesser of two evils trap. I live in Maryland. The Dems helped far right candidate David Cox get the Republican nominee in our last govenors race. I ended up voting dem because it scared me. Democrat nominee won hands down because Maryland is a blue state but I was tricked. I feel similarly about this presidential election now.
"When youāre aligning yourself with pro-fascistsāor at least have the exact same tactics (minus an exception), you cannot be on the right side of history." Doesn't this with us or against us rhetoric feel odd to you? I believe the "unless you live in a swing state" part of my sentiment is what clearly divides me from them.
"Two party systems are doomed to be a road to fascism. We are reaching the end of that road." I completely agree and I think we need to start taking a third party exit. I know this is a many election process but starting now is better than later and the safest way to do so is to try to convince as many people in non-swing states to start voting third party. That momentum takes time.
"Itās a shitty situation for us to have to negotiate. But weāre not the ones gambling with our own lives. Weāre gambling with the lives of trans people, women who need abortions, those living in poverty, the environmentā¦just so we can āsend a measage?ā " As a side note I am not the wealthy cis het man you seem to think I am.
"All youāre doing is throwing extra danger into the pot and supporting the people who are pushing your same messaging in order to see trump win. Justā¦how can you justify it?" In this way, by only promoting this idea for voters in non swing states I believe additional risk is minimized. I also believe this is the only way to possible make things better by ballot. Outside of this the only ways I can imagine the USA getting off this "two party road to fascism" (to borrow your elegant words) will create much more misfortune and suffering before getting better.
Also just to clarify. I know trump is worse on all fronts compared to Biden. Whether it's Palestine or pro working class policy at home. I hate trump and I also see him winning as the worst case scenario for the election. You don't have to convince me of any of that. I think our only disagreement really lies in how much additional risk voting third party in non swing states generates but please tell me if you think otherwise.
Also thanks for talking to me like a normal person š
Do you think Iām wrong?
I mean, I think you and I feel very similarly. We are disillusioned, angry, we feel hopeless. Iām not 100% in favor of my strategy. Because it means supporting someone I donāt actually support. But, having weighed the pros and cons, I just feel like there is so much to lose for vulnerable communities. And, on the whole, I feel most peoplesā true intentions in advocating for this are ultimately selfish. Iām not saying that is your motivation at all. You could very much be an idealist. But as a fellow idealist feeling the need to give into my realism as I get older, I find its best to sacrifice yourself and your own sense of idealistic purity for othersāagain, Iām not saying youāre doing the opposite. Itās a super complicated and shitty lose-lose scenario.
I think I see this news article a little differently than you doā¦
I agree that not all third party votes would otherwise be votes for Biden. But itās been proven over and over and has been a Republican strategy for a long time to suppress turnout. Because they arenāt popular. Their ideas are terrible and no one actually likes them. Their supporters are just angry and want to hurt others.
So my thinking is, if itās a Republican strategy to push third party candidates, and itās the third party candidatesā campaignsā position that they are the only hope to defeat a vote against the fascistā¦I meanā¦theyāre not like you and me basing our opinions mostly on rough approximations. They are looking at data that shows how this changes things. There are few things I trust republicans and antivax nutjobs on, but this subject is one of themāprobably the only one.
Doesnāt this with us or against us rhetoric feel odd to you?
I get where youāre coming from. But thatās not the way I look at my position at all. If I were a democrat pushing this type of thinking with the motive of getting more votes for my preferred candidate, yeah, thatād be my problematic position.
But Iām a leftist that has gone back and forth on this issue and debated it in my head for more than half of my life. I get what youāre saying, and sometimes I feel exactly how you feel.
Itās justā¦a complicated issue and we are both looking at the same thing, seeing the same issues, and coming up with different answers. Literally, after your post I was thinking to myself, āwellā¦Iām in NY. Iā¦could probably do this.ā But after 2016, I felt so much guilt, for the first time in my life, for voting third party. And that threw my entire view on the subject into doubt.
I dunno. I donāt have the answer. And apologies if I seemed to have assumed you were a cishet white guy. Theyāre just usually the most likely to throw everyone elseās caution to the wind to advocate for their own ideas. Not that thatās what you were doing. Just that they always feel the most comfortable in being reckless with othersā safety and well-being.
No need to apologize for the bit at the end stranger. š
You're a good dudešš
You've given me some things to think about. Again I appreciate your input and your knowledge and your kindness.
view more: next āŗ