Whenever someone posts a meme like this all the "vote harder" people come out of the woodwork to get mad at the OP. I've never told people not to vote, but I do 1000% believe that voting is the absolute least you can do to progress society.
Edit: don't bother reporting OP for this meme because I'm not gonna take it down.
Same. I've literally said I'd vote for Biden, but I still get accused of supporting Trump by conservative and centrist Democrats. They're willing to hand-wave atrocities for the sake of a campaign. I'm not willing to overlook the suffering caused by our current administration, nor to deflect blame onto others.
Though I have pushed back against the idea of sitting out this presidential election or voting 3rd party I am 100% on board with your approach. Definitely call out this sickening support of genocide, protest, write letters, and whatever else one can do. Longer term, also work on getting something better than first past the post and this stupid electrical college BS. And come Nov, don't let Trump in.
I'm only voting for Biden if we're actually allowed to put him on blast for his atrocities. It's appalling how cultlike and defensive the Dems have become.
What are you trying to say, the abyss is staring back at voters?
I'm saying the entire system is rotten, and it can't be fixed by voting for the lesser of two evils, when the lesser of two evils is still a genocidal maniac
I’m all for protesting and fighting for active change. My fear is it turning into a bunch of progressive voters protesting with their vote and the destruction that could create in the advancement of progressive views say ten to twenty years from now. If somehow trump is reelected the results will be disastrous. That’s not an excuse for Biden and certainly shouldn’t be a platform for him or any other Democrat. Showing the electorate that their is a strong reliable voting block of progressives through support of policy and candidates will promote a progressive shift over time. While not nearly perfect that has been on display for years now. Candidates are going to continue to try to secure votes, it’s what they do. Republicans are in crazy fascist mode because their is a reliable voting base that loves the narcissistic hate and racism. Young and old progressives, but especially young, voter's showing they are reliable voters will provide a foundation in which the party is incentivized to put up more and more progressive candidates. The reliance on republicans who are never trumpers and racist bigoted independents prevents true progressive candidates from being successful politicians. The only fix available in the current day climate is to show a stronger and growing progressive voter base. I am of the belief Nikki Haley is positioning her self as the defecto candidate come next election cycle and she’s nearly as concerning as trump. I am really hoping that Biden is able to secure the election and progressive’s show engagement not only on the primary but also down year elections and these same social protests outside of election years so a more progressive candidate can come forward. A shift has to happen, no party is going to put up a candidate that hasn’t shown their is a reliable pool of voters for.
I’m all for protesting and fighting for active change. My fear is it turning into a bunch of progressive voters protesting with their vote and the destruction that could create in the advancement of progressive views say ten to twenty years from now. If somehow trump is reelected the results will be disastrous.
Oh my gods, a comment actually worth engaging with! Thank you! I want to hug you so much right now lol
I understand this fear, but conversely I have the fear that in the process of trying to avoid this scenario, centrist Democrats are pushing progressive and leftist voters away from the polls by doubling down and dismissing our concerns every time that their raised, and by accusing us of hurting the campaign when we criticize the sitting president for putting the weight of his administration behind things like ICE, the border policy, mass surveillance of citizens, arming genocidal states, failing to introduce adequate healthcare and housing to our citizens, etc., etc. In 2020, all we heard was a chorus of liberals proudly proclaiming that they're not as cultlike as Republicans, but as soon as Biden took office ... this all changed. It was like a switch flipped, and as soon as he started opening more concentration camps and we were like "WTF," we got the defensive response ... like, "Oh he's only doing this to satisfy conservative voters" -- well guess what? Using human lives like that for political gain is not acceptable. Anyone with the slightest bit of empathy and perspective can tell you that.
And it's only gotten worse since then, with us being summarily dismissed as "Russian bots" on every forum, and "Trump supporters" like wtf bro.
The only fix available in the current day climate is to show a stronger and growing progressive voter base.
Okay, but as I've said, every time we try to show this and express this, we're silenced, so can that shit like ... cease? That would sure be nice! But even for this pretty moderate, vanilla post my instance admin/mod received multiple reports from users trying to get it removed. Why? Because they are status quo warriors who don't want to engage with progressives and leftists openly and in good faith. Simple as that. (Or they're simply brainwashed and don't really think things through, or some of them are actually closet conservatives -- I've encountered a lot of Democrats like that in my community).
A shift has to happen, no party is going to put up a candidate that hasn’t shown their is a reliable pool of voters for.
And after decades of observing and experiencing, including volunteering and passionately campaigning for Obama in 08, thinking finally we had a progressive candidate, only for the bait-and-switch to happen yet again -- I've concluded that the system will never provide this. It cannot be fixed from within. I still vote in every election, including local elections, but I have zero faith in the efficacy of my vote, and maybe the day will come to actually boycott the vote, though I don't think that time is now.
Meanwhile, I try to practice my anarchist principles as much as I can in South Dafuckingkota and do my best to help my friends, relatives, and neighbors. We've managed to help people evade deportation, given people a roof when they've been evicted, helped my LGBTQ+ community when they've been kicked out by their parents, and try to have conversations with my local reps to hopefully push things to a better place.
But again, I have zero faith in our system. If you take a look at our nation historically, we've always been a colonial, imperialist, and genocidal state, and none of this has ever changed, and never will by voting, in my opinion.
So now, do you understand my perspective? Let me know if you have any questions, because I'd be happy to answer them.
Well I'm not voting for Biden, I've never voted for a democrat presidential candidate as they are indistinguishable from republicans, at minimum, a decade ago.
Therefore with whatever God or enthropic void entity out in the cosmos, or whoever is reading this comment more realistically, as my witness - I will never vote for evil.
Easier to get mad at OP than it is to challenge their own views, biases, and insistence on wilful ignorance.. ¯\(ツ)/¯
Gigachad behaviour
This is a fallacy. You find one area in which the two presidents are the same, and you extrapolate that into saying they're exactly the same in all areas. It's not a bad faith attack or trolling. It's just the result of someone whose thoughts are too simple to grasp the fact that people are similar in some ways and different in other ways. It's the thought process of someone who just doesn't get nuance.
you extrapolate that into saying they're exactly the same in all areas
Except I'm not doing this at all. You are a fool arguing with a strawperson.
Okay, well if we agree that Biden and Trump are different in other areas, then what is even the point of this comic?
Let's imagine that Anna and Peter are competing for the Vancouver regional tapdancing championship. They both had really good performances, and now the judges have to make a decision. Is Anna's flawless execution of traditional tap integrated with the forgotten styles of the past worthy of winning, or does Peter's bold new interpretation of an electronic tap genre deserve to take the gold?
No matter who the judges pick to win the regional tap championship, people in the middle east will still be bombed by US drones. Are you going to make a comic about how the tap championship is meaningless because it won't make a difference in the middle east?
The tap contest is like the US election because, as you argue, they both have no bearing on outcomes in the middle east. Therefore, they're irrelevant. If a tap contest won't change the situation in the middle east, don't make comics complaining about the tap contest's effect on the middle east. If an election won't change the situation in the middle east, don't make comics complaining about the election's effect on the middle east. It's not relevant to the discussion. It should be relevant, I agree with you there, but as you point out, this election it simply isn't. If we want to improve the situation in the middle east, we need to do more direct action ourselves, not vote for it. So stop bringing voting into the conversation about the middle east.
what is even the point of this comic?
This is a comic opposed to those who claim that The Best System in The World(TM) is that we must perpetually vote for the lesser of two evils, when both choices are still unacceptably and horrifically evil. Maybe your party and your system ... kinda suck? Dontcha think?
It's also a comic opposed to centrist and conservative Democrats and other status quo warriors who rail against leftists and progressives while silencing us and calling us russian bots and trolls, instead of actually listening to what we have to say. I've talked to a lot of other anarchists and socialists on a regular basis, and we're fucking sick of it. If we're not even allowed to pressure the sitting president to do better, then what even is the point? You centrists kept repeating the lie that you're not as cultlike as Republicans in 2020 to get our votes -- and then every time a post like this is made or an issue is raised, you get defensive of your genocidal maniac and come out with guns blazing. Many of you even reported me to my moderator/instance admin. Thankfully, this is a leftist instance where your shit isn't tolerated, unlike right-wing neoliberal instances like lemm.ee or lemmy.world.
Look, me and my partner are trans, and it lives in the US. We're terrified it's going to be killed by the Republican party during their next presidency. Conditions are eerily similar to 1920s Germany and we know our history. It's a refugee. I'm trying to get enough money to move it to my country, but I'm broke. I need more time. I want a progressive US president as much as anyone, I want to avert this shit. But if Biden wins the primary, that's 4 more years I have to save my partner's life. This is a matter of immediate life or death to me. That's 4 more years every trans person has to get out before it gets worse. I feel bad for people in the middle east, but my views on which president to elect don't affect them. It affects my partner. I don't agree with this view of "let's ignore trans people and focus on the middle east". The lesser evil means I don't have to grieve my love.
You might not understand this election actually mattering if you don't have any trans loved ones.
Talking about "nuance" when your government is committing a genocide in real time lmao
Ruh roh, looks like I'm a rUsSiAn BoT because I criticized our genocidal president ¯\_(⊙︿⊙)_/¯
Arming a genocidal regime and imprisoning and murdering innocent refugees at the southern border is just normal after all, and I just need to be rEaLiStIc becuase it's so hard simply not to commit multiple human rights violations
Definitely, and what's your thought on the guys from cpac saying they want to end democracy and jan 6th was a good first try?
Those present and agreeing including members of the last cabinet.
It's all the same.
End which democracy? We don't have a democracy if my only choice is deciding between two genocidal maniacs
And the electoral college can overrule your vote.
I believe so called democracies around the world are a farce but the US' "democracy" is so shameless about how they do it that Im surprised most people doesnt seem to realize.
It's a horrible system, yeah. When people tell me I "have no choice" but to vote for a candidate like Biden, I don't think they have a shred of self awareness. They're basically admitting that this is a blatantly undemocratic system. I start to think that they just don't really care about using people like immigrants or Palestinians as political pawns, and then it makes me feel like maybe the entire human race is simply awful.
This is the most successful republican presidency since George Bush and you want to throw it all away for the republicans to win. We've declared war on the entire middle east, we're doing the most egregious genocide since the holocaust, we declared SARS-CoV over and the economy fixed purely through the power of pretending. We're this close to enacting the entire republican border policy, if only the republicans would vote for it but they won't tie that to funding our genocide or our Nazi Mujaheddin currently replaying how the Nazis lost WW2. We need to enshrine our fossil fuel production and expand it wherever we can, to put a right-wing Christian man in charge of handling abortion rights, and to ensure a senile husk is in charge of every major decision for however long he lives into his term. That's the only way Kamala Harris can run unopposed as an incumbent president in 2028 to save democracy.
We’re this close to enacting the entire republican border policy
Except it looks like the border policy is shared by both parties. More people are being imprisoned and deported under Biden than were under Trump, but anyone with a modicum of empathy is told to stfu for the sake of a campaign.
Yeah but all those student loans have been forgiven!... By laws that should have done that years ago
And means-tested to a point of absurdity that's on par with Kamala Harris saying you deserved student loan forgiveness if you're a pell grant recipient who runs a business in a ghetto for three years. It's like them inventing new kinds of mathematics to explain why your COVID stimulus payment is actually what you were supposed to get instead of what your lying tankie eyes see. Liberals are smiling foxes.
for Bernie in the 2020 Dem primary
for Biden in 2020 because :vote: Blue No Matter Who
Geriatric Genocide Joe in 2024 because :vote: Blue No Matter Genocide
truly the land of democracy
Collateral damage from drone strikes went up 800% under Trump before his admin stopped reporting that data
Lmao I don't think anyone's arguing that trump isn't a shithead.
Point is both are genocidal imperialist parties. The US political system only exists to protect capital and imperialism after all, since its government has been the de facto leader of the imperial core since WW2.
Why the fuck are these people our only two choices? Like can we just stop with the lesser evil bullshit and just pick other people?
Unfortunately, the only US president who tried to do something half-decent, JFK for wanting to abolish the CIA and giving an anti-imperialist speech titled “Imperialism: the Enemy of Freedom” to seemingly curtail the US's invasions in foreign countries, made himself an enemy of both the political parties, and was thus assassinated by the CIA.
Like I said, political systems in the imperial core, specially in the US, only really exist to protect capital, while giving a thin veneer of "democracy".
Seeing how the US gov has gone so far that it's committing a(nother) genocide, I personally expect any actual change to come from mass organization, pressure and agitation from organizations outside it forcing change, perhaps aided by existing ones like the FRSO or PSL. Ideally they'd overthrow this imperialist government altogether but hoping for that in the imperial core is probably being too wishful.
You'd be surprised. Seen so many arguing that they should be protesting him too, because it's totally possible trump the deranged sociopath could be swayed.