• naevaTheRat@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    4 months ago

    Vote for Biden, then have your revolution. Then please stop with your weird imperialism, close pinegap and please tell us what actually happened to Gough.

    • mortemtyrannis@lemmy.ml
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      4 months ago

      Pine Gap closing would be tantamount to a declaration of war on the USA. Never going to happen.

      That’s US territory for all intents and purposes.

      • naevaTheRat@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        4 months ago

        Yes that’s why they need to close it. Australia is a protectorate, we’re not really allowed property autonomy and I’m sick of it.

        I’m thoroughly convinced that the CIA had a hand in Gough. We elected a socialist, then unprecedented constitutional crisis, his successor in the party was CIA groomed and frequently visited the USA.

  • sozesoze@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    It’s still June, it’s still months till the election. People still are entitled to voice their opinion about Bidens policies and demand he takes more steps to the left leveraging the only power they have, their vote. If people can’t demand better policies now, when there is so much time left for Bidens team to course change, when are they allowed? It’s crazy to see these types of posts since the democratic primaries.

    As many people in this thread have already pointed out, Joe Biden can enact right wing policy after right wing policy, damaging the support of his core voter base for the slight chance that some Trump fanatic votes for him. But you can’t expect him to try to convince left wing people by enacting progressive stuff, even though none of the candidates currently campaign for them?

    It’s insane that in the US, people on the left at the same time have the power to lose Biden the election by not voting for him and have not enough power to get any attention from him. I believe if Trump wins again, it is entirely on Biden and the DNC that they chose this candidate and this course, not having learned anything in 2016.

  • ElderberryLow@programming.dev
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    4 months ago

    This next national election is simple: do you want 4 more years of Trump or not?

    No: Vote for Joe Biden.

    Yes: Vote for Trump, vote third party, or abstain.

    The republicans are a minority now and are trying everything to win the electoral college despite their minority status. They will LOVE you to not vote because of Biden’s stance on __________.

    So make your choice.

    • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      So why won’t Biden move to the left again?

      It’s like that’s never mentioned as an option these days, but isn’t it easier to convince one person to compromise than tens of millions of people?

      • webghost0101@sopuli.xyz
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        4 months ago

        Because he is right wing and the current system is working in his favor.

        The worst thing that could happen to the democrats is a competent opponent. They need trump in order to win so post election you’re so burned up from worrying about hard fascism you become more docile towards the shit were left with.

        This is, i believe, why some rich fuckers donate to both sides. They cant purchase a president but they can purchase a party nominee and by making one of two choices completely unacceptable we are forced to take the alternative.

      • Zorque@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        He has moved to the left, just not enough to be called progressive.

        He’s pandering to the center, yeah, but only looking at the regressive things he’s done over the past four years as though that’s all that matters is part of the reason they pander to the center instead of you.

        • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          He has moved to the left, just not enough to be called progressive.

          He was pulled to the left in the 2020 primary by Bernie…

          But then just kind of half assed it when he had the House and Senate, what progress has happened, Biden has had almost zero involvement in.

          Between Israel and the southern border, he’s further right than he started the 2020 primary. I never dreamt he’d be taking either of these positions. I thought by now even he’d draw a line with Israel, and never thought a Dem would pull this border shit and get sued by the ACLU

          And I want to point out, as close as 2020 was, I don’t know why people are acting like this time Biden can ignore the left.

  • archomrade [he/him]@midwest.social
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    4 months ago

    It’s crazy to me that voting is the only political involvement for so many people.

    We’re in the middle of a cycle, this is the time to be really loud about what you’d like to see reflected in your party’s policy, but instead everyone has skipped to the end, having relieved themselves of all the hard work of political engagement.

  • Signtist@lemm.ee
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    4 months ago

    Revolution will either come, killing most of us, or the train of rampant capitalistic destruction will continue on, killing all of us. We’re not close enough to immediate death for most of us to view revolution as an acceptable answer yet, but I have no doubt that in a few decades, when the young adults of that time look back on the current times and think “they had it so easy,” the risk associated with an uprising will seem much less daunting when compared to the risk of simply living within whatever jumbled-together scraps of a system we’ll have left by then.

    Revolution isn’t a solution that any sane person gets excited for; it all but guarantees a short life full of suffering for the vast majority of people, but it’s a solution that is chosen when the alternative is guaranteed suffering for everyone outside of the upper class. It’s the last resort used when the best hope you have for the future is to fight for the chance that a few people make it to peaceful times, because you don’t see any other way for anyone to get there by working within the system.

    Voting is important, yes; we get the best chance to make it to a revolution by voting blue, slowing down capitalism’s destruction of the world, but so long as each election is populated by 2 candidates proudly bought out by corporations who don’t give a shit about the world, there will be no viable option within the system to actually stop its destruction. That requires actually changing the system through uprising.

    • Optional@lemmy.worldOP
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      4 months ago

      That requires actually changing the system through uprising.

      Ah, you crazy kids and your violent revolutions. It’s always fun and games until they start culling the infirm.

      But your myopic cynicism is well earned, fair play to you.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Revolution will either come, killing most of us

      Historically, its not the revolution that kills you but the reaction.

      From America to France to Russia to China to Spain to Vietnam to Cuba, the early years involved a lot of marching and politicking and petitioning and negotiating.

      But then some of the revolutionaries win one too many concessions or elections than a current government can stand. That’s when the guns come out and things fall apart.

      Your Francos and Pinochets and Chiang Kai-Sheks start pouring out of the woodwork. Your Austrians start invading with support from the British. Or your French reinvade after you just finished pushing out the Japanese.

      That’s when the killing starts in earnest.

      • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        Or your revolutionaries get executed for not being revolutionary enough (Reign of Terror, October revolution)

        • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          The Reign of Terror was kicked off by a wave of paranoia following the Austrian invasion of France.

          The October Revolution followed the Russian Republic kicking off a White Terror in the face of continued anti-war demonstrations.

          Neither happened in a vacuum. They were both in response to reactionary forces brutalizing the peaceniks within the revolutionary movement. Once the peaceful leadership was neutralized, the war hawks were the only ones left.

          • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
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            4 months ago

            That’s a ridiculous interpretation of history and I’m a little amazed that you managed to actually say it with a straight face. Holy tankie revisionism Batman. Literally every bad thing that revolutionaries did was actually because of other people.

            And you honestly believe this? That’s as naive as thinking America is the greatest country on Earth, or that the natives welcomed the Pilgrims with open arms, or other comforting childhood ridiculousness.

            • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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              4 months ago

              That’s a ridiculous interpretation of history

              A linear series of events? Are you going to start talking about the War of Northern Aggression, next? Denouncing the tyrant Lincoln and his bloodthirsty Radical Republicans, then dismiss Fort Sumter?

              Literally every bad thing that revolutionaries did

              The collapse of revolutions into violence are precipitated by the caging and killing of its most peaceful members.

              natives welcomed the Pilgrims with open arms

              You can pull that info directly from Columbus’s own journals. Guanahaní was full of some of the most peaceful and pleasant people to have ever existed. When the Spanish arrived, they immediately began looting, raping, and killing.

              Cortez and Pizzaro were originally greated as honored guests, only to return the hospitality with wholesale hostage taking and rampant murder. This is self-reported

              When the English arrived, they immediately began kidnapping and torturing natives of the Mid-Atlantic in search of their own golden city. This is also extensively well documented by the original settlers.

              But for the next 500 years, the native peoples were described as vicious cannibal savages by settler colomialists whose original contact was no different than a swarm of locusts.

              That’s why you think they were evil monsters inhabiting North America who all needed to be Christianized to save their souls. That’s why you think Evil Wicked Godless Communists were doing holocausts all across Eastern Europe right before WW2 broke out. That’s why you’re likely going to buy into the next Big Lie about evil Palestinians, or evil Mexicans, or evil Chinese people next.

              • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
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                4 months ago

                What the fuck are you talking about?

                Get back to the point: you unconditionally defend revolutionaries and believe they are all saints who can do no wrong.

  • Prunebutt@slrpnk.net
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    4 months ago

    To all the Biden defenders: I get it. You’re scared of another Trump term. I’m living in Europe and I’m not a fan of project 2025 myself. I have this seemingly simple question: what happens after the election?

    If Biden wins, what do you expect to happen with all the MAGAs? How would you prevent another Jan 6th? What if it succeeded this time? How will you keep Biden accountable? Will you keep avoiding a fascist dictatorship every 4 years until the end of time?

    And if Trump wins? Will you give up without a fight? Will you let them turn the US into a fascist theocracy?

    Don’t expect that your liberal democracy will sort itself out. There’s too much on the line to hope for the correct election results and everythingsorting itself out afterwards. Have a plan that doesn’t rely on elections and take the safety of your community into your own hands.

    • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      If Biden wins, what do you expect to happen with all the MAGAs? How would you prevent another Jan 6th? What if it succeeded this time? How will you keep Biden accountable? Will you keep avoiding a fascist dictatorship every 4 years until the end of time?

      Trump will die soon. And as much as we worry about MAGA, they are largely the Cult of Trump. He’s silenced any other possible inheritors. We need democracy to outlast Trump.

      In the long term, the solutions are better public education and fairer media, but we haven’t even begun to work on that because of the immediate crisis.

      And if Trump wins? Will you give up without a fight? Will you let them turn the US into a fascist theocracy?

      It’s why I’m so glad I live in California. We tend to not stand for that bullshit. I can absolutely see a secession or even a civil war if they try to use federal troops to enforce Trumpian fascism.

    • Optional@lemmy.worldOP
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      4 months ago

      I’m living in Europe

      Then shut up. Your questions are absurd and the chance that you’re a Macedonian contractor is non-zero.

      • Sunforged@lemmy.ml
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        4 months ago

        Boy you are really engaging people in good faith throughout this thread aren’t you?

      • mctoasterson@reddthat.com
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        4 months ago

        I’m kinda to the point of not even reading US political threads on any Lemmy instance. Seems like half the participants are Europeans/Aussies/Canadians who have plenty of loud concern-troll opinions about US politics, but can’t even vote in our elections.

      • Prunebutt@slrpnk.net
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        4 months ago

        I would gladly not care about US politics if it would leave the rest of the world the fuck alone.

        • Optional@lemmy.worldOP
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          4 months ago

          I don’t . . . I mean, agreed! Okay? Hurrah, we’ve achieved an understanding, now will you please let us avoid a massive disaster of hitherto unseen dimensions?! We can talk policy when we’re not literally in an existential crisis.

            • Sunforged@lemmy.ml
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              4 months ago

              The tunnel vision caused by fear is wild to see. It’s like mass halucination and there isn’t anything you can say to get them to look around and take stock.

    • Jordan117@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      If Biden wins, what do you expect to happen with all the MAGAs?

      They will continue to exist, though weakened, and four more years of Democratic executive actions and appointments will steadily move the federal government further away from their position.

      How would you prevent another Jan 6th? What if it succeeded this time?

      Electing Democrats to critical state roles in 2022 helped a lot here. It’s also useful having the election denier as the challenger, not the incumbent, plus we’re all wise to their playbook. The multiple prosecutions of last cycles conspirators should also put a damper on things.

      How will you keep Biden accountable?

      Protests, op-eds, pressuring legislators, primary elections, etc.

      Will you keep avoiding a fascist dictatorship every 4 years until the end of time?

      Yes. Democracy requires active maintenance, from all of us, indefinitely. Giving up is how its enemies win.

    • Zorque@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Well, some of us actually realize there’s this whole legislative branch that exists, and often has a lot more power than the executive to accomplish things. Shockingly enough, when you don’t have a monolithic view of things, you have an actual chance of changing them.

  • _NoName_@lemmy.ml
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    4 months ago

    The election will pan out how it’ll pan out. I’m voting for Biden so I can give my friends the best chance we can get them.

    I am not just voting, though, and you shouldn’t stop at voting either.

    Start working towards unionizing your workplace if you can. Join the IWW for training and networking (literally any worker can join).

    Join and support any kind of solidarity network in your town you can (tenant unions, volunteer security details, food distributors, etc.) Hell, start one with your friends if there isn’t one.

    Participate in protests and public shows of solidarity. Don’t back down.

    Help the homeless. They’ve completely lost their voices and are constantly under attack by NIMBYs and cops, and it’s likely that many people you know right now will be in their position in the future, especially if Trump’s Elected.

    Right now, ‘the revolution’ would never come. US citizens are atomized and divided, by highways, suburban sprawl, parking lots, hostile architecture, and the constant crushing weight of capitalist responsibilities. We’ve got to rebuilt the networks of solidarity we had during the union wars. That’s the best way forward to a better US. Unionize, uplift your fellow workers, and keep pushing against the oppressors.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Start working towards unionizing your workplace if you can. Join the IWW for training and networking (literally any worker can join).

      Join and support any kind of solidarity network in your town you can (tenant unions, volunteer security details, food distributors, etc.) Hell, start one with your friends if there isn’t one.

      Participate in protests and public shows of solidarity. Don’t back down.

      Based

  • Skates@feddit.nl
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    4 months ago

    Y’all act like that doofus wasn’t a president before. Did he fuck up a lot of shit? Yes. Is that the reason why he was voted out of the office? Also yes.

    Looks like he needs to fuck up even more shit to get people to get out and vote in their own interest.

      • Skates@feddit.nl
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        4 months ago

        Even then, you wouldn’t be the first or last country to fall victim to populist messages from an extremist dictator-wannabe. Shit happens. Have you considered this might be a good thing, that it’ll ensure stability in the region, that Trump as a president opens up negotiation strategies with previously near-hostile nations like Russia/NK/China, or whatever other party lines the US usually has for installing puppet regimes in other countries?

        Trump being president is, from any point of view, nothing special. It’s just a big deal because now it’s happening to you, as opposed to your country or another superpower forcing it on a third world country. It too shall pass. The rest of the world will just be friendly with China instead for a while, until the next would-be empire with a chip on their shoulder comes along.

        • Custodian1623@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          “Shit happens” it’s my country obviously I give a shit. If you don’t understand that the US presidency plays a role beyond foreign relations or just don’t care about civil rights and wealth disparity in my country that’s not something we’re going to reach an agreement on

  • grue@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    I really shouldn’t even have to go over this- we LIVED it already.

    No, that’s not true. In fact, that’s incredible, delusional cope. What we lived already was nothing compared to what a term-limited Trump with nothing to lose backed by a fully-formed Project 2025 administration would be like.

      • Optional@lemmy.worldOP
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        4 months ago

        If the stakes are so high??

        What is it with people who don’t live in the US constantly shitting in these threads.

        • PopOfAfrica@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          Are the stakes high or not? Because Democrats are not acting like it enough to concede to progressives.

          It is irresponsible to alienate progressives right now.

          Which is it?

          • Zorque@lemmy.world
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            4 months ago

            It’s also irresponsible to think of it only as democrats and republicans. It’s also irresponsible to doompost and naysay any positive action because it’s not perfect. It’s also irresponsible to act as though you stand on a moral high ground when all you can do is turn up your nose and say “not good enough”.

            • PopOfAfrica@lemmy.world
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              4 months ago

              That is not an answer. Do Democrats need progressives enough to concede on issues?

              Yes or No? Thats the reality we face, like it or not.

                • PopOfAfrica@lemmy.world
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                  4 months ago

                  So nobody will answer. Got it.

                  It sure seems like the non-progressives have taken their ball and went home. Some allies.

              • flerp@lemm.ee
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                4 months ago

                No one can read the future so who knows… maybe? Maybe not? Depends how many people go out to vote?

                Enjoy your life under the boot if you take that gamble and it doesn’t go your way, and always remember your share of the blame whatever comes.

                • PopOfAfrica@lemmy.world
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                  4 months ago

                  I agree. Its a risky game, and when dems are alienating their base, it becomes far riskier. Truly irresponsible behavior.

          • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
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            4 months ago

            There’s not this giant silent majority of Leftist voters. Most voters, especially in swing states, are independents / undecideds. You guys are so insular you think that everyone is like you. Dems aren’t pandering to you because there’s not a lot of you and most of you are too fickle to vote anyway.

            And half of you are fucking outside agitators for whom no concession would be enough because the entire point is bashing Biden.

            The only problem is when you people, whether paid trolls or useful idiots, manage to start swaying the mass of politically uninformed citizens to do stupid things.

            Trying to give you people what you want is a fool’s errand, because it’s never enough. You have never given Biden credit for anything he’s done. Nothing is ever a victory, because every victory is met with “that’s not good enough”. You’ll never see establishment Dems support you because you’ve shown you’ll never support establishment Dems. The alternative for establishment dems is to convince uninformed voters to ignore you.

            • PopOfAfrica@lemmy.world
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              4 months ago

              So what you’re saying is no, Democrats don’t need progressives.

              Is that what you’re saying? It’s funny how I posit effectively a yes or no question and nobody can give a yes or no answer. You’re the fourth person in this one comment chain who hasnt said whether Democrats need progressives to win or not to make concessions.

              Yes… or No?

              • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
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                4 months ago

                It’s funny how I posit effectively a yes or no question and nobody can give a yes or no answer.

                Because you’re demanding a simple answer to a complex question. It’s not a “yes” or a “no”. It’s a “yes, but” or a “no, but” answer depending on how you look at it.

                • PopOfAfrica@lemmy.world
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                  4 months ago

                  What is so complex about “Do democrats need progressives”?

                  Either they are an instrumental voting block that needs to be taken seriously, or they don’t matter (and therefore deserve no blame if Joe loses).

                  You want it both ways because you are not arguing in good faith.

    • Optional@lemmy.worldOP
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      4 months ago

      Fair, but to their point, we know how it’ll play out - the press will fall in line, the sycophants will queue up, everyone will pretend this is fine, and absolute chaos will be the order of the day. That we’ve already lived before.

      • grue@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        I don’t give a shit about the press or the sycophants! The issue is what the fascists will actually do, not how they will be perceived. And what they’re going to do is shit like this (from another Lemmy post today – I didn’t even have to look far to find it):

        We’re talking about purges, pogroms, gulags, maybe even mass-murder of leftists and minorities. That’s not an “everyone will pretend this is fine” issue; that’s an “everyone will be literally imprisoned or dead issue!”

        • Zorque@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          Yes, and when that doesn’t happen, all the people who were expecting the apocalypse to happen (like they did with the last Trump presidency) will neglect to show up for the next election… again.

          The fanatics and sycophants (like the one you literally posted) are a distraction from all the people actually making changes in background. The people appointing judges, the people capturing regulation for their own ends.

          People talk about how we’ll all be lined up and shot if we lose the presidency to Trump… but that’s not how these people work. It has never been how these people work. 99% of what they do is pander to their base with wild claims of what they’re going to do to the “woke-crowd” and the “socialists”. Then when they get into office they block any kind of effective legislation and blame the left and the neo-liberals for standing in the way of “America”.

          Fascism in this country won’t happen with a shotgun blast, it will happen with a shiv in the dark.

          • flerp@lemm.ee
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            4 months ago

            You should read some history books. It is happening EXACTLY like it happened in the past. Down to a T. Other fascist groups weren’t successful their first attempt at seizing power either. Other fascist groups didn’t go from 0 to gas chamber instantly.

            The fact that they haven’t yet lined people up against the wall does not mean they won’t the second they feel they can get away with it.

            The last time they tried to steal power was a practice run. One they’ve learned from. One that almost succeeded except for some key people who didn’t bend their knee. Having people like that around is a mistake they will not make again.

  • Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    4 months ago

    Not voting is a sure fire way to have your voice ignored.

    “You want change but you’re not going to vote towards making it happen because it doesn’t happen already? Why the fuck do you think things aren’t changing for the better‽”

    Voting is so fuckin important, especially in local elections. Local politics bleeds into county politics, which bleeds into state politics which bleeds into country politics.

    It all starts locally.

    You want bike lanes in your city? Vote.

    You want better funding in your schools? Vote.

    You want more affordable housing in your area? Vote.

    Vote in every election. No exceptions.

    • Sunforged@lemmy.ml
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      4 months ago

      Hi there, as a Seattle local I have a legitimate question for you. The local democrats I voted for turned around and gerrymandered the socialist 3 term serving city council member out of office. The only member that was actually pushing for the working class politics I wanted from my district representative. What kind of incremental change can I expect to really see when that is how the party at large operates?

      • realbadat@programming.dev
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        4 months ago

        What you can do - vote in the primaries, participate and support the socialist you supported (or similar folks) in new elections, etc.

        Local elections, imo, matter a lot. And gerrymandering is a huge problem, recently enshrined by the supreme court as being A-OK! So you could use as a constituent, but… I doubt it will get anywhere.

        So the best option is the next election.

      • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        What kind of incremental change can I expect to really see when that is how the party at large operates?

        It’s literally not how the party at large operates. As you said, it was your local city council. Why do you think the entire party is like this?

        And the answer is, vote them out. If it’s bad enough, impeach them. There’s no way in our current configuration of democracy to prevent candidates from turning around and going back on their promises other than refusing to vote for them ever again.

        You already know the answer, and it’s not “throw your hands up and abandon the whole system of democracy”.

        • Sunforged@lemmy.ml
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          4 months ago

          You’re not paying attention. This is a huge problem with liberal voters, they are highly engaged when opposition is in power, yet completely oblivious while “their party” is in charge. Or somehow worse, they will decry obvious issues as helping the opposition (as we see in this thread) so that the needle only ever shifts slightly to the right as the party appeals to “moderates”.

          • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
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            4 months ago

            I’m paying plenty of attention. I know Republicans have been using gerrymandering to have an outsize impact for decades. I know Democrats recently decided to stoop to their level rather than continuously taking the high road and losing because of it. I know that no sane person would decide to stop supporting the Democrats because of this tactic.

            I suspect you’re not being genuine here.

            • the post of tom joad@sh.itjust.works
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              4 months ago

              Nah it’s you. definitely polcom type 14.

              type mostly pretends to understand politics but just say vague pleas to emotion or le-reddit-insults.

              CNBC or whoever coos in these types ears about how much smarter and better they are for being Democrats and well, not fucking much else.

              You’ll never admit that you only watch tv news sometimes after work while browsing your phone? No one would, on purpose. But sometimes they show it.

              I see ya homie and i genuinely want you to shut the fuck up since by now you’ve probably figured out my my fucking trigger is arrogant, ignorant liitle shits.

            • Sunforged@lemmy.ml
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              4 months ago

              Gerrymandering has been apart of American politics since the country’s founding, before the concept was even given a name in 1812. When the parties weren’t polarized from 1964–1992 there wasn’t a need for drastic gerrymandering like we see currently, but it still happened from both parties to secure incumbent power. It’s why it was never legislated against, both parties prefer to keep it around as it is yet another method of keeping the broken two party system in place.

              I’m being genuine, authentic, and fucking real with you. Both parties are shit and we deserve better. Democrats will never truly save you from the looming threat of Republicans because they are two sides to the same imperialist coin.

      • SirSnufflelump@lemmy.ca
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        4 months ago

        Unfortunately gerrymandering is a flaw in the democratic process. At least in the US, the Voting Rights Act makes it so political parties cannot redraw districts to decrease the political influence of racial or ethnic groups. It says nothing about other political parties, so whichever party is in power when voting lines need to be redrawn will inevitably try to redraw the lines in their favor. Until that sort of gerrymandering is outlawed, it will continue to happen. The party in power isn’t going to make it fair for their competition out of the kindness of their heart.

        • Sunforged@lemmy.ml
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          4 months ago

          Right but none of what you said answers the question: What kind of incremental change can I expect to really see when that is how the party at large operates?

          When true change is threatened it is dealt with in two ways, recuperation or rejection. Anything else is not change that threatens the systems of power and is allowed to be squabble over.

          • Zorque@lemmy.world
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            4 months ago

            Well, looking beyond one local election might help. Sure, your district may not have gone the way you want, but another may have gone further.

            If all you care about is what matters directly to you, then you’re in for a bad time.

            • Sunforged@lemmy.ml
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              4 months ago

              Well, looking beyond one local election might help.

              You don’t quite understand what I am referencing if you think when I talk of recuperation that I am just referencing one election. Black Lives Matter is the biggest lightning rod that was very obviously recuperated in order to diminish it’s radical politics, MLK was literally assassinated when his politics got too radical and threatening of the status quo and then his legacy was recuperated, even the New Deal was recuperation of the strongest labor movement because of it’s deep socialist roots.

              These are long standing ongoing problems with our political system and those that maintain it’s power.

          • Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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            4 months ago

            Talk politics with people in your area, get to know people IRL, show up to city council things, do the leg work when you can. Again local elections happen locally with the people in your locality.

            The incremental change that is had in this situation is not having the GQP win. Yeah the maps got redrawn in a way you don’t like this time but don’t stop fighting for what you see is right.

            When you stop fighting the people you fight against will be able to steam roll through.

      • grue@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        Are you suggesting it makes any sort of fucking sense whatsoever to help usher in a fascist dictatorship at the Federal level just because you’re unhappy with how the other party acted at your local city level?

        • Sunforged@lemmy.ml
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          4 months ago

          Man your brain is straight broken if you don’t understand what I am saying and have to resort to strawmen.

          • grue@lemmy.world
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            4 months ago

            How is it a strawman when it’s literally an accurate description of the situation? You’re trying to defend helping Trump, a fascist wannabe-dictator, get back into power on the grounds that your local Seattle Democrats fucked over a progressive.

            Here’s a reminder of what you wrote (in case you try to edit it to save face):

            Hi there, as a Seattle local I have a legitimate question for you. The local democrats I voted for turned around and gerrymandered the socialist 3 term serving city council member out of office. The only member that was actually pushing for the working class politics I wanted from my district representative. What kind of incremental change can I expect to really see when that is how the party at large operates?

            Cite the part of either my comments that isn’t an accurate restatement of that. I dare you.

      • Zorque@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        FYI I downvoted you because you whined about your downvotes. Just thought you should know.

        Next time vote for someone else. Local races are where “vote blue, no matter who” means the least. They’re the most likely place to see progressive change. If you saw unfortunate result because you put a check mark next to a D and expected something miraculous to happen, maybe you should start looking into the candidates instead of their party more often.

        But, most of all. Don’t expect everyone to think the same way you do. Often they will have different ideas of what progress is. Sometimes that means you’ll see a step to the center, even if it’s a step forward. Don’t be disheartened just because you didn’t get everything you wanted this time, and show up again. And again. And again. Because the only way progress will stall is if you stop showing up.

        • Sunforged@lemmy.ml
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          4 months ago

          If you saw unfortunate result because you put a check mark next to a D and expected something miraculous to happen, maybe you should start looking into the candidates instead of their party more often.

          WA state has top two elections so the majority of the time it’s vote big D or little d. We also have statewide vote by mail so every election, primaries included, you can site down and research candidates as you mark off the ballot sheet, it’s one of the few times I enjoy a glass of wine as I take my time with it as it takes up an entire evening.

          Any other misconceptions I can clear up for you?

          I don’t see progress happening through the ballot box, increasingly I see more and more conservative liberals winning elections. And the progressives I once had hope for when they were first elected become more and more compromised as they try to work within the democratic party.

          FYI I downvoted you because you whined about your downvotes. Just thought you should know.

          Just as funny, but more so because you read commentary as complaining.

    • PopOfAfrica@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      To a lot of progressives, Democrats are backsliding away from progressivism, not moving slowly towards it. If they need progressives to win, they sure arent acting like it.

      • Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        4 months ago

        Get involved in politics and participate like hell

        Influence your local elections to the best of your abilities and encourage others to do the same

        The more stuff that can be done by getting people to act in a progressive way the more they’ll be steered in that direction

        And hell you could even try running in your local elections too, you’d be surprised how simple it can be in a lot of places

        • PopOfAfrica@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          I’m seeing people in this very thread being hesitant to admit that Democrats should probably court progressives for a victory.

          A lot of people, even here on Lemmy, which is supposed to be quite left leaning, would rather Trump win than throw progressives a bone.

          Perhaps I’m just reading into this too much, but it seems like Democrats are being actively hostile against progressives right now. How are we supposed to change things if they are being outright hostile towards progressivism?

          This is the uphill battle that Democrats are going to have to face. You can’t continuously alienate your voter base and then expect positive results. The base factually is already alienated. The question is, what will Democrats do to win them back? Is it too late? The clock is ticking And I don’t think the Democrats are learning the correct lesson.

            • PopOfAfrica@lemmy.world
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              4 months ago

              Let’s assume it is a hostage situation. It isn’t but let’s humor you.

              Guess you think is worth not giving in, eh?

  • makeshiftreaper@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    An interesting fact about not voting: you not voting for Biden because “his stance on Isreal is bad” is indistinguishable from your grandma not voting because “Trump will win her county”. Is that the message you want to send?

    • Psychodelic@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      I’m never really used Tumblr but is it mainly for talking to people that will never read or care what you say?

      Am I doing ir right?

  • blaue_Fledermaus@mstdn.io
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    4 months ago

    Brazil might have a lot of problems, but one thing I think our law gets right is treating voting not as a right, but as a duty, you don’t get to choose not to vote.