Voting. Voting could have been done. I know it sounds trite and overly simplistic, but that’s the power We The People have, as set up in the founding of our country. We just have to use it…
How many people sat out in 2024, as everyone politically-engaged screamed that a Trump administration would be bad for the economy, bad for Palestinians, bad for Ukrainians, and bad for America (because it might literally elect a fascist dictator who will enact Project 2025 and refuse to give up their power)? Several thousand? That sounds reasonable, right? Maybe up to hundreds of thousands? Maybe even a million people…? No. 90 million people who were eligible to vote in the presidential election didn’t vote by mail, ignored the election drop boxes, and sat at home on Election Day.
That’s enough to beat any entrenched political coalition opposed to progress. That’s not some “pie in the sky” fantasy, we literally had the numbers to accomplish every single political agenda that actually helps working Americans:
#If “Did Not Vote” was a candidate:
I say this all without an ounce of schadenfreude. I genuinely don’t want to hurt the faces of the people who voted for the leopards, not least of all because we all suffer along with them. I will keep shouting this point because we have to do better in the future. Voting isn’t always fun, but it’s the first and most powerful defense against a wannabe dictator like Trump or Musk. I literally don’t care how “not excited” you are about the candidate that doesn’t want to tear the US apart, you need to vote, and vote against fascism. That’s our only hope going forward…EDIT: Okay, maybe it’s not our only hope, but it’s where we have to start.
I guess we should actually try it first before succumbing to defeatism in advance, no? There’s a lot more of us than there is of them… What is it people say about the 4 Boxes to be used in defense of Liberty:
I guess you’ll just have to vote harder champ! I’m sure if you can just convince everyone to vote harder enough, this time, bloviating about how smart you need to be to engage in “strategic voting”, even when that strategy has been demonstrated to fail, it’ll be different this time! Its not you or the Democrats that need to change. No. It could never be that.
The fact you’re so defensive about this speaks volumes. Your condescension doesn’t change the fact: 90 million people didn’t vote. We could have prevented this, easily, but they couldn’t be bothered…
I can repeat it, but I can’t understand it for you. We had 2 separate candidates. I’m sorry neither swept us off our feet, when everyone warned what was coming. Perfect? Of course not, but still better than the fascism and corruption we’re witnessing as they tear our country and alliances apart…
The only thing you seem interested in repeating is the loss in 2024.
You left 6 million votes on the table thinking you know your ass from a hole in the ground when it comes to strategic voting. You approach to strategic voting took the entire country backwards, and you your brain is too covered in neoliberal earwax to figure out that Democrats did this to themselves and no-amount of strategic voting on the behalf of NYT subscribers is going to convince people to ignore the evidence of their eyes, ears, and lived experience.
Everything you’ve outlined here, its precisely what lost the Democrats the 2024 election. I get that its levels beyond you: but figure it out. You aren’t arguing with me. You are arguing with the 6 million people who found the gaslighting un-convicing; who found the shift to the right unpalatable, who found a pro-genocide candidate candidate acceptable: and your answer is “get over it”.
How many votes did you gather to the cause with this alleged “strategy” in terms of voting? Because the evidence shows that you lost almost 10% of previously Democratic voters with this approach to electoralism.
Sure looks to me like both Dems and people who couldn’t give enough of a shit to prevent fascist oligarchy are at fault. And neither side is likely to take responsibility for their actions in this lifetime.
I’m sure looking forward to a significantly increased chance of my loved ones dying violent deaths because non-voters wanted to “send a message” in a manner that has never resulted in positive change in modern history. /S
That’s a nice false dichotomy that you’ve got there. Be a real shame if someone pointed it out.
Do you want to win, or do you want to believe you are right in regards to electoralism and strategy.
As stated elsewhere and implied above, unlike anti-electoralists/accelerationists, I want trans people to not face repression and murder, and for overall levels of human suffering to decrease. Humans are not tools to be used and discarded as your means to an end. The ideology is literally that screenshot of Lord Farquaad from Shrek stating:
Some of you are going to die but that is a sacrifice that I’m willing to make.
Attempting to increase human suffering in the hope that it magically leads to class consciousness and, in-turn, a violent revolution, in ways that have never occurred in documented human history, is pretty much just collaborating with fascists. Even if it were to cause an overthrow of the current order, the data shows that the odds of a left-of-center government replacing it, much less one that is stable enough to stand against external and internal threats from the elite, are questionable at best.
Chomping at the bit for mass violence and refusing to use all tools to avoid it is saying that you don’t care about those who suffer most from war, the non-combatants. You know, the workers, elderly, disabled, and other vulnerable populations that leftists generally care about. In the Second World War, for example, non-combatants suffered three times the deaths of those who were fighting, with less than half attributed to the Holocaust. Most of these deaths don’t occur because of bombings and collateral damage. No, the civilian deaths in war come from disruptions to civil infrastructure leading to outbreaks of preventable disease, famine, and lack of clean water (the sorts of things causing loss of life in the ongoing Palestinian genocide).
So, anytime that you think about advocating against electoral solutions, I ask that you be honest with yourself and others, clearly stating that you:
support increasing unnecessary human suffering as a tool to try to reach you preferred utopia
have no evidence that it will do anything to benefit humanity or even achieve your preferred utopia (and in fact, there is plenty contrary evidence)
are ok with risking the installation of a fascist oligarchy
are not sufficiently bothered by the impact and loss of life to those who are disabled, LGBTQ+, POC, or any other vulnerable group to even try to avoid it
Voting. Voting could have been done. I know it sounds trite and overly simplistic, but that’s the power We The People have, as set up in the founding of our country. We just have to use it…
How many people sat out in 2024, as everyone politically-engaged screamed that a Trump administration would be bad for the economy, bad for Palestinians, bad for Ukrainians, and bad for America (because it might literally elect a fascist dictator who will enact Project 2025 and refuse to give up their power)? Several thousand? That sounds reasonable, right? Maybe up to hundreds of thousands? Maybe even a million people…? No. 90 million people who were eligible to vote in the presidential election didn’t vote by mail, ignored the election drop boxes, and sat at home on Election Day.
That’s enough to beat any entrenched political coalition opposed to progress. That’s not some “pie in the sky” fantasy, we literally had the numbers to accomplish every single political agenda that actually helps working Americans:
#If “Did Not Vote” was a candidate:
I say this all without an ounce of schadenfreude. I genuinely don’t want to hurt the faces of the people who voted for the leopards, not least of all because we all suffer along with them. I will keep shouting this point because we have to do better in the future. Voting isn’t always fun, but it’s the first and most powerful defense against a wannabe dictator like Trump or Musk. I literally don’t care how “not excited” you are about the candidate that doesn’t want to tear the US apart, you need to vote, and vote against fascism.
That’s our only hope going forward…EDIT: Okay, maybe it’s not our only hope, but it’s where we have to start.Billionaires will never allow you to vote away their power.
Never
I guess we should actually try it first before succumbing to defeatism in advance, no? There’s a lot more of us than there is of them… What is it people say about the 4 Boxes to be used in defense of Liberty:
“Please use in that order.”
(That’s a quote from Frederick Douglas)
Exactly. We’ve never actually used our voting privileges. Not really.
Whenever I hear the argument that voting doesn’t do anything, I cringe.
When people show up (not just for presidential elections), shit gets done.
But Muricans are lazy and expect others to do the work for them
Australia has mandatory voting and the mining industry still owns this country.
Just because America makes it cheap to buy an election doesn’t mean it could ever be unaffordable.
I’m not saying that it would solve everything.
But if you look at the areas of this country with higher turnout, you also see better social programs, ect
We suck at doing our part because we’re taught to not care.
You are here.
Oh? Did people show up to vote when we told them how important it was? No? Hmm, then I guess we didn’t actually try the ballot box yet…
I guess you’ll just have to vote harder champ! I’m sure if you can just convince everyone to vote harder enough, this time, bloviating about how smart you need to be to engage in “strategic voting”, even when that strategy has been demonstrated to fail, it’ll be different this time! Its not you or the Democrats that need to change. No. It could never be that.
Any time now. Any time.
The fact you’re so defensive about this speaks volumes. Your condescension doesn’t change the fact: 90 million people didn’t vote. We could have prevented this, easily, but they couldn’t be bothered…
I can repeat it, but I can’t understand it for you. We had 2 separate candidates. I’m sorry neither swept us off our feet, when everyone warned what was coming. Perfect? Of course not, but still better than the fascism and corruption we’re witnessing as they tear our country and alliances apart…
The only thing you seem interested in repeating is the loss in 2024.
You left 6 million votes on the table thinking you know your ass from a hole in the ground when it comes to strategic voting. You approach to strategic voting took the entire country backwards, and you your brain is too covered in neoliberal earwax to figure out that Democrats did this to themselves and no-amount of strategic voting on the behalf of NYT subscribers is going to convince people to ignore the evidence of their eyes, ears, and lived experience.
Everything you’ve outlined here, its precisely what lost the Democrats the 2024 election. I get that its levels beyond you: but figure it out. You aren’t arguing with me. You are arguing with the 6 million people who found the gaslighting un-convicing; who found the shift to the right unpalatable, who found a pro-genocide candidate candidate acceptable: and your answer is “get over it”.
How many votes did you gather to the cause with this alleged “strategy” in terms of voting? Because the evidence shows that you lost almost 10% of previously Democratic voters with this approach to electoralism.
Did you know mining billionaires is a great way to recover stolen power and resources?
Making a note of this for a theoretical speedrun…
Great! Now all you need is a candidate who runs on that.
Don’t let great be the enemy of good
Do you want to win?
Well, we’re certainly not winning now.
That should tell you something.
Narrator: It didn’t.
2024 was the biggest decline in votership (relative to the previous election: eg, participation) of the previous 40 years.
Democrats:
Sure looks to me like both Dems and people who couldn’t give enough of a shit to prevent fascist oligarchy are at fault. And neither side is likely to take responsibility for their actions in this lifetime.
I’m sure looking forward to a significantly increased chance of my loved ones dying violent deaths because non-voters wanted to “send a message” in a manner that has never resulted in positive change in modern history. /S
Do you want to win, or do you want to believe you are right in regards to electoralism and strategy.
You have to choose. You don’t get to have both.
That’s a nice false dichotomy that you’ve got there. Be a real shame if someone pointed it out.
As stated elsewhere and implied above, unlike anti-electoralists/accelerationists, I want trans people to not face repression and murder, and for overall levels of human suffering to decrease. Humans are not tools to be used and discarded as your means to an end. The ideology is literally that screenshot of Lord Farquaad from Shrek stating:
Attempting to increase human suffering in the hope that it magically leads to class consciousness and, in-turn, a violent revolution, in ways that have never occurred in documented human history, is pretty much just collaborating with fascists. Even if it were to cause an overthrow of the current order, the data shows that the odds of a left-of-center government replacing it, much less one that is stable enough to stand against external and internal threats from the elite, are questionable at best.
Chomping at the bit for mass violence and refusing to use all tools to avoid it is saying that you don’t care about those who suffer most from war, the non-combatants. You know, the workers, elderly, disabled, and other vulnerable populations that leftists generally care about. In the Second World War, for example, non-combatants suffered three times the deaths of those who were fighting, with less than half attributed to the Holocaust. Most of these deaths don’t occur because of bombings and collateral damage. No, the civilian deaths in war come from disruptions to civil infrastructure leading to outbreaks of preventable disease, famine, and lack of clean water (the sorts of things causing loss of life in the ongoing Palestinian genocide).
So, anytime that you think about advocating against electoral solutions, I ask that you be honest with yourself and others, clearly stating that you:
It’s strange how there’s a north/south divide there.