• pimento64@sopuli.xyz
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    5 months ago

    Some of those who work forces are the same who burn crosses: many that advocate for not voting from a “progressive” point of view are actually the ones who wouldn’t be in power if you did. They think it’s hilarious when we don’t vote, and they love it.

    • mozz@mbin.grits.devOP
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      5 months ago

      Yep

      I used to be alarmed that people were being taken in by this stuff, but I now think the overwhelming majority of people saying it are just shill accounts. For a couple of different reasons, I think the percentage that are actual human accounts that sincerely believe it is extremely small.

      I notice they’ve pivoted to just general nihilism about the US economy and the state of things as of a few weeks ago – I think they might have concluded, as I did, that expressing this type of viewpoint and doing such a bad job of it and getting unanimously yelled at in the comments was actually having the opposite effect, highlighting to people how important it is to vote and how it absolutely makes a difference.

      • orcrist@lemm.ee
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        5 months ago

        I see a lot of people saying “go vote” and not making any effort to understand why non-voters stay home. A lot of the comments here are great examples of that.

        That kind of dogmatism is common on political issues, of course, but that doesn’t make it reasonable.

        And I understand that people feel strongly. Who wouldn’t? That’s why it’s even more important to try to discuss things. Or not. Sometimes flame wars are entertaining, if not productive. Depends on one’s mood.

        • BallsandBayonets@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          This is something that I’ve noticed is worse on Lemmy than it was on Reddit, and it was already pretty bad on Reddit. Insulting people doesn’t get them to support your viewpoint. To convince disillusioned voters to hold their nose and vote blue no matter who, they have to be convinced why their individual vote has an impact in a system where the electoral college can (and regularly does) vote contrary to the popular vote. They have to be shown that it’s worth participating in a system that makes progress slow and difficult but allows evil to be done quickly and with great impact.

          They have to be given hope, not fear.

    • Empricorn@feddit.nl
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      5 months ago

      Things are not great in the US (and worldwide). But I always get pushback when I encourage people to vote and remind them that this is not North Korea or Russia, your vote still actually matters! Whoever you are, you can help prevent your country’s slide into fascism…

        • mozz@mbin.grits.devOP
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          5 months ago

          Tell me you’re not a woman in Arizona who has an ectopic pregnancy, without telling me etc

            • mozz@mbin.grits.devOP
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              5 months ago

              There’s an image which explains what I’m talking about

              It is somewhere

              It’s very near

              If you search, I think you will be able to locate it. Don’t give up

        • Empricorn@feddit.nl
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          5 months ago

          When… it is accurately counted and applied? That should be a low bar, but dictators in the aforementioned countries regularly win with more than 100% of the total vote percentage.

    • melpomenesclevage@lemm.ee
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      5 months ago

      But voting only determines which face of aristocracy is in power?

      If someone unacceptable wins, it gets fiat discarded.

      Not even hypothetical. Remember that time a bland vaguely well intentioned nerd won an election against the grandson of the guy who was gonna be German ambassador in the business plot government, and they just threw the whole election out and gave it to the third generation fascist oligarch guy?

      Do real action, and while theres nothing wrong with spending five minutes to vote, remember it is not politics and won’t save you, get you infrastructure, or stop a bullshit war. Not ever.

      • pimento64@sopuli.xyz
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        5 months ago

        it is not politics and won’t save you, get you infrastructure, or stop a bullshit war. Not ever.

        Not ever.

      • mindbleach@sh.itjust.works
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        5 months ago

        That shit was only possible thanks to “both sides” horseshit keeping turnout low and results close.

        You are part of the problem.

              • mindbleach@sh.itjust.works
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                5 months ago

                ‘Your actions cause the problems you’re pointing to to excuse your actions.’

                ‘So you admit there’s problems.’

                Shoo, enabler.

                • melpomenesclevage@lemm.ee
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                  5 months ago

                  So you’re saying the rules are made up and the points don’t matter

                  Therefore we need even more points than the rules say we need

                  And the guy making that an unpalatable moral compromise getting raped for six hours straight, instead of a thing you pester your roommates to hop in he car and grudgingly take an hour off to do, that guy isn’t at all at fault.

                  You shit the bed and failed to fight for the rules, you offer me a shit deal I don’t even want, and you scold me for not lifting a finger? Fuck you.

                  • mindbleach@sh.itjust.works
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                    5 months ago

                    ‘I’m the one who gets to complain about words meaning things! Also I’m going to call feeling icky about voting, gang rape, because that sounds worse.’

                    You are why rules about ‘never be mean, ever’ cause more trolling than they solve. Get out of my inbox.

      • mindbleach@sh.itjust.works
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        5 months ago

        If Al Gore had won Florida outright, there’d be no recount, no Brookes Brothers riot, no 5-4 decision cancelling democracy, and quite possibly no September 11th attacks. Plus eight extra years of giving a shit about climate change instead of openly funneling no-bid contracts to a third-gen oligarch’s decrepit oil-baron vice president.

        All of that evil came from one fucking state being within 500 votes. A situation caused by inane “douche v turd” denial that politics matter, god dammit.

        • mindbleach@sh.itjust.works
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          5 months ago

          Of course, alternate-universe super geniuses would whine about VP Lieberman trying to outlaw video games or whateverthefuck. I guess that’s as bad as starting two land wars in Asia Minor.

        • melpomenesclevage@lemm.ee
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          5 months ago

          Also gore did win Florida though. The only reason he ‘didn’t win outright’ is because of tampering and tantrums by fascists.

          He won. He won by all your fucking rules and if elections mattered, he would’ve been president.

          One vote, 500 votes, because George bush didn’t win by any votes, and he got to be president.

          “My shit doesn’t work so we just gotta do it harder and if it doesn’t work its your fault for not committing” you know I could say the sane thing about direct action, but that actually does work.

          • mindbleach@sh.itjust.works
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            5 months ago

            Outright winners don’t need recounts. There’d be nothing to tamper with. No opportunities for fascists on the ground to do direct action, or fascists in power to ignore the close results and make up whatever they like. The election would simply have been won.

            But that didn’t happen.

            And the reason it didn’t happen is that a lot of people stayed home, thanks to bullshit like yours.

            • melpomenesclevage@lemm.ee
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              5 months ago

              He did win outright! Al gore won the election outright!

              “The rules are made up and the points don’t matter so anyone who causes us to not get as many points as possible is a Nazi

              And also the people making giving you points a massive moral compromise that makes my stomach turn isnt at all to blame.

              • mindbleach@sh.itjust.works
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                5 months ago

                “Outright” is not decorative. Words… mean things. Al Gore won the election, technically. But the margin was so slim that there was a recount. There would not be a recount, if he had won the election… unambiguously.