Does this mean we should be trying to elect the other candidate that has a chance at winning the election? That sounds like a worse option.
this post was submitted on 25 Aug 2024
2 points (66.7% liked)
USpolitics
672 readers
1 users here now
founded 1 year ago
I don’t think this article is recommending that (or any specific path in this context). I think she’s just trying to wake people up. I know that was my reason for posting it. My point was: It’s crystal clear that good people are asleep at the wheel because they’ve fallen victim to marketing which guides people toward complacency; This complacency amounts to tacit approval of one of the two sides (both of which are actually anti-democratic cadres of corporatist warmongers).
The quote that I made sure to share says it most eloquently.
No. It isn't. The amount of time that most "good people" have to advocate for themselves and others is so little that they can't be politically informed and therefore politically responsible and the system is designed that way. Putting the blame on the voters for voting Democrat when they are presented with poor choices from the start is a problem with the system as well. This is the same as blaming other poor people because you're poor.
Voting for a third party candidate doesn't normalize them or get them elected. It isn't the marketing that's the problem. It's the time. It's the fact that they have to worry about feeding and clothing and housing themselves and using their free time (what little of it there is) to do things that keep them sane. Politicians and businesses take advantage of that in order to stay in power and further corrupt the system to their own ends.
It's exhausting to be blamed for voting in a way that is just damage control and has been our entire lives. If you want to support and advertise lobbies that are fighting to change this, I am all for it. But this sentiment and the article are kind of just off the mark. Most people don't trust their government. Most people don't trust politicians. Most people are trying to get by.
Yes. It is.
I’m putting blame on people for being easily duped. This is a sham democracy and the sooner we can get out of this endless loop held captive by a FPTP two party system and stop pretending that voting Dem is “harm reduction” the better off HUMANITY will be.
Every four years, we play this stupid game where people pretend that it’s going to get any better if we choose A over B when A is a Dem police state and B is a Republican police state. The choices were artificially limited from the start so of course, we end up infighting because 70% of us (many of them parents like myself, terrified of the very real dystopian death cult future in store for their children) are utterly voiceless, being dragged kicking and screaming into fascism.
https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2024/06/24/public-trust-in-government-1958-2024/
Literally more than 50% of Americans do not trust their government and trust in the government has been trending down for the last several decades. 68% of Americans say that they want more viable parties than those that are currently available (viable meaning actually electable). They also by an overwhelming majority want term limits and other checks and balances placed on politicians that hold office because they are aware the system is broken.
Americans trust in news media is also at an all time low and the vast majority of Americans do not trust the media.
So, it's great that you want to try to wrap this up in a neat little bow where we blame constituents rather than the system, but you're still wrong.
https://www.axios.com/2023/10/24/americans-trust-in-media-plummets-to-historic-low-poll
https://www.axios.com/2023/09/19/poll-us-political-system-crisis-trust-unfavorable-pew
So you think a system where only two private parties can ever even have a chance isn’t to blame?
Ok. Thanks for that.
You offered no counterpoint. You told me I’m wrong but didn’t codify even a single suggestion. You just gave polling numbers. I also don’t feel like my government represents me. I still vote even though I know it’s a sham. Weird hill to die on. I think you sounded a lot more heroic in your own head.
You really owned me there. /s
Yes because the system is literally rigged to be that way, not because of voters but because of literally politicians and rich people/corps. I offered a counterpoint you literally just don't like it and either didn't read or don't care.
It’s strange because you offered a “counterpoint”. Where you think you’ve refuted something I said. I read everything you wrote multiple times and nothing you said goes against anything I said. You really should read back. I agree with you but you phrase it as if you’re surprising me with some new facts. These are facts I know and used to arrive at my conclusion that we can never have true democracy until we get out of this two party system which will OBVIOUSLY not be solved by participating in that same sham system.