• rockSlayer@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        Yes, by all means, exercise your right to vote as you see fit. But if the only way we can avoid fascism is by never losing an election, shouldn’t we be seeking better ideas and stronger protections from fascism now before that plan fails?

        • TachyonTele@lemm.ee
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          6 months ago

          If you don’t vote you’re not a part of the conversation. You obviously don’t have any grasp on how the election process works anyways, so why are you even keyboard warrioring this at all?

          Go back to playing music, Jesse.

          • rockSlayer@lemmy.world
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            6 months ago

            Perhaps engage with mutual respect. I do vote. I vote in every election. I’m also very aware of how US politics work.

            • realbadat@programming.dev
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              6 months ago

              Then you should know that to move things left, you need to vote more local progressives.

              People don’t start out going for the presidency (and they shouldn’t, as the obvious recent mistake of a president shows).

              Slowing down fascism provides opportunity for progressive politicians to make moves in the right direction, and take positions that are higher up the ladder.

              Allowing a nose dive to fascism prevents the progressive folks from having an opportunity.

              In short - yes, slowing it down is good enough at the presidential level.

              • rockSlayer@lemmy.world
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                6 months ago

                I do know that. You seem like you’re pretty in tune as well, so you should be aware that being permissive and/or welcoming of 3rd party presidential candidates generally favor democrats at the state and local level.

                • realbadat@programming.dev
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                  6 months ago

                  That really depends on the candidate.

                  And it depends on the main candidates as well. What we have now is “strong” words against genocide while continuing, or fascist genocide. The third party candidate (RFKJr) is an anti-vax, conspiracy theorist, covid-19 denying, whacko with name recognition for a while host of democrats, and was one until. He’s a spoiler candidate. Voting 3rd party in this election is, imo, dangerous.

            • JasonDJ@lemmy.zip
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              6 months ago

              So, what do you think will happen if you continue to encourage people who dislike both candidates to abstain from voting?

              One of the two candidates will win, and one of the two candidates will take office in January. Hopefully they are both the same person.

              It sucks that the choice is “who is less bad”. But that’s US politics for you. Not voting for the less bad is not going to make anything better.

              • rockSlayer@lemmy.world
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                6 months ago

                I’m not saying that either. I told you to use your right how you see fit. It is not my place to tell you how to vote, nor is it my place to negatively pressure strangers into voting for my preference. I think everyone should vote. I’m also saying that promising votes to politicians regardless of their actions indicate that their actions won’t hurt their chances.

                • JasonDJ@lemmy.zip
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                  6 months ago

                  You have to choose your words more carefully. There’s a lot of astroshitting all over the place. Should expect no less, if the primary races and 2016 and 2020 were any indication.

                  I agree “vote blue no matter who” is potentially dangerous. However at this current juncture, it really doesn’t matter. Republicans can’t be allowed to have control of another branch. They’ve shown their hand, and are pulling no punches. Straight up lies, exaggerations, and accusations fueling a culture war in a strategy to get to 270 with as little a popular vote as possible.

                  • Serinus@lemmy.world
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                    6 months ago

                    If we could win by more than the slimmest margins, there’d be a hell of a lot more room for division within the party.

                    Ideally the Dems would win so hard that the Republicans would be forced to change or go extinct. And ideally, the Republican party would lose so badly for so long that they cease to be relevant and the Dems split into two parties.

                    Why 48% of the country votes against this is mind boggling.

                • lad@programming.dev
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                  6 months ago

                  I’m also saying that promising votes to politicians regardless of their actions indicate that their actions won’t hurt their chances.

                  That’s very true and likely going to lead to a very nasty future once this is thoroughly exploited. But I don’t think that just “there should be something better” might help. Also, there might exist unsolvable problems, and if this is one of those we’re in a very bad position, indeed

                  • rockSlayer@lemmy.world
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                    6 months ago

                    That’s also part of my point. Voting will not get us out of this problem. We need to pressure politicians, we need to protest, we need to organize, and we need to implement more successful alternatives to the status quo. We will never avoid fascism if the only thing we do is vote. Right now the best way to pressure the better candidate is to make him believe, right up until election day, that he will lose.

                • Serinus@lemmy.world
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                  6 months ago

                  Primaries are also a thing, generally. By all means, do more than vote.

                  But voting is the bare minimum.

            • TachyonTele@lemm.ee
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              6 months ago

              I’m not sure what mutual respect you’re referencing. If it’s the kind you’ve been putting forth then I’m right there with you, and you have nothing to complain about.

              If you’re just saying “no fair!” then too bad, there no fairness in life. That’s reality.

              What elections exactly have you voted in?

              • rockSlayer@lemmy.world
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                6 months ago

                By mutual respect I mean not assuming ill will when a new person enters a discussion. I’ve voted in every single presidential, state, local, municipal, and union election since I turned 18 in 2014.

                • TachyonTele@lemm.ee
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                  6 months ago

                  Then you should understand that this election is past the time to choose who you want to run for president in your party.

        • bolexforsoup@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          6 months ago

          Yes we should definitely be looking at longer-term, better solutions. However, the election is in less than five months. So please propose a solution or stop naysaying without any alternative.