honey look, freedom of expression and the right to protest in America just
gotdropped.
Nobody pushing genocide is worthy of votes or support.
It was incumbent on Dems to EARN votes, and they failed spectacularly. You’re wrong to try blaming voters for failings of our corrupt politicians.
Imagine thinking 5 people on the internet caused Trump to win.
zuck, Elon, bezos… those three are on the internet. got 2 more?
I feel a lot of people do a lot to justify stupid behaviour. “Saving is too hard” or “exercise is too hard”. There’s legit reasons to not be able to save, or exercise or being able to vote 🤨.
However there’s a lot of bullshit that people were spouting. It’s either a coordinated campaign or just dumb shit. What annoys me is everyone piling on Joe and then they did what people wanted and swapped to Kamala and they’re still upset that the Dems “don’t listen”. Whatever, they’re all full of it.
I fucking hate the Democrats but you have to be completely psycho to justify not-voting for them.
To be clear, I’m Canadian and I’m directly impacted by this now. So fuck all of those people.
I’m not American so nobody got my vote, but seems to me like the issue is with the swathes of people choosing facism rather than progressives who chose not to vote.
Choosing how to act in a world like ours is tricky, anyone following a sense of right and wrong (even if I disagree with their judgement) instead of fear, hate, greed or whatever gets a gold star in my book.
Inaction is still a choice, though. I totally understand the sentiment behind that choice and even agree that we shouldn’t be forced to choose genocide, but the alternative that we got is a man who not only wants the same genocide, but wants to accelerate it, put American boots on the ground to assist in it, and then turn the bloodied ground into resorts while also wanting to worsen life across the globe. So, by refusing to act, they didn’t oppose that man getting into power. They cared so much about genocide that, ironically, they enabled making that genocide worse by not acting against that possibility.
The biggest issue, though, is with the people who couldn’t be bothered enough to vote. Some, what, 40% of Americans never vote? Of course, there’s plenty there who can’t due to things like gerrymandering, but there’s a huge swathe of white suburbanites who simply prefer the status quo to actually improving things.
by refusing to act, they didn’t oppose that man getting into power.
you can refuse to vote for a Democrat and still oppose the man getting into power.
But thanks to the two party system, what effect does it have? And I’m specifically talking about the voting day of the presidential election here, not primaries or other elections. Because that’s where those efforts will have the most impact. Not that the Dems deigned to give us even the illusion of a primary this election (or in 2016, truthfully), but so many of these people seem to shake their fist once every 4 years and then go to sleep like cicadas awaiting the next presidential election.
I don’t blame people for hating the weak candidates that the Dems consistently push forward to maintain the old guards’ leadership positions, but I do blame them for looking at the alternative and saying “I’m okay with the possibility of that man winning if I don’t vote or vote third party.” The chance of a Trump victory and all that it entailed was a line in the sand that they were willing to cross.
As a trans woman, I blame them for saying, “Your life is not worth biting the bullet for.”
As a trans woman, I blame them for saying, “Your life is not worth biting the bullet for.”
I don’t believe voting for Democrats is an effective way to save anyone’s life.
The chance of a Trump victory and all that it entailed was a line in the sand that they were willing to cross.
that chance was thrust upon all of us. accepting reality doesn’t make him acceptable.
Yet refusing to accept the reality of mathematics that showed that, in a FPTP system, not voting for a viable candidate opposing a fascist only helps the fascist is acceptable? Nah. The blood is on the hands of both dems and non-voters. Non-voters/protest voters don’t give a fuck about trans people, as shown by their actions.
Non-voters/protest voters don’t give a fuck about trans people
prove it
refusing to accept the reality of mathematics
support your claim
So it seems like you fully understand the flaws of First past the post voting. Have you done anything to fix it? Are the democrats doing anything to fix it? Nows the time. Not during the election
looking at the alternative and saying “I’m okay with the possibility of that man winning if I don’t vote or vote third party.”
whether I vote for Dems or no, I’m not ok with republican candidates.
The biggest issue, though, is with the people who couldn’t be bothered enough to vote. Some, what, 40% of Americans never vote?
Sounds like First-past-the-post voting doesn’t properly represent the population. Let’s try a new electoral system to fix this. The people of Alaska switched to Ranked Choice and they had a referendum last election to go back to FPTP voting, and they didn’t want to.
Videos on alternative voting systems
First Past The Post voting (What most states use now)
Videos on alternative electoral systems we can try out.
I absolutely agree, though I know of at least one other place that tried it and had issues because nobody knew who the candidates were or what their positions were, but IIRC, there was some context to it that made it a “well, of course they had problems” situation instead of people just being too lazy to read up on the candidates (though that is a very real but solvable issue). Like there were 10 districts on the ballot with 6 open seats in each, and they had about 30 candidates per district or something crazy like that.
Why are we still talking about this? It’s over, and we can’t undo the results.
While I did vote blue conservative (for the last time), they were not worthy of that vote because they did not represent me. That’s how representative democracy works. What you advocate for is not representative democracy, it is a hostage situation and should be treated like the crisis that that entails.
Why are you okay with people being underrepresented at the voting booth? Are you actively working to replace First Past the Post voting in your state? People should have the freedom to vote for the candidates they believe are best, while still ensuring their votes count against those they don’t want in office.
It’s not as though democrats are just now learning of the mathematical flaws of FPTP. Every election I’ve seen the same bullshit excuses to take people’s inalienable right to vote how they want. Democrats in blue states made a choice to leave a huge portion of the population unrepresented, all for safe states and easy elections.
We don’t need to wait for a miracle from Congress, we can pass election reform one state at a time. Should we have more elections, we must remove the democratic monopoly on this fight against the republicans. Don’t worry, blue conservative, you will be free to vote for your preference under a more representative electoral system. Because who would want to deny someone the right to vote for the person they feel is best? You apparently.
Alaska has already abolished FPTP voting. After Ranked Choice Voting kept Sarah Palin out of office, Alaskan Republicans tried to pass a referendum to revert to FPTP, but the people voted to keep Ranked Choice. Why would you want to use the same voting system that Republicans favor? Do you support democracy, or do you get off on forcing people unrepresented in government to vote for your preference?
Videos on alternative voting systems
First Past The Post voting (What most states use now)
Videos on alternative electoral systems we can try out.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances
1st ammendment to the constitution since conservatives love to claim they support it
Ah! But it says “congress shall make no law,” not that “the president shall tweet no bullshit!”
tbh, the founding fathers did fuck this up quite bad, by not including this
Bold of you to assume that the US is a country still under the rule.of law.
Laws only matter if they are enforced.
The right wing doesn’t care about law or consistency. They care about in-groups to protect and out groups to bind.
If “how do treat strangers” is a viable metric for assessing if someone is a good person or not, the the right wing are not good people.
Mask up. Leave your phones at home. Break shit.
They won’t. They couldn’t even get upset over kids being massacred every week in their schools. They are a broken people. Have been for decades. Their military.and economy didn’t fail. Their moral fiber did. They substituted thoughts and prayers and other virtue signalling for community organisation and direct action.
If you think I am wrong then don’t reply. Go outside and prove it. Nobody gives a shit what people write in social media. It means nothing.
You’re spot on… I might argue that that moral fiber has pretty much never existed. But do you have any insight on how one even begins to restore that moral fiber?
Gimme a break, I don’t expect you to know everything that goes on here, just as all I “know” about Australia is “you” made Murdoch, continue to abuse native people just like us, and dingos regularly eat babies. Like asserting that no Australian people care about those issues is wrong and obviously my fundamental understanding of the country is flawed, it’s also wrongheaded to assert the American people are all broken and spineless for years and have bad moral fiber (I’ll assume this is a normal saying for y’all elsewhere, but that sounds like a nationalistic dog whistle to my ears).
It is especially bizarre to claim that Americans are incapable of direct action a few years after the country had some pretty explosive sustained protests against police violence and racism. The US is filled with broken people, yes, but not because of some nebulous moral failing, and it’s the broken government you have an issue with, not the poor fools who were born here.
Looking to the mentioned protests a few years back might explain the lack of similar reaction now. They burned youth prisons, occupied police stations, ran for office, took to the streets, were shot at, gassed, and went to jail. For what? Nothing changed endured, the establishment “left” abandoned the movement and helped undo any change that occured, the government clamped down harder on dissent, and Trump got reelected. Maybe the methods of resistance have to change to succeed, you cant keep fighting the war of yesterday and expect to win after all, and you sure don’t have to publicize your actions for online strangers to check your moral fiber.
Posting may be meaningless, but I’d say all this to your face if we were talking in person too. Communication is how we change and change minds, and leaving nonsense unchallenged is how we got into this mess in the first place, and I won’t make that mistake here or in my non digital life.
I am not the enemy and I am genuinely sorry for your hardship (though not nearly as much as for people born into poverty, war and genocide in far lass fortunate countries)
Americans trying to justify themselves on social media seems like a waste of energy and focus and its probably not good for mental health. Outside opinion that contradicts the narratives we have in our heads is important. My opinion might be wrong but its a genuine observation. My very real fear is we can’t rely on US citizens to fight for their democracy anymore and that has global implications for the world and my children’s future. Please prove me wrong. I love to learn new things. The BLM protests were huge but perhaps they turned from grass roots outrage into a social media phenomenon instead of a real effective political movement.
Protecting our kids is an issue that cuts across all beliefs, races, classes to the heart of our humanity, the most basic goodness that unites our species. I think the turning point, if such a thing exists, may have been Columbine, 1999. Not the bad guys on 9/11, not Putin election interference or MAGA. That is the issue that would have really outraged most countries. Millions on the streets protesting. Politicians of all parties scrambling to act. The shootings kept getting worse every year and it was swept under the carpet. More than the homelessness, wealth inequality, healthcare, that makes me worry a lot for your future and by extension the rest of us. We are definitely drifting to the right here and are a worse society as a result but for all our similarities and weaknesses that is still the the most fundamental issue that separates your politics and society from ours which is why I think we can never really be in your situation (we also don’t have the historical acrimony and economic disadvantage stemming from a bloody civil war).
Leave your ID at home too… Just saying.
Bruh, they catch me without proof of citizenship, I’m getting deported.
But where will they deport you to?
Ehhh? Checkmate ICE.
Guantanamo apparently
Oh right.
Sorry.
That hurts to see because it’s so true.
All federal funding will stop
That’s the only part here anyone needs to know.
He’ll threaten to pull funding for his stupid pet issues first, then pull it anyways for everyone else.
Therefore, fucking ignore his threats, nothing you can do will ever appease him and he will go back on his own word like it’s a bodily function.
Does “NO MASKS” mean that choosing to wear a mask to protect your health is now forbidden at colleges or is there another meaning that I don’t understand? It is so random and has nothing to do with the rest of the post except for being “woke”.
They don’t want people concealing their identity to avoid police following them after protests.
Yeah, only the police are allowed to conceal their identity
Ah there goes another thing that distinguished the USA from China and Russia.
Then they came from the students, and I watched my parents still beg for more fascism because they thought they were going to be billionaires any day now
Are they hoping for a Hyperinflation?
Just take a look at the exchange rate. You can practically see the day things started to go wrong.
Haven’t they been coming for the students already before trump got into office?
Boomers just love the taste of boot.
They want violence.
Putin sure wants the US to tear itself apart and sever ties with western allies. And what’s the Trump administration doing again…?
this is his plan all alone, one of inner circle wrote the book on geopolitics, and even in the 80 they deemed trump to a potential useful president one day.
I remember when the Democrats brought down the hammer hard on anti-genocide protestors in universities. Trump is doing the same, but expanding it to all protests.
May 10, 2024 Map: Where university protesters have been arrested across the United States
Did they use guns and kill people? Because that is what trump will be ordering - Kent state style
Trump is worse I never said otherwise. My point isn’t that Republicans aren’t worse, but that the Democrats failed to live up to expectations of their constituents and helped lead us down this path.
they also allowed russia to back these protests, wierdly nobody actually came out with the news over this after the initial invasion of gaza(it was reported early on the protests on campuses were heavily backed by RU and anti-palestine jewish groups, one famous one is Seinfelds wife.
Just admit you just want to crush protests you don’t like just like trump does. Blue conservatives.
What does he think “illegal” means? Is he getting rid of the first amendment?
That’s the weasel word that lets the right know exactly what he means but still able to pretend like it isn’t what he means.
Well he also did an executive order, that only he is allowed to interpret the law, so… Whatever he feels like is illegal is illegal.
Well there you go kids, he just explicitly named exactly all the things you should be doing.
This is absolutely absurd. People have a right to a lawful assembly.
Anyone supporting this guy is insane. Literally trying to become an emperor
Isn’t this the exact type of thing the 2nd Amendment types were supposed to have their guns and militia to guard against?
Any and all pro gun people won’t do shit. It’s all blustery BS. It’s a hobby not a means to right a wrong.
being necessary to the security of a free State
If the people with more guns think that the State is free there is no need to actually use them
Yeah but they are losing out because of all of this as well. A crashing economy will screw everyone over regardless of how they vote. It’s not like any of his plans have policies in them to protect his supporters, he doesn’t care about his own supporters.
In 4 years time he’ll either no longer be able to remain president and will step down due to term limits, or he will have completely taken control and he’ll be in charge indefinitely as an actual dictator. Either way he doesn’t need his supporters anymore.
They don’t… know. Trump’ supporters could actually become the living embodiment of “cutting the nose to spite the face”