U.S. President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign will use next week’s Republican debate in the battleground state of Wisconsin to engage thousands of social media volunteers and launch their first advertising campaign aimed at Black and Latino voters, according to a Democratic official.
The enthusiasm to vote against rather than for a candidate reveals the deeper crisis of a political system that effectively marginalizes meaningful alternatives.
That’s all well and good, but any kind of non-involvement only pushes us deeper into that system. One side sucks and cares about general human rights, the other side doesn’t. One side attempted a coup, the other is largely pretty pissed about it. And unless something happens overnight that hasn’t happened in the modern US, the winner is going to be D or R. One side will get us closer to bring able to get a better system, the other side would gladly make up election results and stay in power indefinitely a la Putin.
You can still act while complaining about the system. This constant bashing of anyone who expresses dissatisfaction at the current state of affairs is as likely to cause disenfranchisement as anything Republicans pull.
I don’t think my previous comment would constitute bashing, but I may just be misreading it.
And I’d argue that a person on the internet leaving a comment is wayyyy less likely to lead to disenfranchisement than Republicans actively gerrymandering, taking away voting machine in minority heavy precincts, changing voter ID requirements, making the distribution of food and water in long election lines illegal, etc.
One is making likely voters less capable of voting, the other is making unlikely voters less likely to participate.
They’re both bad, but one is done with malice and the other is just done out of complete lack of empathy for the feelings of your compatriots.
At no point in the comment you replied to said they didn’t want to vote, just that the system as it is makes voting feel like a losing battle either way. Even if one way is technically better. You decided that someone complaining about the situation was simply refusing to participate in it. I’d say that would constitute bashing, as it’s construing an opinion as an action you don’t like.
Maybe try empathizing with their situation, and offering sympathy, rather than chastising them for feeling bad about an already awful situation.
I think there is maybe a misunderstanding of what was meant by “disenfranchisement”.
I think most Democrats would agree with you, but we can get back to actual political discourse after we prevent a literal Russian asset from attempting to remove the right to have discourse at all.
Yet another issue that ranked choice voting would solve.
I strongly prefer STAR over ranked choice, for some significant issues that aren’t talked about enough. (slide deck).
But yes, I agree that voting reform is critical to this change, and it’s very telling that neither party are very interested in enacting it. They’ll both warn us like an abusive relationship to not vote third party “or else” but when you ask why not just support voting reform they both fall silent.
You hold elections with the system you have, not the one you want.
… yes, but you can change the system you have if you put some effort into it instead of just assuming that things have to stay the way they are for some reason.
… if you win the elections first.
Don’t get me wrong, I fully agree with you. The system is crappy and needs to be changed. But often I see the flaws of the system presented as an excuse for inaction instead of as a call to arms. That’s just silly.