“What’s going to happen in this next election? I’m terrified about what could possibly happen, because our leaders matter. Who we select, who speaks for us, who holds that bully pulpit, it affects us in ways sometimes I think people take for granted,” Obama told Jay Shetty on his podcast “On Purpose.”
“The fact that people think that government — ‘eh, does it really even do anything?’ — and I’m like ‘Oh my God, does government do everything for us, and we cannot take this democracy for granted.’ And I worry sometimes that we do. Those are the things that keep me up,” she said.
“The bars are different for people in life. That I’ve learned,” she said.
Without naming Trump, she continued: “Other people can be indicted a bunch of times and still run for office. Black men can’t. You just learn to be good. And in the end, you benefit from that extra resilience.”
I shouldn’t have to choose between evil and slightly less evil. My vote is already useless in the state I live in because it’s been gerrymandered into dysfunction so it’s hard to even find a reason to bother
What should be and what is are not the same thing, and if you spend all day crying about how it shouldn’t be like this, you’ll never change how it is.
It is not possible to change the system through voting. Not to the extent it needs to be changed
And who cares how much worse you make it because you wont even try to make it better? The system sucks, so lets burn it down! I can’t wait until we get the handmaiden’s tale because the system isn’t changeable enough.
You think I am not trying to make it better? I do and I am, just not through voting. The most direct way you can affect the world around you is through volunteer work and organization. Voting is the least efficient way to change people’s lives
That’s good to hear, but please, do not pretend that ignoring the presidency wouldn’t set back the good you’re working towards at the local level.
You’re only correct in the positive direction. The relationship is inverted for negativity, and not voting is the most efficient way of making lives materially worse, given the shitheads that end up in office when you let those with an authoritarian bent control who holds national office.
It’s also how you make sure you get the dog not the wolf in the short term. A lot of your other action is going to get a lot harder if Trump takes the whitehouse and never leaves.
Gerrymandering does not affect Senate and Presidential elections.
Gerrymandered districts elect state governments, and state governments get to make their own election laws.
I am aware of this and probably shouldn’t have mentioned it considering the topic is primarily the presidential election. The electoral college is more of a factor in this case. Regardless I live in the most red state possible
At the very least, your vote lends credence to gerrymandering or electoral college reform, if it is part of popular vote showing different results from actual vote