The following is mostly a reply I gave in someone else's thread.
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with the caveat that if, as an american, you do not vote, because you value punishing the democrats for being spineless (and they are), over preventing {gestures broadly}, you are a piece of shit
you want better than the milquetoast bullshit the democrats offer
i do too
but we are only going to get there by showing up, especially in the primaries, and iterating to better over time
"i want perfect now or i'm not participating!" is not a moral position
it's being an immature child
Indeed! I said this elsewhere but this, again, is why I vote, even as an anarchist leaning person https://sightlessscribbles.com/posts/the-ballot-is-a-doorstop-not-a-love-letter/ @benroyce @courtcan
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@courtcan
I'm with you 100%!But I think we can also agree that not *enough* Americans are paying attention, and far too many are cheering on Armageddon, especially in the Bible Belt, expecting Jesus to return.
I called my deep-red USrep today and the staffer said, "But it worked!" So I retorted that the Bible condemns doing evil so that good may come (because I know that shit).
I'm happy to share ideas on resistance in deep-red US states!
I have a cranky ass message for end days people:
The rapture already happened and you are stuck here with the rest of us to fight and die in the last battle between good and evil. Sorry sunshine you didn’t make the grade.
My attitude is that the concept of finding religious fulfillment in global genocide is a moral test. People who are horrified at the idea which is not biblical mind you pass the test.
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@JorisBohnsonPM ...when all I have done since the moment he announced his candidacy is resist -- in every way I'm capable of -- both his internal idiocy as well as his burgeoning Idiocracy.
I repeat: we are exhausted and despairing over here, and lumping us together with MAGAts and with Trump's billionaire sycophants is what I call punching down.
3/3
Keep fighting, protesting & voting
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....An uncounted but large number of us have been fighting this as hard as we know how for more than 10 years. We are scared, exhausted, and despairing, and there aren't enough words for us to say how deeply sorry we are that our government is menacing the whole world.
2/2
@courtcan Was out protesting yesterday.
They'll probably keep thinking they're better than us right up to the point they're suddenly realizing they're surrounded by enemies who support the shit we're doing.
Just like happened to me.
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@JorisBohnsonPM I am well aware of all of that. I am just asking the rest of the world to acknowledge that a great many of us *did* vote for the other candidates and we *have been* fighting Trump's regime every way we can think of. We're marching in protests, we're hounding our representatives, we're having the difficult conversations with family members & friends, we're teaching our children to stand firm against fascism no matter what, we're still voting even though it feels pointless....
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@courtcan @JorisBohnsonPM
As a German, I am used to being called a Nazi abroad, despite the fact that my mother was born ten years after the end of WW2.
Hitler was not elected by a majority of Germans. He became chancellor through backroom deals and the support of conservative elites, even though the Nazi Party never won an outright majority on its own. There was resistance but the regime’s repressive structures, Gestapo surveillance, terror, and lack of unified opposition, made it increasingly difficult over time.
I hope you can turn this around and recover your reputation. -
....An uncounted but large number of us have been fighting this as hard as we know how for more than 10 years. We are scared, exhausted, and despairing, and there aren't enough words for us to say how deeply sorry we are that our government is menacing the whole world.
2/2
@courtcan But a surprising (to me, although I suppose I shouldn't be) number of Americans support "virtuous violence". In research years before this war, a similar scenario was presented to several groups. Over half — fifty-six percent — would order a nuclear air strike killing one hundred thousand Iranians. Forty-eight percent would order the strike, even if they knew that two million Iranians would die. https://medium.com/lawyers-guns-and-money/will-americans-nuke-iran-975ccedac423
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with the caveat that if, as an american, you do not vote, because you value punishing the democrats for being spineless (and they are), over preventing {gestures broadly}, you are a piece of shit
you want better than the milquetoast bullshit the democrats offer
i do too
but we are only going to get there by showing up, especially in the primaries, and iterating to better over time
"i want perfect now or i'm not participating!" is not a moral position
it's being an immature child
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R relay@relay.infosec.exchange shared this topic
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Indeed. Centrist Republicans are spineless. Centrist Democrats are spineless. Meanwhile MAGA is turbocharged and the American left is despondent and dissipated. Some of this is due to plutocracy: they pump money into MAGA and they control traditional media and social media. One response to this is cynicial defeatism. But I say the left should take over the Democrats. Job #1 for that is shut down these pathetic voices on the left that are useless whiny entitled cynics
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@JorisBohnsonPM ...when all I have done since the moment he announced his candidacy is resist -- in every way I'm capable of -- both his internal idiocy as well as his burgeoning Idiocracy.
I repeat: we are exhausted and despairing over here, and lumping us together with MAGAts and with Trump's billionaire sycophants is what I call punching down.
3/3
Oh, when you’ve won - don’t forget to bring that corrupt & murderous lot to justice
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The following is mostly a reply I gave in someone else's thread. I wanted to share it without risking the other threadfolk getting backlash.
Concerning whether or not US-Americans know and/or care that yesterday could easily have been the start of WWIII/a global nuclear event:
A lot of us care and are aware. Enough that we were checking the news every few mins yesterday & dreading the approach of 8pm EST.
Please don't paint all US-Americans with the same brush of dismissive judgment....
1/2
@courtcan Sorry, but the rest of the world believes, probably correctly, that most Americans are happy their country thinks it can grab the rest of the world by the pussy. Until you guys get rid of Orange Hitler and make some serious, serious reforms and discover some national humility and politeness, we don't buy this not-all-of-us-ness.
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Indeed. Centrist Republicans are spineless. Centrist Democrats are spineless. Meanwhile MAGA is turbocharged and the American left is despondent and dissipated. Some of this is due to plutocracy: they pump money into MAGA and they control traditional media and social media. One response to this is cynicial defeatism. But I say the left should take over the Democrats. Job #1 for that is shut down these pathetic voices on the left that are useless whiny entitled cynics
@benroyce @Oldfartrant @courtcan only my party the #Greens are winning. The price of oil will be excessive until *at least* 2028. And that means, more solar and wind adoption. Less shipping and more local economic development! Weird, we didn't even get elected and the #uniparty $#!+ all over itself and gave us a victory
️. Have I said how much I love our #EV which is $10 to fully charge when using our house? -
@benroyce @Oldfartrant @courtcan only my party the #Greens are winning. The price of oil will be excessive until *at least* 2028. And that means, more solar and wind adoption. Less shipping and more local economic development! Weird, we didn't even get elected and the #uniparty $#!+ all over itself and gave us a victory
️. Have I said how much I love our #EV which is $10 to fully charge when using our house?@stalbaum @Oldfartrant @courtcan
no
i want 3rd parties but to get 3rd parties we need ranked choice voting
rcv is creeping in, but until then we have to focus on taking over the democrats
in an FPTP voting system, we only have a choice between 2 parties
it's not corruption, it's just math
the left splintering into different parties is as fatal for us as leftists not voting
"you want us to support spineless democrats!"
no, i want us to show up in the fucking primaries and replace them
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@stalbaum @Oldfartrant @courtcan
no
i want 3rd parties but to get 3rd parties we need ranked choice voting
rcv is creeping in, but until then we have to focus on taking over the democrats
in an FPTP voting system, we only have a choice between 2 parties
it's not corruption, it's just math
the left splintering into different parties is as fatal for us as leftists not voting
"you want us to support spineless democrats!"
no, i want us to show up in the fucking primaries and replace them
@benroyce @stalbaum @Oldfartrant @courtcan
I think the easiest way to explain it is, remember Ross Perot? That’s how the right wing lost to Bill Clinton, the independent difference was split. Then remember The Tea Party and MAGA? That’s how the right wing took over the GOP, they replaced all the individual candidates with their own in the primaries, and stuck with a 50 state, up and down the ticket strategy. Even school boards. Behind the scenes, billionaires funded and organized the whole thing. -
@benroyce @stalbaum @Oldfartrant @courtcan
I think the easiest way to explain it is, remember Ross Perot? That’s how the right wing lost to Bill Clinton, the independent difference was split. Then remember The Tea Party and MAGA? That’s how the right wing took over the GOP, they replaced all the individual candidates with their own in the primaries, and stuck with a 50 state, up and down the ticket strategy. Even school boards. Behind the scenes, billionaires funded and organized the whole thing.@suzannealdrich @stalbaum @Oldfartrant @courtcan
we can also remember ralph nader, who did not hand bushii a win in florida, but nader voters in florida did hand the results for florida to the supreme court, which pulled a nasty trick and voila: the stupid iraq war
the case with hillary in 2016 is less clear, but certainly green voters who went for a pro putin troll who just shows up every 4 years to divide the left vote is also a case of people who mean well, but don't understand FPTP
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@stalbaum @Oldfartrant @courtcan
no
i want 3rd parties but to get 3rd parties we need ranked choice voting
rcv is creeping in, but until then we have to focus on taking over the democrats
in an FPTP voting system, we only have a choice between 2 parties
it's not corruption, it's just math
the left splintering into different parties is as fatal for us as leftists not voting
"you want us to support spineless democrats!"
no, i want us to show up in the fucking primaries and replace them
@benroyce @Oldfartrant @courtcan well, reality is what it is. I will take the ironic victory all the way. Planning a new solar install (my hobby) to charge our car with. Got our money out of federally chartered institutions. (Mostly...) Remember, the title to property is with your *county*, possibly the only safe paper ownership left standing. The feds can and will come for banking. I don't vote in your primary so I can't help you beyond, do what you can to protect the vulnerable, that is all.
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@benroyce @Oldfartrant @courtcan only my party the #Greens are winning. The price of oil will be excessive until *at least* 2028. And that means, more solar and wind adoption. Less shipping and more local economic development! Weird, we didn't even get elected and the #uniparty $#!+ all over itself and gave us a victory
️. Have I said how much I love our #EV which is $10 to fully charge when using our house?@stalbaum
Eh? What state or federal races did the Green party win in 2024?
@benroyce @Oldfartrant @courtcan -
@benroyce @Oldfartrant @courtcan well, reality is what it is. I will take the ironic victory all the way. Planning a new solar install (my hobby) to charge our car with. Got our money out of federally chartered institutions. (Mostly...) Remember, the title to property is with your *county*, possibly the only safe paper ownership left standing. The feds can and will come for banking. I don't vote in your primary so I can't help you beyond, do what you can to protect the vulnerable, that is all.
@stalbaum @Oldfartrant @courtcan
it's great you understand energy independence but politically you're a moron because you're helping MAGA
do you understand the idea of someone who means well but by their actions only makes things worse?
so when MAGA makes your solar install illegal because you have to guzzle gasoline to satisfy the oil plutocrats, remember how your political choices helped pave the way for that, simply because you don't understand how our stupid FPTP voting system works
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@courtcan @JorisBohnsonPM
As a German, I am used to being called a Nazi abroad, despite the fact that my mother was born ten years after the end of WW2.
Hitler was not elected by a majority of Germans. He became chancellor through backroom deals and the support of conservative elites, even though the Nazi Party never won an outright majority on its own. There was resistance but the regime’s repressive structures, Gestapo surveillance, terror, and lack of unified opposition, made it increasingly difficult over time.
I hope you can turn this around and recover your reputation.Yeah like, "Well if Germans weren't Nazis then why didn't they stop the Nazis? They just let them Nazi up the whole place, because the German people are all secretly Nazis in denial."
And my question is "Why didn't the Germans imprisoned in concentration camps stop the Nazis?" It's much easier to answer.
CC: @courtcan@mastodon.social @JorisBohnsonPM@mastodon.social -
@benroyce @stalbaum @Oldfartrant @courtcan
I think the easiest way to explain it is, remember Ross Perot? That’s how the right wing lost to Bill Clinton, the independent difference was split. Then remember The Tea Party and MAGA? That’s how the right wing took over the GOP, they replaced all the individual candidates with their own in the primaries, and stuck with a 50 state, up and down the ticket strategy. Even school boards. Behind the scenes, billionaires funded and organized the whole thing.@suzannealdrich
Perot is the perfect example of why 3rd parties are a.non-starter anywhere outside of county-level races without some form.of RCV. He won basically 19% of the national popular vote and not a single EC vote out of it all. Over 99% of state and federal legislative and executive seats are won by either the Democratic or Republican nominee and not one 3rd party was on the ballot in all 50 states in 2024.
@benroyce @stalbaum @Oldfartrant @courtcan -
@stalbaum @Oldfartrant @courtcan
no
i want 3rd parties but to get 3rd parties we need ranked choice voting
rcv is creeping in, but until then we have to focus on taking over the democrats
in an FPTP voting system, we only have a choice between 2 parties
it's not corruption, it's just math
the left splintering into different parties is as fatal for us as leftists not voting
"you want us to support spineless democrats!"
no, i want us to show up in the fucking primaries and replace them
@benroyce @stalbaum @Oldfartrant @courtcan Hm. An alternative voting system is not pragmatic -- though we should keep that vision -- and work within the system we have, and change or work against the system when it makes sense.
However, the Uncommitted movement showed us that Democratic Party leadership are incapable of listening to the constituents they pretend to represent when they are in power. Instead, they demanded our votes, and prioritized inviting in anti-Trump Republicans. That gave Trump what he wanted: A competing party that is right of center. We tried working within the party and it didn't work. And the party denied us from an electoral process that would have allowed us to have hard conversations resulting in a rallying base.
Federation through fragmentation is the path forward. We both need to find our people AND get out of our bubbles. But it will ultimately be the conservative Democrats who struggle to retain power that mess it up.
