There are many problems with #USA #democracy

[benroyce@mastodon.social]

oops

the Vox article paywalled

here's the archive.org link to read it:

A decades-long plan to abolish the Electoral College may finally pay off

A Democratic wave in 2026 could deliver the key remaining states needed for a popular vote system, under this proposal

Vox (web.archive.org)

[benroyce@mastodon.social]

wtf

they paywall code also shows up in the archive.org link

i don't know what to do

try reading this from 3 weeks ago instead. it's not the same juicy details, but it argues the same gist after Virginia got on board:

Virginia joins a national effort to ensure only popular vote winners become president

With Virginia on board, the National Popular Vote Compact is now enacted in states worth 222 electoral votes. Here's what that means.

NPR (www.npr.org)

[benroyce@mastodon.social]

@flipper

doesn't matter

there is only the good fight in this world. now and forever

imagining scenarios where we lose is defeatism, cynicism, weakness. it saps the will to fight

so we keep fighting

always

there's always setbacks

who cares

that's life

fight, fight, fight

and you know what happens if you keep fighting?

it get's easier

while not fighting makes the good struggle harder

[nemo@mas.to]

@benroyce

Here you go https://archive.is/xwSo3

And yeah, I know they have their fair share of controversy; still, there is no alternative to them yet. GhostArchive can't be used with Tor, and Mr. Krebs, the IT guy, also uses this, so… Meh…

[benroyce@mastodon.social]

@nemo

thank you

{hat tip}

[benroyce@mastodon.social]

@grumble209

yeah last time we interacted i forced you to unfollow me

nobody is interested in your debbie downer shit Grumble

at least your account is well named

otherwise fuck off with your defeatist shit

that's a you problem, not an us problem

[nemo@mas.to]

@benroyce My pleasure

[benroyce@mastodon.social]

@flipper

🤬

[catdragon@mastodon.world]

@benroyce @flipper

Glory

[thad@brontosin.space]

@benroyce I support the NPVIC but I wouldn't say it *kills* the EC. It kills its most pernicious effect, and that's a good thing, but it's still a first-past-the-post system that allows candidates to win without a majority of the vote. It would have stopped Trump in 2016 but not 2024.

It might be the best we can do without a constitutional amendment (assuming it survives the courts), so I support it for that reason. It's a good first step but it's not the last one.

[benroyce@mastodon.social]

@grumble209

"It would sure be nice if it happened, though"

if that is what you believe, then put that in your words

why bring negativity and cynicism in your words on politics?

ever hear of self-fulfilling prophecy?

if you really believe it would be nice if something good happened, *say* that, *work* for that

if you are authentic, you can do some good by accentuating the positive

otherwise you merely become a shadow of the well-known troll psyop angle to suppress the vote with defeatism

[benroyce@mastodon.social]

@Thad

oh yeah. there is a lot more to clean up

FPTP. gerrymandering. voter disenfranchisement. etc

it's just a nice step

[benroyce@mastodon.social]

@grumble209

do not center your thoughts on the DNC

this is an error in perspective

fuck the DNC

the DNC is not alien omnipotent creatures from Alpha Centauri

in fact, they are quite weak

so we vote. and replace them

stop centering your thoughts on the DNC. stop it. ignore them, they are fragile

when people just vote for the left candidate, in the primaries and the general, we do a DNC takeover

when people whine about the DNC, they wind up not voting, so the DNC stays in power

you dig?

[rvlara23@mastodon.social]

@benroyce

I do believe it will fall eventaully. I would love to see it happen before I die.

It's antiquated and dated and rooted in voter suppression at this point.

And the reality is it would benefit both parties. Blue voters in Oklahoma and Red voters in California will finally feel like their vote actually matters.

[whitecattamer@mastodon.online]

@Thad @benroyce While that’s true, think about how different the world would be if Trump had been sent packing in 2016.

[beggarmidas@mastodon.social]

@benroyce Whatever led you to believe these midterms will be free & fair in any way? My aren't you a trusting soul. Bought any bridges yet?

[benroyce@mastodon.social]

@Beggarmidas

the votes are controlled by the states

red states may do some shit, but they're already red

cynicism isn't intelligence, in fact it's the weak easily pliable mind of willing submission to fascism

what you represent, my good friend, is willing acceptance of the unacceptable. that's all your cynicism means. that's what your cynicism leads to. that's the quality of your mind. a rather garden variety flavor of cognitive weakness, and rather boring of you

loser

[beggarmidas@mastodon.social]

@benroyce *sigh* No, Pollyanna. I'm just aware that a cult of personality is already actively looking to bend the election in every way they accused their rivals of since 2020. That they'll deploy the cambridge analytica 2.0 they used to bend the last election causing MILLIONS to sit out the vote on the midterms too.
Boss Tweeds playbook is back in town, and will curb stomp your california dreaming hippie ass if you presume any part of this upcoming election will be business as usual.
Jackass.

[benroyce@mastodon.social]

@Beggarmidas

yes it is true reality looks like airhead optimism to a rotten pathetic cynic

but your real crime is just how boring and pedestrian you are

you're typical. a dime a dozen. just another garden variety specimen in the endless sea of midwit cynicism. you all think you have special insight. you're all just articulating the small confines of your dim craniums

very easy, very dull, and very irrelevant

[thad@brontosin.space]

@WhiteCatTamer Or Bush in 2000.