It’s a situation that I have been expecting for a while, but I wasn’t fully ready to accept it. Specifically it’s one of my LGBTQ friends who honestly believes in the democrats will protect them and their partner. I have tried to make the point that both parties are eroding any sort of civility towards all marginalized groups, but fear seems to drive them more than logical observations. They make the excuse that change doesn’t happen over night and that the left continues to grow and will have meaningful affects down the road. I fundamentally just don’t agree with that idea and vocalize it regularly. More and more it is ending up in a circular argument where I am painted as unrealistic and my rhetoric (leftist rhetoric) is doing more harm than good because it promotes distrust in the only system we have to work with. I try to tell them it’s kind of the whole point. We gotta start somewhere if we want to see a better, more representative system, but they are so hung up on the immediate future while simultaneously saying that my idealistic feelings are shortsighted and I cant expect change in the immediate future… The double-talk is wild, I know.
I am trying my hardest to stop from engaging at this point because on the most basic level we agree on a lot of stuff, but they are just way to wrapped up in the fear mongering of the democratic party. They know that the two party system is broken, they know that something drastic needs to change, but they also think that they are powerless to do anything except choose the lesser evil. It pains me because I am watching them do the same shit past generations have done, where they give up on their ideals for the sake of preserving the current status quo that they benefit from. I am legitimately watching them imply “fuck you, got mine” under the guise of civic duty and I hate it. I want nothing more than to be able to finally say “I told you so” without being a smug asshole about it and ruining our friendship.
Thanks for reading my rant. It’s probably a bit disjointed, but the frustration is boiling over and I needed to vent to the only group of people that seems to understand the hopelessness of being a disenfranchised leftist.
By supporting Dems you’re helping the party that literally helped build a fucking wall next to Mexico, proposed hundreds of millions for expanding it, deregulate every single industry that’s willing to give them money, oversaw the destruction of Roe v Wade, and countless billions on funding genocide and overseas war. The Democrats are trying to create a whole new border agency dedicated to ripping people out of their homes, just to prove how hard they are on immigration. Your support for Dems isn’t showing any support to anyone whatsoever right now, it’s just helping genocide and oppression.
and yet it’s still better then what Trump wants to do.
Yes, they helped build the wall, but Trump decided to make it.
to my knowledge, there wasn’t any major deregulation from the dems, much unlike what Trump wants to do (and Elon would be very happy to explain to you how that’s good, so you know it’s bad)
Yes, they oversaw the destruction of Roe V Wade, and yet it’s still nothing compared to the anti-lgbtq, anti-women laws that trump will pass once elected
Yes, they sent billions abroad for war
and you’ll never guess what
Trump sent just as much
so, choose your poison, and be realistic. (To the US citizens who are reading this, since you said you’re not). No third party’s gonna save you, at least this election, so practice good harm reduction, vote blue, and avoid a second Trump term
Yeah and trump is still better than electing a dog with rabies. If your baseline is “here’s a worse candidate” then you can clap for anything. It’s also completely debateable wether he’ll be worse. You are handwaving away several things as being insignificant, that aren’t.
and yet it’s still better then what Trump wants to do.
They deported more people.
Yes, they oversaw the destruction of Roe V Wade, and yet it’s still nothing compared to the anti-lgbtq, anti-women laws that trump will pass once elected
Bills that will pass anyway because the dems don’t give a shit about any of it. At least with Trump people like you went out to fight against it.
Yes, they sent billions abroad for war and you’ll never guess what Trump sent just as much
Do you think this is an argument for the dems? Yes they are just as bad, glad we agree.
Trump also oversaw the agreement to finally pull out of Afghanistan. The Biden regime decided the best way to help afghanis were to freeze all foreign assets. I’m sure the people being ruled over by taleban are grateful they also get to starve and their state has no money to finance renovations.
to my knowledge, there wasn’t any major deregulation from the dems, much unlike what Trump wants to do
Apart from the tariffs on cheap EVs and solar cells and the union busting and the decreased requirements for freight trains which have led to seceral catastrophies? There’s definitely way more, I just can’t be arsed to look them up for a person I know will come with some dumbshit response.
so, choose your poison, and be realistic
The realistic option is to not normalize genocide. Voting for someone who is actively commiting a genocide will make things far worse than electing a guy who is like all the others, just a bit more obvious about it. The realistic option is to not give legitimacy to rulers who do these things. The realistic option is not to do something that has only yielded terrible results. Your line of argument has been trotted out since Nixon for gods sakes, and even then it was old!
“That’s the real issue this time,” he said.“Beating Nixon. It’s hard to even guess how much damage those bastards will do if they get in for another four years.”
The argument was familiar, I had even made it myself, here and there, but I was beginning to sense something very depressing about it. How many more of these goddamn elections are we going to have to write off as lame, but “regrettably necessary” holding actions? And how many more of these stinking double-downer sideshows will we have to go through before we can get ourselves straight enough to put together some kind of national election that will give me and the at least 20 million people I tend to agree with a chance to vote for something, instead of always being faced with that old familiar choice between the lesser of two evils?
Now with another one of these big bogus showdowns looming down on us, I can already pick up the stench of another bummer. I understand, along with a lot of other people, that the big thing this year is Beating Nixon. But that was also the big thing, as I recall, twelve years ago in 1960 – and as far as I can tell, we’ve gone from bad to worse to rotten since then, and the outlook is for more of the same.*
- Hunter S. Thompson Fear And Loathing: On The Campaign Trail '72
Yeah and trump is still better than electing a dog with rabies.
I think a dog with rabies has better things to do then ban abortion nation-wide
If your baseline is “here’s a worse candidate” then you can clap for anything
Be realistic. You have 2 choices that actually matter, and everything else is just “Trump” but indirectly
It’s also completely debateable wether he’ll be worse.
He will be. Project 2025 is already done and written and the Heritage Foundation is already preparing new plans for a Republican president. Doesn’t matter if Trump, or someone else, he will be worse.
They deported more people.
Trump was unorganized on his first term, but now he’s ready to skyrocket those numbers.
https://newrepublic.com/article/186641/trump-mass-deportation-plan-incomprehensible-scale
Bills that will pass anyway because the dems don’t give a shit about any of it.
Well then, time to complain to the dems too. I haven’t said they are the gold standard, I said they are slightly better then the absolute last place that is Trump.
I’m sure the people being ruled over by taleban are grateful they also get to starve and their state has no money to finance renovations.
They were starving either way because all of the frozen assets belonged to the rich 1% that controlled the country. We should directly help the people in need, not give x amount of cash to the taliban government in the hope that 0,1% of all that money slips through and goes to the people.
Apart from the tariffs on cheap EVs and solar cells
oh no! those damn libs want to save the planet! how dare they! (and yes, I know public transportation is better, but your average American citizen doesn’t get it and EVs and solar are already a step forward)
and the union busting and the decreased requirements for freight trains which have led to seceral catastrophies?
Yea they’re just dumb, not much to say about that (but hey, still better then what Trump wants to do, and you know it because Elon Musk is on his side)
The realistic option is to not normalize genocide. Voting for someone who is actively commiting a genocide will make things far worse than electing a guy who is like all the others, just a bit more obvious about it.
Right, but a third party win isn’t gonna happen either way, so might as well elect someone that will do at least some good things. (To then try and convince them to stop the genocide, which is far more probable then convincing a Trump administration )
How many more of these goddamn elections are we going to have to write off as lame, but “regrettably necessary” holding actions?
Enough for a third party to rise. But until you do fuck all for 4 years and then start to advertise third parties 20 days before the election, it’s gonna be like this every time.
