Image Transcription:
A tweet from the George Takei Twitter account which states:
"A Democrat was in the White House when my family was sent to the internment camps in 1941. It was an egregious violation of our human and civil rights.
It would have been understandable if people like me said they’d never vote for a Democrat again, given what had been done to us.
But being a liberal, being a progressive, means being able to look past my own grievances and concerns and think of the greater good. It means working from within the Democratic party to make it better, even when it has betrayed its values.
I went on to campaign for Adlai Stevenson when I became an adult. I marched for civil rights and had the honor of meeting Dr. Martin Luther King. I fought for redress for my community and have spent my life ensuring that America understood that we could not betray our Constitution in such a way ever again.
Bill Clinton broke my heart when he signed DOMA into law. It was a slap in the face to the LGBTQ community. And I knew that we still had much work to do. But I voted for him again in 1996 despite my misgivings, because the alternative was far worse. And my obligation as a citizen was to help choose the best leader for it, not to check out by not voting out of anger or protest.
There is no leader who will make the decision you want her or him to make 100 percent of the time. Your vote is a tool of hope for a better world. Use it wisely, for it is precious. Use it for others, for they are in need of your support, too."
End Transcription.
The last paragraph I find particularly powerful and something more people really should take into account.
Voting for the lesser evil is still voting for evil. Those who find it morally acceptable to legitimize evil out of fear are called “cowards”.
Frederick Douglas was legally barred from voting. He still worked for politicians who wouldn’t promise to end slavery. Was he a dupe? Are you more moral than he was?
When criticized on that point by abolitionists, Frederick Douglass is quoted, “I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong.”
I think that rather succinctly describes my criteria for judging the candidates next year.
Not voting for the lesser evil is very much akin to supporting the greater evil because the greater evil is receiving a larger share of votes.
Who would you vote for: Adolf Hitler or some person who stole a child’s lollypop once, who seeks to improve everyone’s lifes? According to you, voting for neither would be the best since you’d be legitimizing evil eithet way.
Do the Democrats have a candidate whose worst feature is a single incidence of baby-robbing, or are they just going to run war criminals for office again?
The Democrats have a year to sort themselves out, but so many people in these comments seem to assume that they won’t even try. Its weird that all these supposed Democrat voters have such little faith in the party that they’d rather try and persuade me to vote blue no matter who than call their reps and demand they do better.
I guess it’s fine to be responsible for letting the greater evil into power as long as you can tell yourself that you were morally correct at the end of the day. Because that’s what you’re doing. You’re making a selfish moral point, and in turn actively increase the odds of a worse outcome. You feel better about yourself at the expense of everyone (including yourself).
Because what do you even gain by not voting here? The moral high ground? You just make it look like the greater evil is more desirable. At least spoil your ballot, so that it counts in the percentages…
“Letting” the greater evil take power is what happens when you choose to acquiesce to the carrot and stick. Regardless of the outcome, your participation legitimizes the false choice, gives the the lesser evil no incentive to reform, and the greater evil all incentive to push further in the future. No matter who wins, “Worse outcomes” are inevitable.
The one making a “selfish moral point” is you, who argues in defense of evil because you fear the consequences of even the mildest rebellion against the Empire more than the cost of living under it.
If you want me to vote for Democrats, then you’re talking to the wrong person. Call your reps amd convince them to form a Truth and Reconciliation Commission as a bare-minimum first step towards reform and they’ll have my support.
Lol, thanks for continuing to legitimize the Empire I guess. You’re really sticking it to those fascists by adding your voice to the implied consent of the governed. 🙄
