So I’ll preface by saying that I feel that a majority of the sudden outrage of ‘genocode Joe’ has the feel of an astroturfing campaign. Knowing that the viable alternative in Trump would not only continue but likely escalate the situation to prove some tough guy status, the push to disengage or vote 3rd party does nothing to meaningfully fix the problem.

That said, from a philosophical stace then the only benefit to staying home or voting for a more perfect candidate who has no chance to win given the current system is to give oneself a morally/ethically pure standpoint. The ‘I didn’t contribute to the problem’ position. This might give a person some self assurance that they haven’t compromised their integrity, but that personal warm fuzzy won’t stop the bombs and bring back dead babies. In fact, by making it that much more likely that a second Trump term comes to fruition they’ve actually exacerbated the problem.

The perfect being the enemy of the better (note that I don’t proclaim good) opens the gate for greater harm.