• Franklin@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Whenever people express the sentiment that we need Biden to put his foot down on genocide I’m always for it.

    But then when you ask them what they want to do it always becomes some nebulous Republican rhetoric about how Trump’s not that bad.

    Yes we need the genocide to stop, Trump will not accomplish that, he will make it worse.

    We can pressure Congress and continue to protest because it needs to stop.

    The past eight years have been such a strong argument for ranked choice voting.

    • spujb@lemmy.cafeOP
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      4 months ago

      yep. either the nebulous version or its evil unveiled sibling “well maybe leftists will mobilize more if we let another maga win happen/voting is about holding them accountable so let’s fire brandon 🤓”

      mfs out here acting like the overton window doesn’t exist

    • WraithGear@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      What the actual fuck? They are pretty clear what they want. ONE we stop giving weapons to isreal. TWO we stop getting in the way of a cease fire. THREE we start giving humanitarian aid to trapped Palestinians. FOUR we cooperate with The Hague on what evidence we have on isreal war crimes.

      These are things we could do without much effort that would have immediate impact on both stopping the genocide and boosting his numbers.

      I get we want “our strategic ally in the Middle East” but maybe if we stop doing all the war crimes and genocide we wouldn’t need to write a blank check to Israel every-time they run out of genocide juice. If our status as an ally to isreal is contingent on what we are doing, we are not an ally we are being used.

      It seems this thread pops up every time Fox News talks about Biden’s slipping numbers. The disillusionment of the left is real. And calling them out and saying “but trump!” Is not going to convince them, it’s not like they forgot.

      If they complain about Biden being complicit in genocide. Now the time to do it. And it’s up to them if they follow through with their threat, and it’s up to Biden if he’s willing to risk it

      • Franklin@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        I’m not asking what Biden could do, I’m very clear on what he could do.

        What I’m saying is what we as individuals could do to pressure them realistically.

        You’re failing to recognize the inherent biases of the voting system, we all know that our system favors a two party outcome. Which is to say it’s a statistical improbability for anyone except for the two most popular parties to win.

        This isn’t just my opinion this is well known statistical fact with many years to back it up.

        This puts us in the awkward place of choosing the least bad candidate, Obviously pressuring Biden isn’t working and I’m not happy about it.

        But when we consider our vote we have to consider more than just the situation in the middle East, something that the Republicans don’t even want to fix.

        That’s why I think it would be better to pressure Congress and to push for ranked choice voting and to continue to protest.

        Because at least rank choice voting would allow us to vote for a better option rather than the least bad option.

        You fell into the same trap, no actionable advice to the individual.

        • WraithGear@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          You will never, short of a violent revolution, EVER get Congress to pass ranked choice voting. That would dilute both parties power. Preventing you from having a meaningful choice is the only true bipartisan effort. And democrats have already said they would veto any primary vote on candidate when they wish. And have stood in the way of states enacting ranked choice voting on a state level.

          Also you might convince accelerationists to not follow through with the threat of not voting or voting trump. But unfortunately that is probably the smallest fraction of those disillusioned. Most normally never vote, and a bunch feel the system is broken and feel betrayed by Biden. It takes effort to get these voters, and Biden has unfortunately done less then nothing. Well other then holding excusing college debt over peoples heads to enact piece meal whenever his number take a dip.

          Truly Biden has to do something to galvanize his base, because it’s looking grim

          • Franklin@lemmy.world
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            4 months ago

            You might be right, Biden could very well lose. It’s an important issue he has not taken enough action on.

            Reactionairies and single issue voters are a part of every political system, problem is that the opposition is status quo.

            My only issue is that a large part of our base here on Lemmy who should know better than to promote apathy and accelerationism

            To be clear I don’t necessarily blame them it’s hard to be pragmatic in times like these but things can always get worse and if we’re not careful they will.

            I’m even up for a violent revolution. What I’m not up for is an apathetic slide.

            • WraithGear@lemmy.world
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              4 months ago

              Its a very hard pill to swallow when on one hand Biden is supporting genocide by giving weapons to Israel, on the other hand we are dragging our feet on giving weapons to Ukraine and Biden seems to not be bothered. And in the most pragmatic terms, Ukraine is fighting the world’s most successful proxy war against our direct enemy. That started to lose ground once we started withholding our support. And on the third hand Biden is supporting big oil when he promised to not do that.

              On top of all that, i know that if Biden remains as president the next election cycle will have another trump, and it will again be “we can’t campaign on your interests! Its an election year with the literal incarnation of evil”! And we will continue to shift the Overton window rightward.

              These posts resonate with me because i wake everyday and question if i should still vote for Biden. And these posts do not make it easy to say yes.

              • Franklin@lemmy.world
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                4 months ago

                He’s been pro-giving weapons to Ukraine Congress had dragged their feet but that’s not the point.

                You should vote whoever best represents your interests. If no candidate does then find the next best option.

                If you want to start a violent revolution in support of Ukraine, Palatine, more aggressive environmental targets etc. I’ll be the first in line but I will never condone reactionary voting/apathy. All it does is make the system worse.

                • WraithGear@lemmy.world
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                  4 months ago

                  I appreciate that. But bread and circuses still hold more sway than the need for change. And just to be clear. A vote for Biden is still apathy, just a slower decline than the Republican flavor. I see no way to vote ourselves out of this tantrum spiral we are in.

                  When Fox News does another gloating over Biden’s further slipping numbers, let’s skip the part where we blame the disenfranchised voters, yea?

                  • Franklin@lemmy.world
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                    4 months ago

                    No, I will blame them, at least partially I’m not saying it isn’t understandable, things are hard all around and the complexities of voting don’t make it any easier but it is every individuals duty to uphold democracy to the best of their ability.

                    Absence of a vote is still a vote.

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        I get we want “our strategic ally in the Middle East”

        Oh absolutely. Can’t risk Egypt setting market rates on Suez Traffic. We’ll support endless genocide to prevent that.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      But then when you ask them what they want to do it always becomes some nebulous Republican rhetoric about how Trump’s not that bad.

      I tend to see “we need to pull Biden to the left” pitched as a solution, right up until it means doing anything to impede Biden’s political agenda.

      Don’t vote for him? You’re MAGA.

      Don’t donate to him? You’re MAGA.

      Don’t block walk for him? You’re MAGA.

      Say anything critical of him on the Internet? Russian Bot Chinese Wumao Republican Traitor Why Do You Hate America?!

      I saw the same thing from Republicans in 2004. “We’re at war so any kind of dissent means you’re with the terrorists!”

      And it worked for Bush. He got another four years out of the hysteria. Maybe it’ll work for Biden, too.

      • Franklin@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        I don’t think anyone here is equating not voting for Biden to being a Trumpet but due to the reality of our voting system absence of a vote is in and of itself a vote so you have to decide your best option whatever that may be.

        Problem is the opposition has the same or worse policies on Palestine and worse policies on a lot of others.

        I’m not a fan of this “least bad option” we’ve got ourselves into either but to equate the two parties or to deny the reality before us is how we allow it to get worse.