Voting is just one thing you can do to shape your society and community. It gets a lot of attention because powerful people really do seem to let a surprising number of us have a tiny little mote of influence. The powerful talk about voting ceaselessly, because "the people" having power, however constrained gives them endless anxiety. Don't fall into the trap of thinking it is your only power.
Don't fall into the trap of thinking, because it's only a little power, isn't important either.
I hate the phrase "vote blue no matter who" I hate it with the fire of a thousand suns. To me it is the phrase that embodies those powerful people who don't think anything I do matters, who don't expect anything from little people like me beyond obedience.
And it's a reminder that in voting there aren't really any subtile decisions to be made. Yeah you got me. I've got to vote for these democrats (in general elections at least)
I think it would be good if people stopped saying it.
If the people you are saying it to don't get turned off and angry I won't tell you what to do or what might work in your local community.
If it's making people angry... please do take that in and try to listen. That's all I'll say.
I've let you know how I feel and others have too. Are you listening?
@futurebird vote Democrat nationally to tactically block Actual Facism, vote progressive locally to make more progressive Democrat candidates thinkable?
Like in the UK, people are forced to vote tactically for the UK parliament, but the devolved parliaments use PR, so we have a fair chunk of Green members in Scotland for example.
@futurebird I understand the way you feel, and it rubs me the wrong way. But it's also true and vitally important.
The fascists at the top of the Republican pecking order are enabled and supported by "normie" Republicans holding local and state level office.
Sure, "vote blue" means Biden and whichever Dem is running for your districts senate/house seat. But it also means voting for Dems on the town council and state legislature.
@futurebird Where I live (and vote) is reliably Biden territory. But our mayor is a longtime Republican.
He sucks. But he knows the politics here, and people think "he's not changing abortion laws, so what if he's a republican?"
@futurebird I remember several US presidential elections in which the candidate with the minority of votes was declared the winner.
It's not just the Electoral College, either. The Democrats have taken the fall and let the Republicans win, repeatedly. The 2000 election debacle was particularly obvious. The Democratic Party went out of its way to silence its own supporters.
Even in the narrow sense of elections, "democracy" is a shabby facade.
I hate how the focus on the electoral process obscures real work.
I understand why it happens. And with powerful people putting so much money and energy into making the conversation about elections big and loud just being quiet isn't an option. Human lives are on the line.
I have trans students & family members & friends. I am a black woman in these united states. I can't afford to just ignore a rising movement that doesn't want any of us to exist or thrive.
@ravenonthill lol I literally just pointed out a difference between the two parties
What's your claim here? Are you claiming that one of these parties isn't wholly owned by a faction of the ruling class? Are you claiming that either party gives a shit about any of us beyond the wealth and power they can extract from us?
Or is your claim just that only one party is currently openly embracing fascists?
Here's a scientific study supporting a different view. Basically, "the people" have no power through voting. Individual politicians may be anxious about whether they get elected, but the system as a whole does not give any power through voting.
In all of the states, including conservative states, where people have managed to put abortion rights up to a direct vote, abortion rights have won. But this wasn't about that kind of voting: it was about voting for politicians. The GOP overturned Roe because the US system is not set up for votes for politicians to be meaningful in policy terms. As long as the US Constitution endures, that is still going to be true.
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