McNadoMDNothing gives Israel a special right to invade neighbors, bulldoze their homes, and create a DMZ.
US voters must make anyone supporting the Israeli state unelectable until support for this bullshit stops.
Netraven@mcnado Ultimately it comes to AIPAC and shadow money which banks are happy to facilitate. Unless the banks are regulated and forced to pay for their crimes, then this will never stop. The banks can't be regulated without getting good candidates in... which can't get in because... circular logic. We're back to the billions of dollars spent bribing officials.
ᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIESyeah but despite all of the shadow money we can still vote
especially in the primaries coming up
so many elections are decided by such a small percentage
and such a large percentage don't vote
yeah not all of them are leftists but if leftists did show up imagine the difference
the problem is this sort of mindless cynicism, that something is inevitable. it's not
vote, assholes
why would anyone give dark money what it wants by not voting?
Pine Affinitywhy would I vote for this party?
https://www.commondreams.org/news/schumer-israel-aid
@benroyce @Netraven @mcnado
https://www.commondreams.org/news/schumer-israel-aid
@benroyce @Netraven @mcnado
'No, That Is Not Your Job,' Say Critics After Schumer Claims 'Job' Is to 'Fight for Aid to Israel' | Common Dreams
"Seventy-five percent of Democratic voters oppose sending Israel more military aid, as do 66% of independents and 60% of Americans overall," noted one domestic policy expert.
@Pine_Affinity @Netraven @mcnado
you don't vote for them
you show up in the primaries and you replace them
the problem is this "dems suck" whine then people don't show up in the primaries out of useless pathetic indolence. so nothing changes
The Hill believes a leadership change is unlikely.
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5807683-schumer-future-senate-leadership/
@benroyce @Netraven @mcnado
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5807683-schumer-future-senate-leadership/
@benroyce @Netraven @mcnado
@Pine_Affinity @Netraven @mcnado
this is an inversion of responsibility
if you vote, the party answers to you
if you don't vote, the party answers to dark money and spineless centrists who do vote
if we vote, we may fail. if we don't vote, we *will* fail. so why would you want to define your political consciousness as acceptance of fascism? you understand that is what your cynical "unlikely" is about right? cynicism is acceptance. do you accept fascism? i don't think so. so vote
@Pine_Affinity @Netraven @mcnado
by voting
sitting back and passing your responsibility to dem leadership to magically change is absurdity
i am confused why you think that's a valid position
you mob the primaries, you replace them
proof it works?
mamdani
dem centrists opposed him every step of the way. and yet he won
how?
because people showed the fuck up
you have to change the way you think about the problem
don't depend upon assholes who will never change to change
vote
@Pine_Affinity @Netraven @mcnado
if no one on the left shows up, spineless corporatist dems win, because spineless corporatist dems show up to vote
but what you are saying is you want people you know are rotten to the core to suddenly and magically grow a conscience and resign?
rather than, you know, just getting off your ass and voting them out?
that's the way it works
why would you argue against the only way to remove them, and argue for a behavior which ensures their continuing power?
Because that doesn’t work.
JakeKb@Pine_Affinity @benroyce @Netraven @mcnado I really don't understand why can't Americans accept that the democratic party is an imperialist party for the elites that doesn't answer to its people. Why can't you build actual grassroot movements and put forward your own candidates that are not compromised by the democratic party systems of control? Far easier task than changing the democratic party from within.
Mïkê 💚 👑🐉🗡️🏳️⚧️@JakeKb @Pine_Affinity @benroyce @Netraven @mcnado I blame it on the surveillance state, the First Past the Post system, and especially the deep and apparently irreparable social isolation. These aren't conditions conducive to political organizing.
@mikelovesbikes @JakeKb @Pine_Affinity @Netraven @mcnado
and people who speak from a position of ignorance on the usa voting system like jake are not helping. in fact what they argue for only helps MAGA
@benroyce @mikelovesbikes @Pine_Affinity @Netraven @mcnado I fully understand how your system works. I am just telling you that because you are an American you are not exceptional, others had similar or worse systems and fought against them through popular movements. I would agree with you if you asked people to vote tactically while fighting for bigger change, but that's not what you do. You just want to get a democrat elected and no real change.
@JakeKb @benroyce @Pine_Affinity @Netraven @mcnado Americans aren't exceptional in the sense that humans are the same wherever and whenever they are. They react to the same material conditions the same way.
Americans (and Westerners in general) are exceptional in the sense that we currently live under material conditions that apparently prevent the vast majority of people from taking anything seriously. That's unprecedented in history. The solutions that worked for other people in the past will therefore not work.
You can't organise a general strike in a country where at least 95% of the people in each city are ruthlessly committed to doing the bare minimum of everything. We'll have to figure out something else.
@mikelovesbikes @benroyce @Pine_Affinity @Netraven @mcnado Finally, someone with a coherent argument. This is all correct however I think we are at the point where western societies begin to break and more and more people see how destructive western imperialism truly is for the environment and people, which is why we can push for meaningful change.
@mikelovesbikes @JakeKb @benroyce @Pine_Affinity @Netraven @mcnado > apparently prevent the vast majority of people from taking anything seriously.
Those conditions are: most of the time your life is not in immediate danger as it would be if you lived in Gaza.
There are a lot of things you can apparently do to improve your individual material circumstances. Therefore those who try and fail blame themselves.
There are very few things you can do to improve the society.
Individuals 1/2
@mikelovesbikes @JakeKb @benroyce @Pine_Affinity @Netraven @mcnado make decisions. There is NO collective mind. Under these circumstances, most individuals make the totally rational decision to focus on their own material circumstances, or they pursue moral purity and hope to go to heaven.
They will continue to walk uphill on the sinking ship, until it sinks. And then this will end.
If you expect it to sink in your lifetime, look for something that will float. 2/2
Bent Chinrest@mikelovesbikes @JakeKb @benroyce @Pine_Affinity @Netraven @mcnado I really don't think your conclusion is the case at all, and especially not in the US. Firstly, confidently strutting a percentage out your backside doesn't suffice to make it so. It's hard to organize collective action when acting collectively will get a great many of us separated from the wages, medical care, and possibly the housing we need to physically survive.
If you see "bare minimum", step away from the mirror
If you see "bare minimum", step away from the mirror
@paneerakbari @mikelovesbikes @benroyce @Pine_Affinity @Netraven @mcnado In spite of the random percentage the argument still stands. The majority of people in the western world are not committed to do anything but the bare minimum to change policy even if it affects them. Also the material challenges you describe are miniscule compared to what workers faced in the early 20th century, yet they organized far more effectively. We need to find better explanations for this.
@paneerakbari @JakeKb @benroyce @Pine_Affinity @Netraven @mcnado Next time you go outside, look around, and you'll notice that only a handful of other people (if even that) are acting like they have anywhere important to be.
Go into a random classroom at your local university (no one will stop you, even if you're not enrolled), and you'll see that almost everyone comes to class and leaves, often without speaking a single word, often without even paying attention to the professor.
Try to go to nearby social events and keep a tally of how many were canceled without notice. Try to get more than a few friends together and see how many actually make it to the agreed upon meeting place. Try to make those meetings regular and see how quickly it becomes just you.
Work on any group project with people you aren't already close with. Etc etc.
It is at least 95%. And much of the remaining 5% only *want* to do things in real life, but can't.
@mikelovesbikes @paneerakbari @benroyce @Pine_Affinity @Netraven @mcnado That's a good observation. I don't think it explains everything, but indifference is definitely an important factor and it would require at least different ways of organizing. It is a good starting point to think of strategies to break it or work around it.