timemachineyeah
drives me up a wall living in a very very red district, like "no democrat is ever going to win any local election, let alone a real leftist" district, like "our school board members ran on who was the most anti-mask" red, like "I pass white supremacist signs on the way to buy weed" red
and being in the local leftist community and the guy who runs the anarchist book club and the lady who helps keep the warming shelters open and the people who marched on city hall when a local business was getting death threats for having a drag show are all members of a discord and we get on this discord and have frank discussions about how best to vote
the people who do the protests and the mutual aid and all the real work
going "okay, they're both fascists, but this one lacks ambition and seems happy to just glide in the position" or "they both suck, but this one can be reasoned with if you frame it patriotically enough" like we don't even have a democrat to vote for. we know what a vote is. we know what we hope accomplish with it. we know what it can do, and we know what it can't.
and going from those discussions to here where people think that your vote is some kind of fucking??? enabling maneuver??? as if someone isn't going to end up in that seat regardless of what you do???
we didn't build this system, we just live in it. we're just trying to survive. a vote isn't a statement of your values, it's not an endorsement, it's not a marriage contract, it's a strategic play you make to keep alive.
the biggest mistake I see leftists making is overestimating their own popularity. "well but everyone would be leftist if they just-" no, stop, 1) you can't possibly know that 2) everyone will not just
AKA:
I haven't started suffering yet and I don't want to so it's best if we let it stay this way while I get to enjoy what I can of my existence before it becomes the next's problem.
Many are suffering, and it’s not in a good state right now. But it also means being strategic about it. The issue with the right and far right is that many people who hold those beliefs have a common goal and are unified in it (even if it’s because their candidates are somewhat less popular as therefore there is only one).
There was a candidate in 2016 that was very liberal and had good intentions, but many saw him as too liberal. Enough voted for him that it split the democratic votes between two candidates and Trump won, so yes unfortunately we do have to think about opposing the other side instead of just voting for who we like best as individuals. Did I mention the two party system sucks?