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this post was submitted on 14 May 2024
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United States | News & Politics
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"No" is always an option.
I'm not an accelerationist, so no, it's not really an option. It's cool that you feel like you have the ability to just say "no", but I don't. I have to live here, and if Trump gets elected then there is a very high chance I might find myself in a concentration camp before the end of his term, assuming he doesn't find a way to abolish elections entirely.
So no, I don't really have an option to just shove my thumb up my ass and refuse to vote.
Edit: Sorry about the double post, Lemmy was being weird.
There's a very high chance I might find myself in a concentration camp before the end of Biden's next term.
All that's needed is for my red state to declare being trans to be a sex crime, the Supreme Court to decide 5-4 that it's constitutional, and then I'm off to a farm. Biden and his supporters would do literally nothing and just use my internment in a camp as a fundraising pitch.
If you are arguing against voting, then I'd like to know: do you think your chances are better if Trump wins, if Biden wins, or do you believe they are indistinguishable? I'm having trouble understanding this.
I don't think my chances are good under either President, but I also think Democrats are more likely to fight back if Trump wins. Trump saw the largest protest movement in American history. If the trans concentration camps happen under him then people will actually fight back. If they happen under Biden then people will just be told to vote harder next time so we can close the concentration camps! 🤮
Always have to vote for the furthest left that has a chance to win and hope enough others follow suit. Our system sucks, but the biggest thing holding us back is how far right the country currently is. Even though depressing, your attitude is currently our best shot and I appreciate that you're one of the seemingly few on this platform willing to voice it.
Support genocide of others to cover your own ass... increasing your own vulnerability in 4 years, because you fed the genocidal culture in DC.
Big brain moves /s
What, you think Trump is going to be different? Hell, you think there'll be another election if he gets elected? I hate Biden. He's done some good things, but he's been a complete piece of shit regarding Gaza, and putting tariffs on Chinese EVs and solar panels because they're "too cheap" is the icing on the cake. There are no good options, and not voting does literally nothing. If not voting actually changed anything, then we wouldn't be in this mess to begin with (a significant amount of the US doesn't vote).
The reason why voting "neither" in the primaries got Biden's attention was because it sent a message that said, "I want to vote for you (the Democrats), but I don't like any of the candidates". That message didn't come from the people who didn't vote, it came from the people who did vote, but chose to vote "neither".
Not voting during the general election doesn't send a message. They can't glean how many people would have voted for Democrats if they'd had a better candidate from the number of people who didn't vote. Those people could be Republicans who don't like the Republican options, they could be Democrats who don't like the Democrat options, they could be libertarians, communists, socialists, fascists, happy with either option or just straight-up lazy. They're not mind-readers, and again, if not voting actually did anything, then the US wouldn't be where we are now because a significant portion of the US does not vote.
Biden being elected may lead to more death in Gaza, and I don't like that. However, the alternative is Trump, which will result in more death in Gaza (likely the eradication of Gaza's remaining population), cutting aid to Ukraine, environmental destruction (paraphrasing: "we're gonna start drilling day one"), the complete destruction of civil rights, attacks against anyone opposing him, attempts to seize unconditional power (again, paraphrasing because I can't remember the exact quote: "I'm going to be a dictator on day one"), and more.
Biden sucks, but Trump is so unimaginably awful and destructive that I just can't see anyone arguing against Biden as arguing in good faith. Either you're an accelerationist who thinks Trump's destruction of America will lead to a new and better world, you're a Trump FUDdy, you're a Russian/Chinese bot, or you've drunk the accelerationist's koolaid without realizing what you're supporting. The fact that, after everything that has been said, you think that we'd still have a chance to vote again if Trump gets elected is... mind-boggling.
I'm envious of your privilege. The implication that you can unironically support non-voting is that you're privileged enough that you can weather the storm if Trump gets elected. I envy you. Not everyone has that kind of privilege.
Edit because I want to reiterate this to drive the point home: if not voting sent a message then we wouldn't be in this mess because a significant portion of the US does not vote.