• Fades@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        why it’s on our REPRESENTATIVES to convince the masses to show up

        Yes they have a lot of responsibility here but so does every single eligible-to-vote goddamn citizen. It is your DUTY to participate and vote because if you do not it REDUCES YOUR OWN REPRESENTATION which is quite literally the opposite of why this nation was born in the first place.

        You present voting as if it is a quid-pro-quo transaction, and to an extent you’re not that far off; party A thinks they can lead better than B and advertises the things they want to do to bring in support. Party A pushes x/y/z policies that voters care about and thus Party A earns votes over B. They are not owed any votes.

        That’s all very well and good in a vacuum but we don’t live in a sterile little box and instead we live in a messy blurry complex setting full of voters and non-voters (further offsetting the true voice of the people). Your little story of how voting must be earned by being both enticing/motivating and be easy enough to not be cumbersome in any way does not translate well to reality. We have blatant corruption and we almost lost our democracy in 2020 as Trump planned to simply stay in power, I could go on, but won’t because you are clearly aware of these things.

        It is no longer just about party A’s policies vs party B’s. It’s quite literally a fight for the future of US democracy, it’s a fight for SCOTUS control for generations, it’s so much more than just the Pres.

        But they don’t even do that. Let’s pretend the abortion issue is Denny’s free breakfast day. Democrats would be saying “IF you don’t come wait in line outside the Denny’s for 2 hours in high enough numbers, we’re going to cancel the ‘bring a coupon for free breakfast that day’ event we do every year.”

        ONE PARTY is focused on gerrymandering and disenfranchising voters, making voting as hard as possible, and another has been focused on the opposite. You are balancing your little story on the premise that the Rs and Ds set up a bad system that is a pain in the ass for the average voter to get what they want, when that isn’t what is happening at all. No D is saying well you weren’t willing to wait in line to vote or drop off your ballot or whatever so fuck you we’re quitting the rest of the race or the next race or whatever, or even saying well fuck you we won’t run on these policies again.

        IT IS THE OTHER PARTY WHO ATTACKS VOTING from all angles, making it harder, mixing up districts to silence opposition strongholds, etc.

        And with that, we see exactly why your condescending little rant has no real application to reality; it’s wholly unrepresentative to the complex situation we find ourselves in. Is Dennys run by two competing factions? Is one of those two factions trying to silence worker and customer majorities to uphold their minority views and hunger for power, causing as much chaos as possible to stop progress when they don’t hold the reins? By the way, in that bullshit fake scenario, the Rs would be the ones trying to take away the free breakfast because too many customers come and eat for free.

        YES THE POLITICIAN$ HOLD A LOT OF THE BLAME (most of it, even), but THAT DOES NOT MEAN that the people hold no responsibility of the outcome. If you don’t vote when you are able, you are unamerican and are hurting yourself along with everyone else. You should not be withholding your vote waiting for someone to come take it on a silver platter. If you live in this country and you can legally vote, YOU HAVE A DUTY TO YOURSELF AND THE REST OF US TO VOTE.

        Your comment is so fucking self-centered and shortsighted it’s honestly disgusting.

      • Optional@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Well that’s a hell of a tortured metaphor, but point taken. Deliverance from definite fascist destruction of democracy and the planet is not motivating enough.

        What about free panninis?

          • jjjalljs@ttrpg.network
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            5 months ago

            Part of the problem is the Republican party is pretty unified around being assholes, and the Democrats have a mix of progressive and asshole.

          • Optional@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            And when they stop it with their corrupt rich-asshole appointed Supreme Court, point at the Rs and yell “SEE?! THEY DON’T YOU TO HAVE GOOD THINGS! THEY HATE YOU!”

            They are doing that. You can see it’s been picked up by corporate news like wildfire. Or - what’s the opposite of wildfire.

            And expand the court. And then you win elections.

            Well, at best - maybe. Again: Electoral College.

          • Optional@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            I agree. I’ve been arguing this point against decades of Republican-lite tone-deaf dipshit Dem leaders. For those who don’t know, believe it or not, it’s finally moving - just as the “waah dems didn’t give me a pony” crowd are so helpfully parroting russian GRU talking points to depress turnout.

            Yeah on the whole Dems have gone through plenty of ineffective and blatantly counter activity in the last 50 years. But they’ve also been the mechanism by which anything good has been legislated. Sometimes with Republicans’ help, usually not.

            And because the electoral college is such a lopsided slave-owner cheat device, third party is most definitely only detrimental at this time. Yeah, like last time, yeah like every other time we’ve had to deal with the electoral college which is, uh, at least the last 50 years.

            “Weeeahh but why don’t democrats get rid of the electoral college”. FFS. Yeah. Why. It’s probably a grand bougie conspiracy. OR - or, okay, a complicated and massive governmental change which is almost impossible to do without overwhelming public support.

              • Optional@lemmy.world
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                5 months ago

                Plenty of work to do, yes. Within established structures. I have no interest in re-inventing the wheel because someone’s PoliSci course opened their mind to new possibilities.

                End Citizens United, end the electoral slaver’s college, impeach crooked justices, and yes severe limits on lobbying. One of the two main parties is capable and interested in those things.

                Spoiler alert, it takes a united Congress and more than ten weeks to do that.