This type of thing goes through my head constantly. Im kinda surprised trump is even trying to hide epstein given how well just breaking laws and being openly corrupt has been for him/they/them.

  • eldavi@lemmy.ml
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    5 days ago

    we’re ultimately responsible for the leaders we chose through voting.

    politics in most of the western world has become a team sport making people ignore the TRULY fucked up things that our candidates do in order to ensure that their team wins.

    also: the people with influence/finances have made sure that we’re unaware that there are alternatives to team sport voting; but it’s still our own individual responsibility to vote for our leaders and we’ll continue to be fucked even more until this realization is forced upon us.

    and i suspect it’s going to take something catastrophic like climate change, war, serious economic depression, etc. to force us to wake up to this realization.

    • ☂️-@lemmy.ml
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      5 days ago

      no, we are not. they pay to get their way by uninformed voters.

      it is our responsibility to remove them from leadership though.

      • eldavi@lemmy.ml
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        5 days ago

        agreed on both.

        the impact enabled by the people with the influence/finances coupled with the lack of self responsibility to inform yourself create uninformed voters and non-voters.

          • eldavi@lemmy.ml
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            5 days ago

            the only voting choices people make are either diet-fascism or full-fat-fascism; the only way voting can make a difference is for people to vote for an alternative.

            • ☂️-@lemmy.ml
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              5 days ago

              yes, but there isn’t one though. if history is any indication, usians will have to rebel again.

              • eldavi@lemmy.ml
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                5 days ago

                there are several every voting cycle. i voted for de la cruz last time; but there better known names like jill stein.

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                  5 days ago

                  did she ever had a chance though? i’m not from the us, but the people i vote for rarely end up elected or influential.

                  • eldavi@lemmy.ml
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                    3 days ago

                    it’s a chance to save your democracy by preventing the bigger parties from going to the right like they do in the united states.

                  • Doc_Crankenstein@slrpnk.net
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                    4 days ago

                    Whether she did or didn’t doesn’t matter. If we ever want an alternative to ever succeed we must first act as if their success is viable and grow their base.

                    If we concede defeat before we ever see results then others will never want to throw their lot in with us.

                    Though, personally, I believe the entirety of the electoralists, democratic republic a failure of a system that, intersectionally with capitalism, intrinsically is designed to oppress the working class by reinforcing an arbitrary hierarchy of control but that’s a very long winded argument, it’s 4:30 in the morning, and I have yet to sleep.

                    All I’ll say is people should be more focused on local elections and building dual power in a way that your local electorate can actually see affect their lives.

        • mendiCAN [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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          5 days ago

          … educated or not, an american citizen is only allowed to vote between selected bought-and-paid-for candidates representing only the interests of the ruling class.

          • Maeve@kbin.earth
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            3 days ago

            Dems sued to keep De La Cruz off ballots in swing states, didn’t bother with reliably Republican states.

          • eldavi@lemmy.ml
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            3 days ago

            americans have more choices than democrat or republican; but they don’t chose the alternatives out of a combination of peer pressure and propaganda.

            • mendiCAN [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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              3 days ago

              is it your stance that it is only peer pressure and propaganda that keeps other parties in the us from being viable? if not, what other barriers keep the two major parties in power?

              • eldavi@lemmy.ml
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                3 days ago

                there’s a lot more and the next largest barriers are voter suppression and both of the dominant parties engaging in legal maneuvers intended to diminish the ability for people to vote for any alternatives.

    • HubertManne@piefed.socialOP
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      5 days ago

      Certainly although many folks did not vote for our current leadership we did not make overriding citizens united as a litmus test and if there was anything to ever have as a litmus test its that.

      • Maeve@kbin.earth
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        3 days ago

        Endless war and genocide against people who’s only “wrong” was wanting their resources to benefit their own people rather than Western interests was a pretty decent litmus test.

      • eldavi@lemmy.ml
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        5 days ago

        citizens united was only another milestone in a series of milestones that the rich & powerful achieved and they did it with our consent, as i mentioned earlier.

        the only litmus tests that ever matter was whether or not you were capable of seeing that “spoiler effect” or “first past the post” or “the electoral college” were bullshit excuses meant to trap us into the team sport mindset.

        • LeeeroooyJeeenkiiins [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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          5 days ago

          Caring about citizens is a litmus test for whether someone is an ignorant liberal or not

          Liberals think if it weren’t for that, “there wouldn’t be money in politics.” In the real world, capitalism affords inordinate political and economic authority to the capitalist class, and this is true even if you have really strict rules on direct donations or funding campaigns or whatever.

          Liberals have this fucking fantasy in their heads of a pre or post Citizens United world where the rich don’t influence politics, but that’s what it is, a fucking fantasy. Capitalism is inherently incompatible with actual democracy because the ownership of capital itself is what affords the capitalists political influence. Biggest employer in a town? You have inherent influence. Own the newspaper, TV or radio stations? You have inherent influence.

        • HubertManne@piefed.socialOP
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          5 days ago

          Oh that ludicrous. The spoiler effect gave us bush over gore and trump1. There are plenty of chances to get the canidates running but when it comes down to the wire not choosing better over worse fucks everybody.

          • eldavi@lemmy.ml
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            5 days ago

            there will always be another trump so long as people keep failing these litmus tests.

            • Maeve@kbin.earth
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              3 days ago

              Mmm, tell me again how Clinton got elected and balanced the budget. Tough on crime and austerity for low income is what I recall.

                • HubertManne@piefed.socialOP
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                  3 days ago

                  I think its a reference to him being vilified for his adult affair when he did a pretty decent job as far as presidents go. Thats my take anyway.

                  • eldavi@lemmy.ml
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                    3 days ago

                    enabling a genocide in the balkans sounds very much like enabling a genocide in gaza to me.

          • Nakoichi [they/them]@hexbear.net
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            5 days ago

            That is demonstrably false. And even if it were true it doesn’t change the fact that these parties are complicit in all the same shit. Maybe they should appeal to peoples material needs. They never will though because that is not their function.