My two cents is that the two party system is thoroughly broken. But I don’t know how to fix it. Dividing the votes for those who aren’t fascist is probably not a good move though.
Ranked choice voting would be a start
That would be a big improvement. I’m also curious about approval voting. But either would be a big improvement over the mess that is first past the post, winner takes it all.
Something has to change, no doubt. Both major parties always promise big reforms, but once they get in power, nothing really changes. Personally, I’m voting third party. I respect and support everyone’s right to vote however they want, even if it’s for the current duopoly. But that’s not the path I’m choosing.
Unfortunately, that means that you’re taking a vote away from the candidate from the two main parties that is closest to your views, which helps the candidate you oppose the most.
The two party system is truly problematic, but when it comes to November you have two options currently and voting for a 3rd party has the same impact as not voting at all. Voting for the candidate that you oppose the least lets you put a finger on the scale to at least try to avoid the worst possible outcome relative to your beliefs and values.
Considering Trump has indicated he aims to abolish elections there is no upside at all in voting anything but Democrats.
I’m not afraid of Trump. He’s an idiot and has no chance of winning. Even if people vote 3rd party.
Your confidence is not warranted
And yet, here I am with it anyway. Also, I’m not afraid of him whether he wins or loses.
I’m a straight white married dad and I’m not afraid for me. But I have LGBT relatives who I absolutely fear would be at the very least more discriminated against, not by trump directly, but by the fucking douchbag Christian right who think they’ll be running the place.
The problem with Cheeto Mussolini is that he’s only worried about his own outcome, and if it doesn’t affect him, he’ll let whichever group he owes the most do whatever they want. And they have a plan this time since last time he wasn’t supposed to win either.
He has a very real chance of winning. He has laid groundwork, like the Supreme Court. He has people around him that are working towards their shared goal - it’s by no means a one man operation. And they have prepared. So there’s a real chance this might be the last time you get to vote.
So there’s a real chance this might be the last time you get to vote.
I don’t believe he has that much power. I actually have zero fear of Trump. Not mocking that you do, I am simply saying that I do not.
Removed by mod
Imo, the duopoly feed that fear and gin it up
You fucking should be.
You fucking should be.
I’m not.
the candidate you oppose most
Look at their comment history; 1600+ comments and nearly 800 posts in 29 days, all supporting a known Russian plant whose entire job is to siphon away leftist votes so Trump can win in swing states. The candidate they oppose most is whichever they get paid enough rubles to oppose, and that isn’t Trump.
Look at their comment history; 1600+ comments and nearly 800 posts in 29 days, all supporting a known Russian plant whose entire job is to siphon away leftist votes so Trump can win in swing states.
I’m not voting for Jill Stein though.
Feel free to look at all my posts, they are definitely not “all supporting a known Russian plant.” In fact, vast majority of my posts are to this socialist community: https://lemmy.world/c/socialist
My post history is here: https://lemmy.world/u/UniversalMonk?page=1&sort=New&view=Posts
I get what you’re saying, but for me, voting for the “lesser evil” still means supporting a system I fundamentally disagree with. Voting third party is about pushing for real change, not just settling for what’s handed to us. If enough people stop treating third parties like a wasted vote, we might actually break the cycle of just choosing between the “least bad” options.
I understand your viewpoint, but don’t subscribe. Voting isn’t about supporting a system. The system exists, with or without your participation. Shy of a full blown civil war (which is more likely to make this worse than better), the only way to change the system is to use the system to change itself. The general election in November every 4 years is the last stage of a long process that starts with local parties and elections, weaves through the primary process, and culminates on election day. We need more people that are dissatisfied with the candidates to get more involved, not less, and to go to the early phases where a smaller number of active participants can have an outsized impact on the whole system. To me, one of the many alternative voting systems would be a huge improvement (I have preferences, but honestly just about every one of them is better than the First Past the Post system we use), so advocating for that and supporting local candidates that can push those ideas forward is where my energies go.
Both parties actively try to give voters from the other party reasons to be dissatisfied and disengaged. Don’t play into it.
Also
If enough people stop treating third parties like a wasted vote,
People might if any of the third parties had a serious candidate and a serious governing platform. Each of them is fundamentally flawed in one way or another, and a few of them are flawed from top to bottom. I get that you’re dissatisfied with the status quo, but which one of these 3rd parties would be able to actually govern and not make a complete and utter mess of everything? Could you imagine if one of the major 3rd parties actually won? It would be an unmitigated disaster.
I get that you’re dissatisfied with the status quo, but which one of these 3rd parties would be able to actually govern and not make a complete and utter mess of everything? Could you imagine if one of the major 3rd parties actually won? It would be an unmitigated disaster.
I’m voting socialist this year.
Woah, trump is a socialist??
I don’t know what you mean.
I’m not sure what that means. I’m not voting for Jill Stein.
The news source of this post could not be identified. Please check the source yourself. Media Bias Fact Check | bot support
You know what amazes me most about you? You’re mostly meet with vitriol from all sides, and remain civil, kind, and pleasant. Let 'em stand on your imaginary cape. You’re a real world model of behavior, and while you’re probably a good 10 years or so behind me in age, a role model not to let abuse and trauma drag me backwards. Thanks for being that daily inspiration. You have no idea how valuable that is, to me.
Is this satire? You’re having a conversation with an automated bot account?
I’ve interacted with this person besides in public. They are a real human, with real hopes, dreams, desires, fears and feelings, much like yourself. Perhaps by suspending disbelief for a moment and not bullying him, you may be pleasantly surprised.
Dude - you replied to the Media Bias Fact Check bot, not a human.
I don’t know, I replied to the comment in notifications by directly tapping it. Another user said the same thing in another thread, and when I said so, I was downvoted. Idk if it’s client software or mine, but they’re clearly not interacting well together. Thanks for letting me know. I’ll msg admin and see if we can sorry if.
This is what it appears like to me if it helps
Oh wow, rofl. Thanks. I went back to the post and scrolled to reply to this comment. I am not sure where I should’ve gone with it, but I did message one admin with a link to your post telling me about it and asked for direction to the proper place to report it or help correcting it. I’m sure the photo will help devs, if not me. Thanks again.
I’m just posting this article that’s already available on a much bigger platform than Lemmy—I didn’t write it, just sharing it for discussion.
If you disagree with the article, that’s fine, but calling for it to be censored or accusing me of pushing an agenda just because I’m posting it or it’s not what you want to read is misguided. Open debate needs different perspectives, not censorship.
I’m clarifying all of this due to past posters refusing to refrain from personal attacks and insults, as well as repeated baseless accusations that I’m a Republican, Russian, and/or that I’m not even an American citizen. And one poster has been repeating over and over that I’m not even human (?!).
So I’d prefer we stick to discussing the article’s politics rather than focusing on me personally, if you’d like to engage with me. Now if you wanna just talk crap about me but not talk to me, then feel free. But I don’t really think that fits in with the spirit of this awesome community.
I’m not here to prove anything to you. I’ll keep posting content that fits the community’s guidelines, and if you feel otherwise, the mods are available. Thank you!
I don’t have a problem with the article. I will say she has an ambitious platform, considering both major parties control both chambers of Congress.
Lemmy has gotten really toxic across instances, in the short time I’ve been here. The most toxic posts that pop up in my feeds come from world, not hex or ml. I’m not sure how the algo works, or if it’s just s general indication of how toxic that insurance really is.
:I will say she has an ambitious platform, considering both major parties control both chambers of Congress.
It’s easy to be “ambitious” when you stand literally no chance of having to defend or enact your policies. She xan say whatever she wants, because it’s actually impossible for a third party to be elected.
She doesn’t have a “platform,” she has a vague set of ideals that will never need to be thought through past the surface level. Why doesn’t Jill participate in local elections? Or senate elections? Or the house? Why does she only come out of her hole to beg for money during the presidential election? She’s not looking to actually make change.
I’d agree about world, .ee seem to be close behind in toxicity, and just.works seems to be a brood of right wing talking points.
Really? I’m on that server because it didn’t seem so at the time. I only sign in occasionally now, to see if the latency between their servers and my device has improved. But with more users come more issues.
ee or works?
Mea culpa. Just works.
I will say that Lemmy is much more toxic than I had assumed it would be. It’s silly that I now have to post a disclaimer anytime I post an article here, but hopefully it can offset some of the long threads of people just saying variations of me being “Putin’s personal troll, who’s trying to avoid going to the front lines.” lmao
I actually like Jill Stein. I was going to vote for her, but then a socialist candidate became available on my state’s ballot, so I am voting socialist.
A lot of people criticize Stein, thinking she’s just in the race to help Trump win, but I believe she’s genuinely committed to her cause. Either way, I don’t think Trump will win the election, regardless of third-party candidates.
A lot of people criticize Stein, thinking she’s just in the race to help Trump win, but I believe she’s genuinely committed to her cause. Either way, I don’t think Trump will win the election, regardless of third-party candidates.
If Stein was actually committed to her cause, she would run for more than just president. She’s a grifter that sees a fundraising opportunity every 4 years, nothing more.
I respect and support your right to that opinion. I personally don’t agree with it. I like her, even tho I am not voting for her.
You certainly don’t have to post any disclaimers. No one is reading them anyhow. But the fact that feel the need to do that is evidence that you’re doing something wrong.
If everyone criticizes you, that doesn’t make you right, in fact it might be an indication you’re wrong.
You certainly don’t have to post any disclaimers. No one is reading them anyhow.
I can see that. But as I’ve mentioned several times, I believe we should focus on discussing the content of the articles posted from here on out, in order to keep with the spirit of this community. Thank you!
My understanding of “the spirit of the community,” is defeating fascism. Jill Stein does not fit into that spirit as she has repeatedly failed “the smell test,” among many other things (like being photographed dining with Putin and other fascists).
Her “campaign” only ever exists to siphon votes from Democratic candidates and allow the Republican to win.
I honestly hope y’all are literal children, because this isn’t a new phenomenon. Many of us old enough to remember have witnessed this kind of candidate show up at just about every presidential election, and they have only ever accomplished one thing. Every single time.
When a third party candidate is a possible threat to the GOP, they always drop out (e.g. RDK Jr… There is a reason that he didn’t keep running despite likely having more votes than Stein.
My understanding of “the spirit of the community,” is defeating fascism.
And my understanding is that the spirit of the community is discussing political news. Hence the name of the community being called “politics” and in the sidebar it literally says, “Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!”
Many of us old enough to remember have witnessed this kind of candidate show up at just about every presidential election, and they have only ever accomplished one thing. Every single time.
I’ve been voting since 1988. :)
Then you should be embarrassed. Learn some history.
Oh, whoops! I didn’t realize we were chatting within the c/noFreeExpression community! Sorry about that!
You haven’t met your downvote quota today. Feelin’ ok?
I just posted a news article, friend. I didn’t write it. And I’ll keep posting content that fits the community’s guidelines, and if you feel otherwise, the mods are available. Thank you!
I suppose with most of the world population being traumatized to varying degrees, the more that came, the more it was bound to happen. It’s quickly turning into a reddit/FB style craptastic place to be, and a lot of users, including mods, are extremely abusive with varying justifications of why their pet flavors of abuse is acceptable, reactionary or otherwise.
I don’t know how sincere anyone running is anymore, but it seems excruciatingly obvious that neither of the two major parties have the regular person’s interests in mind, other than how to gaslight and abuse them for more labor and more donations. I suspect it’s the unavoidable outcome of unbridled, naked capitalism. I’ve been there. And today I’m not.
I’m sorry to see you treated so badly. I enjoy many of your posts and appreciate that there are other people in the world who seek alternatives to the illusion of alternatives we are presented. I’m not a toddler and I don’t care for the blue or red shirt. I want the tie died multicolor, because life isn’t black and white, nor varying shades of grey. It’s those and unlimited possibilities outside those. Thanks so much for persisting. 🫂
Thank you for the kind words. Now welcome to the same downvote club I am in! lol
Seriously tho, thanks. And what’s really telling is that they are this mad just because I post articles. I didn’t even write the news and they are this mad! lol
I want the tie died multicolor, because life isn’t black and white, nor varying shades of grey.
Love that line!
It’s so weird when he talks to himself like this.
You are so welcome, friend. Thank you, and it’s fine. I look at how long after the initial recognition that if it’s not ok for others to do it to me, then it’s not ok for me to do it to others, to actually put in the effort to change, to how quickly i I had a relapse (even to defend, not abuse), to trying it again, and I understand. Not wanting to admit I have behaviors that are just as ugly, then again how long it took me to even work up the courage to try to be better than myself (be best isn’t a bad ideal to strive for), I get it. Behaviors that are trauma responses in the beginning become habits become acceptable. I will relapse again. I will try again.
So this is just to say, when I realize how hard it is to honestly look at and control myself, I get how hard it is for my fellow humans, and with practice and persistence, learn to give a little grace. I’m happy to share this journey with a few kind, extremely brave and strong individuals such as yourself. May the force/source/our better services be with us.
Sending you a hug across the ethers. May you be happy and whole.
Thank you! :)
I really mean every word I said, especially about being honored to share the path with you. Certainly the kingdoms of heaven and hell reside within us.
🫂🫂🫂
