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And the biggest question of all; how do we unfuck this thing?
Marj's ex husband has been asking himself that same question for a long time.
Some things just won't wash off, no matter how much you scrub.
it takes a good soaking in bleach and whiskey. bleach for the outside, whiskey for the inside.
Have the American people stop being lazy bastards, generally. Especially young people.
2020 was the highest turnout in a century. And it was still only 2/3 of eligible voters. 79,000,000 eligible voters just went “eh”.
The primaries were even worse than that. The 2022 midterms were the second highest turnout for midterms this millennium. With 52%…. Despite 69% of eligible voters being registered. A ton of people just stayed home instead of making our highest civil duty a priority.
I agree, but part of the problem is that people are tired of choosing between 2-3 old people candidates that dont have their best interests in mind. In the case of Biden and Trump, Biden is most definitely less of an asshole and way more qualified than the Trump, but he's still going to do what's best for corporations, not what's best for the majority of the US population.
I vote myself, but at the same time I understand the apathy especially from the younger generations. They are presented with 2 people who are completely out of touch with them, and the issues they will face in their lifetimes. I don't think that they are lazy, they just feel helpless and like their choice doesn't matter or make a difference.
I don't know how we fix this issue, as it is a problem with the voting system itself. The best we can do is just vote and pick the lesser of two evils. So I also encourage others to do the same, but I don't look down on anyone for not voting.
So vote in the primaries…
The Dem primaries had like 10 people this last go round. From 38 to 78.
Bernie was the front runner and people were counting Biden out until South Carolina when nobody showed up for Bernie.
Voting is not a once every 4 year thing. There are elections at the local level all. The. Fucking. Time. And those are even more important. And they have even less turnout than the big ones. I have had 8 elections since 2020 in my local area. I vote in every single one of them.
Who do you think rise through the ranks through parties and become prominent? People who get elected at lower levels. They have track records.
There is absolutely zero excuse for not voting. I will look down on anyone that doesn’t vote but bitches about the system. They simply do not care. They say they do but won’t do the one damn thing to actually change anything. Everything starts at the local level.
You came out swinging with a lot of pent up frustration, dude. The other commenter says they do vote. I grant you they didn't mention the primary, but I have no reason to believe they don't vote in the primary, too.
I feel like this is where you meant to put your energy, since you said you DO look down on people who don't vote but do complain. But we need both kinds of people in the world. Some people respond better to patience, others to a kick in the butt. You're both doing it right as long as you're both trying to convince people to vote.
That drives me crazy. People don't think how their own city or county is run matters! Even on the "both parties are the same" bullshit level, it makes no sense.
Totally agree with the local elections! When i was young, i used to skip these elections, but i vote in every single one of them now. Hell, im also the nerd who spends free time attending council meetings & stuff to voice my opinions!
It really does make a difference voting in these local elections! Even things you might not see as useful (school board was always that way for me) have significant ramifications on day to day life. Ive seen it first hand.
With that said, i have a bone to pick regarding the presidential primaries. Sure there are 10 candidates for (some) voters, but many voters get effectively excluded from the process entirely. My state is fairly late in the primary process and almost never actually gets a choice. People always say “just vote in the primaries if you dont want the geriatric moderate”, but that is all that is left on the ballot. The last presidential primary for example, while biden hadnt technically won the primary yet, he was the only name on the ballot as all the other candidates had dropped out. Real fucking awesome selection i had.. Id like to be enlightened where my choice was. From my perspective, it looks like it was decided before i even got the chance to vote. its a super fucked up system that im very bitter about.
You're NEVER going to get a good option. You vote for the least-worse. Always -- lather, rinse, repeat.
I'm not sure how this is confusing. Show up at the polling station, with some idea of each loser's plan, and pick the one who can pull off the most of a decent plan -- or, said a different way, whoever will suck the least.
That is the entire problem and telling people "Thats just the way it is, deal with it" is not going to solve it. Our "democratic" system is completely broken, we are given the illusion of choice when in reality all candidates are preselected and paraded in front of the public as if they have our best interests at heart, when in reality they all have the same mandate from their corporate overlords. The US is a corporatocracy masquerading as a democracy, we as ordinary citizens have no real say in the matter. That needs to change, full stop!
America's system of voting "first past the post" ensures that one of the top two candidates will win. It pretty much guarantees a two-party system will win.
So, the strategy would be:
Hope this helps.
You don't even have to oppose the two party system to support ranked choice. I like ranked choice, especially for state reps/senators, and I'm very pro two-party system.
I know it opens the door to other parties I don't necessarily want to exist, but it's just a good idea full stop.
It's not a broken system when the most popular person wins. No one was preselected.
A majority of people think Biden is in their best interest.
If you want things to change, you have to accept that it's rarely going to be a sudden, profound moment. It's small steps adding up over time. If people aren't willing to take the small steps, just because they're not big steps, then we'll all soon find ourselves pulled backwards through our own apathy.
Biden was literally my favorite in the primaries. I got my first pick as President.
Frankly I think if people wanted some wacky, off the wall, Williamson-style candidate, they're too dumb to try to reason with so their votes really just should be assumed not to happen
Definitely times I wish we were more like Australia where I’m pretty certain voting is legally required.
Yeah election day is a holiday here, and voting is open for weeks in advance leading up to it just in case people can't find the time.
Not to mention the fact that we have preferential voting, so people are better off putting more independent/smaller parties first so they have a better chance of getting seats
Also the sausage sizzle
When I first heard about democracy sausages I thought it was a way to make fun of uncultured Americans and our bland bologna style hot dogs.
I'm so jealous that you get sausages when you vote! So much better than a sticker!!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_sausage
Shit I wish. Though most Americans are lazy enough they would just fill in random bubbles to fulfill the requirement.