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Americans of Lemmy, what is your approach to next year's election? (lemm.ee)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

267 comments fedilink hide all child comments

2020 was... truly unique. It was so hard to stay away from doom scrolling, and I (and many others) were pretty disillusioned by the sad fact that so much of our country legitimately supported the Orange Man. I didn't get a wink of sleep the night of the election because I genuinely considered it to be a make or break decision for America.

My point is that looking back on it, in the end the only real difference I made was at the ballet box. This year I'm going for the Head-in-the-Sand approach. I'm done with the political memes. Done with the Twitter screenshots. It just riles me up and this year I'm gonna do my best to fight that.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You can try to ignore politics, but politics won't ignore you. It just means you won't get a say in the matter.

[–] LemmyKnowsBest 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

And how much power and leverage do you honestly feel like you have when you're filling in little circles on a ballot sheet that only offer limited pre-determined options?

The only way to have power and leverage in the political system is to be a politician.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

And how much power and leverage do you honestly feel like you have when you’re filling in little circles on a ballot sheet that only offer limited pre-determined options?

Those limited options are usually selected from a much wider variety of options in primaries. If you want more choices be sure to participate in those.

The only way to have power and leverage in the political system is to be a politician.

You could also buy politicians, or be someone politicians want something from, or be part of an voting bloc worth pandering to.

[–] LemmyKnowsBest 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Your last paragraph shows that you understand how corrupt the entire system is.

Go ahead, keep enjoying your meaningless little hobby.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

A system can be both corrupt and worth participating in, especially if that's the only way to improve it. No system is perfect, after all. We were beta testing democracy and never updated our source code despite some well-known bugs.

Electoral nihilism works against your interests.