FAQ
Q: why not organize and stop treating the bus as a legitimate entity? why aren’t you working to stop the bus?
A: do both. cut the fuel line. break windows. put oatmeal in the gas tank. but maybe your efforts don’t succeed this election cycle. and if so don’t fucking throw away your vote if it can help your neighbors fucking survive. “harm reduction” is not a political strategy for action. it is a last minute, end of the line decision to save lives, after all other resources have been exhausted.
Nah, it’s the difference between a grassy cliff, and a muddy one. Doesn’t matter, still a fucking cliff.
To extrapolate your metaphor, I will vote, but for a third option: a dirt road. Yea I’ll be in the minority, but we are all good as dead anyway since everyone else including my state reps believe one cliff or the other is the path to Valhalla.
I mean, even in your example, yes it does matter. They're both terrible choices, but the muddy cliff is likely to provide a softer, more survivable landing than the grassy one.
I was definitely not thinking about all the nuances beyond them both being cliffs. I think neither is good for America, and my gerrymandered state will go red regardless of votes.
But that's kinda the idea with harm reduction. You acknowledge that neither choice is good, so you go with the least bad choice to buy some time to make some better choices later.