this post was submitted on 15 Jul 2023
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politics

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[–] jeffw 46 points 1 year ago (4 children)

The right thinks the left is going to force their kids to get sex changes, the center and left see the right as wanting to end voting rights

[–] DocMcStuffin 60 points 1 year ago (1 children)

the center and left see the right as wanting to end voting rights

It's less of "see the right" and more of "has observed the right". We just had Moore v. Harper which had republicans pushing the independent state legislature theory where they argued state legislatures had sole authority to decide how elections are conducted and could change the rules however they wanted. Even if it meant disenfranchising voters. Thankfully SCOTUS shot it down.

[–] jeffw 15 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Sorry if I wasn’t clear. By see I meant literally see it happen before their eyes. See=observe

[–] DocMcStuffin 7 points 1 year ago

Nah, you're cool. A little bit of a fail on my part. I'm hyped up on caffeine and see the change in your sentence from "thinks" to "see".

[–] _wintermute 19 points 1 year ago

Meanwhile the actual left is largely ignored.

[–] fubo 9 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Right view of Left: satanist groomers
Right view of Center: sheeple
Right view of Right: "you're white enough, you can date my daughter if I can date yours"

Center view of Left: unionized HR professionals with blue hair
Center view of Center: ordinary chill folks
Center view of Right: scary uncles and/or scary incels

Left view of Left: splitters!
Left view of Center: sheeple
Left view of Right: "you realize y'all are actual fucking Nazi pedos, yeah?"

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[–] [email protected] 33 points 1 year ago (3 children)

We haven't had real democracy since Dubya stole office; who are we even kidding anymore?

[–] dx1 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Speaking in terms of economic power, we pretty much haven't had real democracy ever.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago

Sad but true; ultimately capitalism can't allow democracy. Its end goal is just feudalism with extra steps.

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[–] _wintermute 15 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Hard to be pessimistic about something that doesn't exist. The US is not a democracy and never has been. Our votes are not equal and there are many institutions in place to ensure that our vote can just not matter whenever is convenient for those in power, both on state and federal levels.

Edit: remember when we voted for the Supreme Court members? Lol. It's all a joke fam.

[–] YoBuckStopsHere 1 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Quick Civics Lesson: A Representative Republic IS a form of democracy. Saying the United States isn't a democracy is false.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Exactly. It's an imperfect democracy with some anti-democratic institutions, for sure-- but to say it's not a democracy is simply not accurate.

[–] _wintermute 12 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Oh no, think of the accuracy! Be blind to what your eyes see as long as you can cling to a definition you learned in grade school that was propaganda to begin with lmao.

It's like if a nail salon is a front for money laundering and I say "hey that nail salon is a front!" and the pedants come back with "ACK-shually, that is indeed a nail salon." No fucking shit. It's true purpose is a front, despite the fact that it functions as a nail salon AND a front.

The US is functioning as intended, with a thin veneer of "democracy" to keep it "legitimate" in the eyes of the world.

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[–] TwoGems 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)
[–] DocMcStuffin 36 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Lack of voting is one problem, but the overarching problem is how we select our representatives. We have a two party system with winner takes all elections which cements the two party system. You pretty much have to vote for one party or the other otherwise you're essentially throwing away your vote. Personally, I think a system like ranked choice would be an improvement. At least then you could vote your conscience, and if your first choice doesn't make it then your vote goes towards your 2nd, 3rd, etc. A system like that should produce a result that is closer to the ideological center of the voters.

[–] TwoGems 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)
[–] DoctorTYVM 1 points 1 year ago (4 children)

You have to vote to change all that too. You think people would?

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[–] YoBuckStopsHere 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

A huge chunk of Trump supporters never voted before he ran, watch out for what you wish for.

[–] DocMcStuffin 3 points 1 year ago

That was also how Bush won in 2004. He expanded the electorate. There was also a bunch of other crap going on, but that was crucial to his win.

[–] NewEnglandRedshirt 1 points 1 year ago

About one third of our country is~~n't~~ voting

Check turnout. Even in presidential elections, we rarely get more than 1/3 of the eligible voters to actually cast a ballot.

[–] Coreidan 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Voting doesn’t matter when your only choices are bevis and butt head. That is by design.

[–] TwoGems 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)
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[–] tallwookie 12 points 1 year ago

eh, democracy is fine but the current batch of politicians are fucked. we need to get a batch of under 50 year old folks in congress/senate/white house. enough of these 70+ year old geezers.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago

The United States is controlled by oligarchs who are above the law. Big Tech is censoring everyone and gathering data on everyone for law enforcement agencies.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago

Perhaps it has something to do with how popular policies aren't passed but unpopular policies are?

[–] ShooBoo 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

American's are caught up in so much BS that doesn't matter. We aren't even capable of focusing on what does matter. All the facts are right there in front of us but we ignore them. We are turning away from science and returning to superstition and religious fanaticism. This whole republic/democracy experiment thing needs competent, clear thinking people to keep it together. It doesnt matter if they are believers or not, they just need to be sane. There seems to be less and less of those people running around or at least speaking up about it. If we keep going down the road we are going now, there is no hope for us. We may have already lost the battle and just dont realize it yet.

[–] Stovetop 3 points 1 year ago

I don't think the US has ever not been overly religious. Most of its history has been full of religious people doing terrible things and framing social issues in religious terms.

Colonization? Religion. Ethnic cleansing of the natives? Religion. Manifest destiny? Religion. The Mexican-American war? Religion. Prohibition? Religion. The Red Scare? Religion. The Ku Klux Klan and other racists? Better believe it's religion.

[–] MossBear 8 points 1 year ago

We have so much tension because we're at a tipping point between long held religious dominance and a future where religious beliefs alone will no longer have the power to sway public policy. It's just a question of how long this is going to take.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Sure vote, but don't fool yourselves that it has a very significant influence. The degree of manipulation by gerrymandering, partisan structures, bias toward rural southern states in the electoral college, and billionaire corporate dark money spending leaves the actual accuracy of voting in question.

[–] _wintermute 7 points 1 year ago

Voting is basically the little brother playing the video game in "2 player" mode even though the controller is not plugged in scenario. That's what being working class in the US feels like lol

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Yeah, Ohio is so messed up. So many times the map was shot down, but they used it anyway. It's unjust.

[–] Raphael 7 points 1 year ago

There is no democracy in the United States, the ultra rich just gather in the same room and throw money at the table to decide the next president.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I really think we are almost at taxation without representation, we should look into that

[–] tallwookie 1 points 1 year ago

lol what are you gonna do, protest? rofl

[–] EtnaAtsume 3 points 1 year ago

I can't possibly imagine why!

[–] T0rrent01 3 points 1 year ago

Maybe it's time to rethink everything, and stop acting like we can just go back to brunch.

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