• hperrin@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    You have two options:

    • Ok with genocide. Otherwise relatively progressive. Has passed major important legislation.
    • Ok with genocide. Wants to be a dictator. Appointed half of the Supreme Court majority that took away women’s right to abortion. Will probably strip more rights if elected. Cut taxes on the wealthy and will probably do it again.

    You can throw away your vote, but come inauguration, you will have a president who is ok with genocide.

    • DAMunzy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      7 months ago

      But I will not have voted for one of them. But you will have and the blood will be on your hands.

        • gbuttersnaps@programming.dev
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          7 months ago

          I think some of these people have to be trolls. We’re basically in the trolley problem where the trolley is headed for 100,000 people, and if you pull the lever it will only kill 1. You can’t abstain from pulling the lever and act like you’re completely innocent of the deaths of the masses.

          • hperrin@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            If your morality prioritizes staunch adherence to standards over harm reduction, you have a stupid sense of morality.

            It’s the kind of morality where someone would rather let a child die than push them out of the way of a speeding car, simply because pushing them would harm them.

            Your morality should lead you to making decisions that result in the least harm. Look at it this way: if all of the people who voted third party instead of Hillary because Hillary wasn’t [insert moral standard here] enough had sucked it up and voted for Hillary, access to abortion would still be legal nationwide. (This assumes enough people to get her elected voted third party over moral objections.)

            Trump is the worst president in my life time, by a huge margin, and he’s even more in favor of genocide than Biden, demonstrably. So if your sense of morality causes you to help put him in charge of our country again, in my mind, you’re a fucking moron.

            • TokenBoomer@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              Rebellion? I don’t like hearing such a word from you," Ivan said with feeling. “One cannot live by rebellion, and I want to live. Tell me straight out, I call on you–answer me: imagine that you yourself are building the edifice of human destiny with the object of making people happy in the finale, of giving them peace and rest at last, but for that you must inevitably and unavoidably torture just one tiny creature, that same child who was beating her chest with her little fist, and raise your edifice on the foundation of her unrequited tears–would you agree to be the architect on such conditions? Tell me the truth.”
              “No, I would not agree,” Alyosha said softly.
              “And can you admit the idea that the people for whom you are building would agree to accept their happiness on the unjustified blood of a tortured child, and having accepted it, to remain forever happy?”
              "No, I cannot admit it.

              Fyodor Dostoyevsky — The Brothers Karamazov

              • OBJECTION!@lemmy.ml
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                7 months ago

                “And can you admit the idea that the people for whom you are building would agree to accept their happiness on the unjustified blood of a tortured child, and having accepted it, to remain forever happy?”

                “No, I cannot admit it.”

                Dostoevsky never met American liberals lol.

              • hperrin@lemmy.world
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                7 months ago

                Ok cool. Your choice is between genocide, and genocide but worse. You can proclaim how righteous and moral you are that all the pain everyone around you is feeling is not your fault, because you merely threw your vote away, but that won’t change the outcome, and it won’t make you anything but a moron.

                • TokenBoomer@lemmy.world
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                  7 months ago

                  It’s my fault Biden won’t declare his intentions to stop the genocide. I’m to blame everybody. My vote has doomed us all. The horror.

              • hperrin@lemmy.world
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                7 months ago

                I’m not talking about drug harm reduction. I’m talking about the reduction of harm. Put another way, aiming to reduce the amount of harm your actions lead to.

                • Victoria Antoinette @lemmy.world
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                  7 months ago

                  Put another way, aiming to reduce the amount of harm your actions lead to.

                  well the good news is you can vote for anyone you actually want to take office, since only votes for bad people cause them to be elected.

                  • hperrin@lemmy.world
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                    7 months ago

                    That’s a nice platitude, but there are only two outcomes, no matter how much you might wish there was a third. Your options are to help, abstain, or hurt. Abstaining means you’d rather not help, so again, in my mind, you’re a moron.

                    Third party candidates are only viable when one of the major parties collapses, and the major parties only collapse when they consistently lose. So, if you actually want a viable third party, you should vote for the major party you dislike the least. Otherwise, you’re just perpetuating both.

          • papertowels@lemmy.one
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            7 months ago

            I’ve asked folks who aren’t voting for Biden what they think the odds of their vote reducing genocide in the real world is, and all I’ve gotten is crickets.

            Given that there doesn’t seem to be much confidence there, the real world results are likely trump or biden.

            Trump has folks in his party alluding to nukes when saying Palestine has to be ended quickly, even trump himself has stated that Israel has to end the war quickly. Therefore I suggest that Trump will result in far more lives lost than Biden.

            Folks on Lemmy are typically left-leaning.

            This means that a Lemmy user voting third party could’ve been a vote for Biden, which in a binary choice results in less lives lost. Yes, I know, Biden centrist, etc etc, but he’s to the left of the absolute insanity that is the republican party.

            However instead some folks value a clean conscience over real world results, and vote third party/abstain. If these votes would’ve otherwise gone to Biden, then they have made a trump presidency more likely, which has the real world effect of resulting in more lives lost.

            I’m fine with people voting with their conscience, but I just want folks to acknowledge whether or not their vote makes a trump presidency (therefore more genocide) more likely. Most people just seem to think “I’m not voting for genocide so my hands are clean and I’m good!” and stick their head in the sand.

              • papertowels@lemmy.one
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                7 months ago

                What’d he have to do to earn it? It’s hard to think about Lemmy users as a whole, what about you in particular?

                  • papertowels@lemmy.one
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                    7 months ago

                    Ah, it sounds like you’d typically vote third party to begin with.

                    If that’s the case, then your vote was never going to go to Biden to begin with, so all of the above doesn’t really apply.

            • TokenBoomer@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              So, you’re okay with not having a clean conscience? Or, other voters should be okay with not having a clear conscience? If Biden winning is more important to you than having a clean conscience. Vote for him. But don’t pressure people that choose to have a clear conscience.

              Unless thought police is on your bucket list.

              • JasonDJ@lemmy.zip
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                7 months ago

                From my perspective, they are implying that your belief that voting third party or abstaining gives you a clear conscience makes you a self-centered, arrogant fool. Because the result of your action (or inaction) will increase the likelihood of the more bad thing happening.

                To me, that’s not a clear conscience. That’s ignorance. That’s explicitly choosing to ignore the consequences of your (in)action. That’s short-sightedness to the degree that someone would expect of a preschooler. One with behavioral problems.

                • TokenBoomer@lemmy.world
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                  7 months ago

                  That’s a lot of words to say you are okay with genocide. I’m not gonna castigate voters for voting against a candidate that enables it. Maybe I’ll change my mind once I get to middle school. It depends on how long recess is.

                  • JasonDJ@lemmy.zip
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                    7 months ago

                    I did not say I’m okay with genocide.

                    Our choices this election are genocide with a side of an untoppped baked potato, or genocide with a side of radioactive flaming diarrhea.

                    There is no third option. The third option is that the waiter brings you one of the two and you have to accept it.

                    At least one way, we get a bland potato. It sucks, but that’s the way this restaurant is run. We can’t just get up and go to another restaurant. But, maybe if we can just find it to ignore the genocide (which, by the way, the chef is really limited in what they can do without the support of the rôtisseur, especially when he gets a couple line cooks to side with him), we might be able to have no genocide next time we come back. Otherwise, we’re all gonna get sick being close to all the radioactive diarrhea and the whole place is gonna get shut down.

              • papertowels@lemmy.one
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                7 months ago

                You’re implying that asking people what they think the real world results of their choices are is being the thought police? That seems a little… diluted.

            • hperrin@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              Voting third party right now also just perpetuates both parties. There are enough people in this country to elect anyone from the major parties, so a third party can’t win unless one of those parties collapses. The only way a party collapses is when it consistently loses elections.

              The republicans won’t consistently lose elections as long as progressives don’t vote for democrats, so both parties will continue on. The majority of the people in this country are left of center, so the only way republicans win is by suppressing votes, and one of the ways they do that is by propping up progressive third party candidates.

              If we truly want a progressive party, making sure republicans never win elections is the way to do it. Then either the Democratic Party will shift left and republicans will regroup under a new less extreme conservative party, or the Democratic Party will shift right as it absorbs all the republicans and a new progressive left party will rise. Both ways result in a more progressive set of major parties.

        • Zengen@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          If you truly oppose genocide. You should be plotting a coup against the US executive branch.

      • papertowels@lemmy.one
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        7 months ago

        So… What do you think are the odds that your third party vote improves the situation in Palestine?

        If your third party vote makes it more likely that Trump wins and results in more bloodshed, that is a choice you contributed to, and blood is still on your hands.

      • dependencyinjection@discuss.tchncs.de
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        7 months ago

        But then if Trump wins because you didn’t vote for either, then you’re ok with Genocide+ rather than Genocide light. Meaning you have to vote for the lesser of the two evils if no matter what you do the majority are voting for the only two who are likely to win.

        You’re either incredibly stupid, a troll, or are being obstinate on purpose.

        • TokenBoomer@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          Small problem. A person who is against genocide would not be okay with a genocide under Trump either, so why should they be okay with a genocide under Biden?

          • dependencyinjection@discuss.tchncs.de
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            7 months ago

            Did you even read anything I wrote.

            The outcome of the election is going to be Trump or Biden. NOBODY ELSE IS GOING TO WIN.

            So given that you have to choose the person less likely to escalate the situation, the saner one of the two.

            I’m not saying it’s good I think it’s fucking abhorrent, but there is no choice.

            To be abundantly clear about my stance on Palestine. I am out every weekend protesting in solidarity with Palestine. I am spreading awareness of the issue wherever I can and I am taking direct action against the companies that support the genocide.

            Let me ask you this. What do you think is going to happen if you don’t vote?

            • TokenBoomer@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              If a genocide is going to occur regardless of the vote, then the vote doesn’t matter.

              Let me ask you this. What do you think is going to happen if you don’t vote?

              In regards to what? The genocide? Project 2025? Healthcare?

              If people want to vote for Joe Biden to preserve LGBT and minority rights, that’s their choice. If someone wants to not vote for Biden because he is aiding in a genocide, that’s their choice.

              It’s egotistical to think that my priorities are more important than others.

              • papertowels@lemmy.one
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                7 months ago

                If a genocide is going to occur regardless of the vote, then the vote doesn’t matter.

                Do you think that more people in Palestine will suffer if trump is elected?

                • TokenBoomer@lemmy.world
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                  7 months ago

                  Hypothetically, I think there would be no difference than what is occurring now. The rhetoric from his administration would be more belligerent though. If you take the genocide out of the equation, Biden is clearly the better choice. Unfortunately, it is part of the equation.

              • dependencyinjection@discuss.tchncs.de
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                7 months ago

                Dude people ain’t voting for Biden for any reason. They’re voting against the lunatic that tried to incite an insurrection. The dude that has the mentality of a child.

                That’s it. Trump is a sociopath and people don’t want him in charge of nuclear weapons.

                As to the rest of your comment. Yes you can do what you want but alls people are saying is Trump would far worse in every regard and not voting against him is basically saying your cool with that.

                Does that make sense? I don’t mean that in a condescending way, I’m really wanting to know if you understand my point of view and the consensus of this thread. And the majority of people.

                If you’re not voting Biden who are you voting for?

                • TokenBoomer@lemmy.world
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                  7 months ago

                  If you want to me to say that I’m voting for Biden, I will. The question everyone should be asking themselves is why do they need that validation. Is it only okay to vote for Biden if everyone else does? If I change my mind in the next six months, and decide to vote for Cornel West or Jill Stein, is it not my choice? The people that have decided to not vote for Biden because of the genocide aren’t gonna be persuaded by randos pressuring them on the internet. It’s not their fault he is helping Israel do a genocide.

                  • dependencyinjection@discuss.tchncs.de
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                    7 months ago

                    I literally said in my last comment it is your choice do what you want.

                    I’ve also covered, ad-nauseam, that the only person getting elected is a genocide supporting one and one of those is less dangerous than the other.

                    How many times do you want to ask the same questions to get the same answer.

                    I DONT SUPPORT GENOCIDE. I DO SUPPORT PALESTINE. ISRAEL IS AN APARTHEID STATE. WE THE PEOPLE ARE POWERLESS TO STOP IT. BIDEN OR TRUMP WILL WIN. BIDEN IS LESS FUCKING INSANE THAN TRUMP. BIDEN IS A GENOCIDE SUPPORTER.

                    What more do you want me to say.

                    I guess what hasn’t been said is you could get

        • krzschlss@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          Genocide light? Seriously?!? If the other guy is stupid, you are stupid+

          There is no democracy if you are supporting genocide. There is no election worth voting on if the outcome is same fucking fascist, just with different colored flags. And don’t give me the lie how you’re gonna do something about a ‘genocide light’ if your guy is elected. Fuck off

          This whole country needs to stop sucking Kissinger’s dick and change this bloodthirsty, greedy fascist system.

            • krzschlss@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              Ask the people in Gaza what they think about “Roe got overturned”.

              After all said and nothing done, we are paying for those bullets that murder their children by accepting and even promoting a system that gives us braindead mouthpieces for weapon manufacturers to vote for.

                • krzschlss@lemmy.world
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                  7 months ago

                  November is quite cold where I’m at, we like to go hiking or skiing. Or staying in and watching movies. A nice dinner with friends? I hope I gave you at least one good idea what to do in November.

                  But you can go out and vote for a sociopath and genocide denier or for a racist rapist and when those clowns start killing and bombing some other people somewhere on the globe, you can just blame the Chinese or Icelanders for making you vote for a lesser evil…

                  Life’s good either way…

                • TokenBoomer@lemmy.world
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                  7 months ago

                  Vote for whomever you want, or not vote. Make your own decision, stop letting others make the decision for you.

        • TokenBoomer@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          The argument for voting against left-wing or socialist candidates on the grounds that they can’t win and are therefore helping the right wing into power has, of course, been a time-worn argument in the United States against bucking the two-party system. Engels, in an 1893 letter to an American colleague, pointed out that in the United States, the formation of a workers’ party is hindered by the “Constitution…which makes it appear as though every vote were lost that is cast for a candidate not put up by one of the two governing parties.” isreview

        • papertowels@lemmy.one
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          7 months ago

          virtue-signalling : the act or practice of conspicuously displaying one’s awareness of and attentiveness to political issues, matters of social and racial justice, etc., especially instead of taking effective action

      • GreyEyedGhost@lemmy.ca
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        7 months ago

        Cool, I’ll give you a pass on the genocide, but you will still be as responsible as anyone who voted for Trump for all the other terrible things he said he will do that you are doing nothing to prevent.

        • TokenBoomer@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          That’s not logical. So, if my choices are pizza or nuggies, and I choose neither. Then I chose nuggies? Make it make sense.

          I may be intermittent fasting to lose weight, or rejecting imperialist capitalism.

          • TheOakTree@lemm.ee
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            7 months ago

            A tribe holds a vote to either cross a bridge to side A or stay on side B. Staying on side A means you won’t have much food. Going to side B means you still won’t have much food, but also most of the food is poisonous.

            Part of the tribe (Group C) says “I don’t want to starve, I refuse to vote in a way that accepts malnourishment as a solution!” Group C also opposes eating poisonous food. This partial group votes to try and find a better source of food (option C).

            48% of people vote A. 49% of people vote B. 3% of people vote C.

            Surprise, surprise, Group C had 0 impact on the starving situation AND helped facilitate the eating of poisonous food.

            • TokenBoomer@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              Seems like more from the other Groups should have voted with C, or C shouldn’t have been given the option to find a better source for food.

              • TheOakTree@lemm.ee
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                7 months ago

                I agree with you. If we could get the entirety of the democratic party to vote green/left, that would be super helpful. We both know that’s not happening in America because of the broken electoral and political system. If we could suppress option C, we wouldn’t be having this conversation at all, but there would surely be other complaints to be had regarding that matter.

                In the end, the Group C votes are equivalent to not voting, which translates to having 0 impact on the outcome of vote. This exemplifies complicity with either option A or B.

                  • TheOakTree@lemm.ee
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                    7 months ago

                    Sorry, you’re right. My story doesn’t quite match the election dynamic. In the hypothetical, Group C should be extremely aware that they cannot win the popular vote, since most tribe members are either unaware of or have no faith in option C.

                    In which case, yes, continuing to vote for option C is complicity with outcome A or B.

            • TokenBoomer@lemmy.world
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              3 months ago

              This is a make-or-break moment – we must pressure the Democrats to change their position on Gaza before the elections in November. While we should all be doing absolutely everything we can to stop the genocide, the bare minimum right now is demanding that a presidential hopeful, in need of our votes, commits to ending US funds to Israel. It is not that complicated. source