PARIS—“Do I really have to answer that question? I’m certainly not voting for the person leading the Republican Party.” That was the response of communist icon Angela Davis when a journalist asked about her intentions for the 2024 U.S.
But what voting is is one of the highest return on investment ways of effecting change
I’m constantly working on local stuff, my vote has never made any kind of a difference - I live in an urban area jerrymandered to include as much of the suburbs as possible, they vote in lockstep to keep their taxes low and poors out. They are bipartisan about that. The local democratic committees are all just full of the family of people running for office and nobody with good politics has the time or energy to participate in the democratic party
I’m in a blue state, I’ve voted every year for decades, it’s always felt like a waste of time. Any time I ask elected representatives about something they didn’t already want to do they (or their staff) tell me to fuck off.
Seems a great time to see the section of my comment about legitimizing or running as a third party in your community to effect change on the local level, then.
The point of my comment was not to be satisfied, it is that change doesn’t start at the finish line. If you are fed up and think your vote is worthless, then do something about it rather than impotently protesting which accomplishes nothing but throwing away that tiny bit of power you did wield.
Here’s the deal guys: nobody is coming to save you. Not Harris or Trump, but also not Stein, or Bernie, or anyone else. There is never going to be a time when you can just vote and suddenly things are all sunshine and rainbows. Change takes work, and we’re discussing enormous change on a massive scale.
Or, let me offer you a counterpoint - maybe the democrats in your area aren’t a lost cause. Maybe they can be better utilized, motivated, incentivized, etc. Going back to the change takes work/nobody is coming to save you bit, what have you personally done to change the situation in area beyond voting or donation?
Municipal level stuff is nonpartisan where I am. Literally the only reason I bother to vote in federal years is ballot referendum. State rep seats are a lock for Democrats and trying to primary them usually means the incumbent wins in a slam dunk.
I actually do a lot in my spare time, but certainly not electoral work, I don’t have the money, time or network to personally run for anything. I have been involved in several unions organizing, which is about the only time voting has felt consequential.
Also I kind of resent the question, this isn’t an individuals problem to solve, and blindly participating in a broken system isn’t going to fix it.
I’m constantly working on local stuff, my vote has never made any kind of a difference - I live in an urban area jerrymandered to include as much of the suburbs as possible, they vote in lockstep to keep their taxes low and poors out. They are bipartisan about that. The local democratic committees are all just full of the family of people running for office and nobody with good politics has the time or energy to participate in the democratic party
I’m in a blue state, I’ve voted every year for decades, it’s always felt like a waste of time. Any time I ask elected representatives about something they didn’t already want to do they (or their staff) tell me to fuck off.
Seems a great time to see the section of my comment about legitimizing or running as a third party in your community to effect change on the local level, then.
The point of my comment was not to be satisfied, it is that change doesn’t start at the finish line. If you are fed up and think your vote is worthless, then do something about it rather than impotently protesting which accomplishes nothing but throwing away that tiny bit of power you did wield.
Here’s the deal guys: nobody is coming to save you. Not Harris or Trump, but also not Stein, or Bernie, or anyone else. There is never going to be a time when you can just vote and suddenly things are all sunshine and rainbows. Change takes work, and we’re discussing enormous change on a massive scale.
Or, let me offer you a counterpoint - maybe the democrats in your area aren’t a lost cause. Maybe they can be better utilized, motivated, incentivized, etc. Going back to the change takes work/nobody is coming to save you bit, what have you personally done to change the situation in area beyond voting or donation?
Municipal level stuff is nonpartisan where I am. Literally the only reason I bother to vote in federal years is ballot referendum. State rep seats are a lock for Democrats and trying to primary them usually means the incumbent wins in a slam dunk.
I actually do a lot in my spare time, but certainly not electoral work, I don’t have the money, time or network to personally run for anything. I have been involved in several unions organizing, which is about the only time voting has felt consequential.
Also I kind of resent the question, this isn’t an individuals problem to solve, and blindly participating in a broken system isn’t going to fix it.