this post was submitted on 01 Nov 2024
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In a democracy, you only get a voice if you vote. Voting IS the protest. When you don't vote, or spoil your vote, you abdicate your voice.
I don't completely disagree with you here. But when you only get 2 real options that don't align with what you really want, then do you actually have a voice? It feels like to me we can pick x, y, or if we want to waste our vote then z. Z is what some people really want, it's not gonna happen, but that's what they want. But they must settle for x or y. How is their voice being heard?
Say you're vegetarian and you get a vote in what the office gets for lunch. You can get either steakhouse meaty meats or pizza. You don't love pizza but a slice of cheese pizza beats not eating. You'd rather everyone order from a sandwich shop where you can choose a veggie sandwich. But that's either not an option or everyone would vote for the other two making your lone vote was wasted because it didn't sway the democratic majority in your favor at all. So you vote for cheese pizza over a mass of brisket or whatever.
Did you get a voice? Yeah, you did. This is what people mean by "lesser of two evils." A minority opinion in a democracy doesn't get to authoritatively decide what's best for everyone. Also, primaries and local elections exist.
Source: Someone with an unpopular opinion on everything
I understand what your saying and agree with you. That is definitely an example of having a voice. I think what many people are getting tired of is being forced to vote against something rather than voting for something. You still have a voice, but you're not voting for cheese pizza. You're voting against brisket. I get that's just how things are sometimes, but after so many office lunches, it'd be nice to see something other than pizza and brisket.
Fixing that requires long-term thinking and action. Something that the Greens and others refuse to do. If Stein, hypothetically was elected, at best, it would be a lame duck presidency because she would have no support from any other branch (except for things supported by Putin).
Local elections, primaries, and congressional seats are needed for actual change. That doesn't have the immediate gratification though of visibly pretending to do something, regardless of if it actually helps.