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Jill Stein surges ahead of Kamala Harris among Muslim-American voters in key swing states
(www.middleeastmonitor.com)
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this post was submitted on 15 Sep 2024
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United States | News & Politics
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We're in such a wonderful position: Kamala does nothing about Israel like she's paid to do and Palestinians die.
Trump wins and not only does nothing about Palestine, but encourages Bibi to go harder, more Palestinians die annnnd we get to enjoy the beginning of a fascist dictatorship!
Notice how Stein isn't even mentioned in the above? You can claim it's about putting pressure on Kamala all you like, but this is the literal election. When she loses because of this "pressure" (that isn't pressure, it's literally not voting for her at all) what's the outcome? It sure as hell has nothing to do with Stein being anywhere.
We've been having this argument about the green party for fucking decades and what progress/policies have they "forced" the Democrats to adopt?
I think aside from the obvious genocide, what really fucking pisses me off about Democrats and this topic is that "we" can sooooo easily say "handguns for self defense ok! Shotguns for self defense ok! Rifles for self defense ok (depends on magazine size and rate of fire) bombs? No! Tanks? God no!" But when it comes to Isreal they suddenly completely lose the capacity for nuance... Bombs = self defense? Are you fucking joking?
So I see you're concerned about the mathematical flaws of First past the post voting and the spoiler effect that comes along with it.
Did you know that alternative electoral systems exist? Ones where there isn't a spoiler effect even. I feel like most democrats, like yourself, understand these faults quite well. It is after all, the entire subject of your comment.
So why are you mad about people who want to vote outside the two party system? Shouldn't your anger be better directed at the two legacy poltical parties that protect this flawed voting system?
We all understand that republicans like First Past The Post voting. They are moving to protect FPTP voting in states they control. However, democrats say they support democracy. So can you tell me why they continue to use FPTP voting in the majority of states they control?
It's not like this is a new issue. Its not like the democratic party just found out about the spoiler effect that comes with First Past The Post voting. Democrats have been quick to point out the flaws of our voting system longer then I've been alive.
Again, if the democrats are so informed of the flaws of the voting system, why does it persist in the vast majority of blue states? Who is preventing this reform? It's not the republicans... they aren't in power in these states. In a two party system, that would leave only one political party responsible for this spoiler effect.
The democrats.
They have sat on their hands for countless decades, understanding the problem yet doing nothing to resolve the issue.
So you see, you should be mad at the democratic party for putting their party over the needs of the people. Not the people who want to vote a certain way.
It's unreasonable to blame those unrepresented in government for what is. This is what we voted for... again... and again... and again. Over and over. This is the result.
You can be mad at both. Those in power should be changing the system to make it better and more fair, but they are not. That deserves anger. But while we are stuck with the existing system, and while the results of the system have serious consequences, then refusing to participate (and voting 3rd party in such a system is refusing to participate) means allowing the serious consequences to occur, and therefore also deserves anger.
It's almost exactly the classic trolley problem. Voting democrat means pulling the lever: you cause some harm, but far less harm than if the trolley had not been diverted. Voting 3rd party is the equivalent to not pulling the lever, allowing much greater harm while feeling morally "clean" for not having caused it yourself.