this post was submitted on 18 Oct 2026
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Climate
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To be clear, this isn’t telling you not to vote. It’s telling you to do more than vote.
Yes.
That's not really how it reads? The end of the comment is the definition of apathy. "Oh my vote doesn't matter"....
Just because someone is accurately describing the effectiveness of a single vote does not mean they are saying you shouldn’t do it. It’s supposed to be a call to action. Like, if you really care about political outcomes, voting should be the least thing you do.
I don't think it accurately describes a single vote. That's like looking at a large data set and only showing a single data point. The point is that there are A LOT of votes.
It doesn't read like a call to action to me at all... Reads like a doomer post, which is what comment OP says they're mocking but it definitely doesn't read that way.
Either way, I'm in agreement with both of you, but I disagree with the approach. I believe it's the opposite of the stated intent.
Personally, I think it's more doomer to insist that everyone beat their heads against the wall doing the same one thing that has been proven to not work than to say, "hey, this isn't working, we should try something else."
Totally, I don't insist on beating any heads against any walls.
But simultaneously, I am against apathy posts.
Voting is the baseline. The absolute minimum effort required. Its the least effective yet simplest thing to do to fix things.
Anyone who doesn't vote doesn't get an opinion. But pretending that voting will magically fix everything on its own is equally dumb.
Given that voting doesn't really affect policy (like at all, studies have shown this), I don't think it can be considered the baseline. If you want to count yourself as politically active and not just passively acquiescing to the system, you have to be involved with organizing your community.
"thoughts and prayers are the baseline for gun control" and other supernatural beliefs meant to steer people away from actually changing anything