Anonymous #2 15h

I mean, after all my studies, I understand why many people vote for democrats, but that’s not enough to convince me to myself. I fundamentally don’t think they are good. My politics veered way to the left throughout college. In a presidential system with first past the post voting, yeah Duverger’s law takes over and you get a 2 party state, and while some people genuinely support the parties or engage in strategic voting, many also abstain for various reasons

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Anonymous #2 15h

But I mean, I do not claim the liberal or democrat labels. Im only registered as one just in case one day maybe an appealing candidate comes up in the primary, but party institutions do everything they can to prevent a win, and even if they win the party still demands compliance and does what it can to enforce it via funds

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Anonymous #1 15h

NH

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Anonymous #3 15h

I mean the democrats always throw a few crumbs tho, that’s how they’ve operated since the 90s

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Anonymous #4 15h

RIGHT omg

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Anonymous #4 15h

It’s bc it exposes flaws they don’t want to address

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Anonymous #4 15h

I forget where I heard the quote but it goes something like “[Neo]liberals' deepest conviction is that they deserve to rule without interference for the benefit of all; they find it offensive and obnoxious on a deeply personal level that they'd ever have to contest power and make an emphatic case against opposition.”

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Anonymous .gaia. 15h

well I think you already have your answer, you just have to accept it. you're just not someone who's gonna vote and lots don't and i'm not sure you'll be convinced to vote one way or another, so just don't idk

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Anonymous #2 15h

I mean I did when I believed in democrats and the ideals they espouse but I just don’t anymore haha

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Anonymous .gaia. 15h

Aka you believe them to be the better party

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Anonymous .gaia. 15h

which is fine? I mean our democrats are technically republicans lol so I don't really blame you. I don't align well with them either, but I vote for them just because I hate republicans and I have hope they'll do just one good thing and that's enough for me. it isn't enough for everybody and that's ok

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Anonymous #3 14h

that’s not what I meant but you’re open to take it that way

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Anonymous #5 14h

Whatever floats your boat

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Anonymous .gaia. 14h

So you believe the Republican Party more aligns with your wants and beliefs than the Democratic Party?

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Anonymous #3 14h

No. It’s not a binary. I reject the premise that you cannot dislike both lmao

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Anonymous .gaia. 14h

When it comes to which one will win, it is absolutely a binary. That’s why I said more aligns with your beliefs and not perfectly aligns

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Anonymous #3 14h

But in reality, where everything lives, it’s not a binary. One panders with social progressivism when it’s convenient. So I guess they make that appeal more emphatically from time to time. But that’s not really a draw for me anymore.

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Anonymous .gaia. 14h

By reality, we of course mean the one we currently live in, where either a Democrat or Republican will win, as it has been for many, many decades If you can’t look at the two candidates and decide which one better aligns with your beliefs then you are probably not paying attention

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Anonymous #3 14h

I can’t stop you from jumping to your own conclusions lol. I reject the binary and simply refuse to make that choice. You can dislike that all you want to. I don’t really find either appealing. I do not expect either party to meaningfully improve my life by way of actions or policies. There are certainly a few candidates that seem to want to. But they don’t reside in my state.

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Anonymous #3 14h

“Not Trump” isn’t enough of a draw for my vote. I hold the bar higher and you can stomp your feet if it helps

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Anonymous #2 14h

I get that and respect your choice too

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Anonymous .gaia. 14h

To reject the binary is quite literally to reject reality, unless you know some secret election winner that was third party that no one else knows about

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Anonymous #3 14h

Nothing is a binary lmao. If claiming I’m simply delusional helps then go right ahead. There are only two possible winners , yeah, but I’m not satisfied with either party’s slate in my state.

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Anonymous .gaia. 14h

If nothing is binary, then please tell the class what year a third-party candidate won

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Anonymous #3 14h

And I generally dislike both parties structures and their directives and the way the amass and disseminate funds and the choices they make and generally what they stand for

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Anonymous #3 14h

That’s not what that means lmao. Yes we live in a two party state, there’s nothing new about that.

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Anonymous .gaia. 14h

Do you know how many numbers the word binary refers to?

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Anonymous #3 14h

… two

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Anonymous .gaia. 14h

And the two-party system is not binary. How?

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Anonymous #3 14h

The party system is binary. I’m saying the choice of an individual at a voting booth is not a binary. Support for a party isn’t a binary in terms of choice. You can vote for/support another party or simply not choose. More people ought to do that. Many won’t because of various pressures.

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Anonymous .gaia. 14h

Yeah, I mean people vote for Mickey Mouse, Harry Potter, Kanye West in every election it doesn’t change that only one of the candidates in our two-party system will win

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Anonymous #3 14h

I definitely encourage people to actually do something for third-party candidates, whether that be volunteering for the party, going door to door, holding public discussions. I think if enough people actually do that, then maybe at some point we could have a viable third-party But when it comes to election day, you kind of have to face the reality of a two party system

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Anonymous #3 14h

You’re absolutely correct. In the face of that fact some voters genuinely vote for parties because they like them, or they engage in strategic voting (“lesser of two evils” is one form of reasoning behind that), or they choose a third party regardless of external pressure, or they abstain from voting. We discussed these various concepts and phenomena in my Comparative Government and Society class lmao. I can grab the textbook, which I still have if you need it. It’s your choice to moralize it

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Anonymous .gaia. 14h

I’m not making any moral calling, just the reality

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Anonymous #3 13h

And I agree with your premise about the party system but reject your conclusion about what choices are possible and grounded in reason. You can treat me like I’m simply ignorant or delusion in order to satisfy your reasoning, but the reality of that is that it’s a bit epistemically chauvinistic and arrogant to come to that conclusion when I’ve received just as much if not more eduction on the topic as you; it’s not coming out of my ass, it’s an educated conclusion that is in disagreement w/ you

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Anonymous .gaia. 13h

*delusional

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Anonymous .gaia. 13h

Well I would love if you (and your superior political education) could say when the last time a third party won. I am open to being wrong But I could have swore we were in agreement of the two party system. You’re free to vote whomever you please but if it’s not one of the two they won’t win

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Anonymous #3 13h

Lmao. I didn’t mean to imply that. I meant that I have just as much education as you lmao. And I’m not voting third party. I’m simply not voting in some races. There are some parties I potentially like, but they aren’t winning anything anytime soon, and I don’t agree with democratic centralism (in one party’s case). I honestly largely reject electoralism, at least in the context of the current regime. Which I know you’d fight me on lol

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Anonymous #3 13h

But I mean local admin, commissioner, other local offices, sure. I always vote on those

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