“Not voting will send a strong message”
And that message is “I like paying taxes and being ignored”
How about you kill your corrupted voting system with fire. I mean literally.
Living in a two party system must suck… I dont think a choice between two parties who define themselves as the others opposite is a choice at all, the reality is just too complex to be viewed that way
Edit: Im beginning to understand the opinion portrayed here after watching a documentary on this recently, more and more people over there seem to be dissatisfied with their options and I cant necessarily judge them for not wanting a bunch of grandpas to make the important decisions
Politics is not black or white.
If you disagree with one, it doesn’t automatically mean you are part of the opposing side.
The fact that the US has divided itself into two camps means that nothing will ever be resolved.
People are different everywhere, of every age and every location … if politicians and political parties were more varied and numerous, we’d be far more able to get along with one another.
Voting 3rd/independent is an absolute waste of a vote and always will be until that party gets strength in local and then state first. You want a true liberal party to get headway? Got to get those local people voted in. And even then it may take decades. A vote this year for president that’s not Republican or Democrat will be wholly ignored.
The American political system is (literally) foreign to me. Why would a party need strength in local/state offices first?
Local elections have a lot more impact on your day-to-day life. They’re just not covered much because the audience for them is so tiny it’s not profitable for the media to spend their time on them.
The other reason is that it builds up a roster of candidates that can use name recognition and experience to run for higher state or federal offices. For example, my state rep started off in the town council. (He’s not a progressive by any means but it’s nice having someone in office I went to high school with and whose kid is in the same school as mine.)
The problem is that at the national level, because of the FPTP voting system, they will still need to be a Republican or a Democrat.
“leftists” like to pretend the primaries don’t exist and then they are all “wah wah how did we get here?”
It’s more than that though, true leftists don’t really have a party in US politics at all. Democrats are still conservatives and it’s a shock to liberals when they finally figure that out. And capitalists and lobbyists fight every day to keep it that way.
I’m glad I don’t live in the US and don’t stand before this decision. The Republicans move further to the right and the Democrats follow to get the voters in between. Vote for the smaller evil or show them this far and no further? I don’t know.
This argument could make sense if the very existence of democracy was not in question. Trump is an openly fascist candidate who is now out for revenge. There might not be a next time for the Democrats to correct their mistakes.
Getting progressive candidates in the Democratic primaries is what is necessary.