It’s quite the opposite: its your belief that voting is of primary importance, it’s your constant public ritual affirmation of the system that’s choking you, that disempowers you. A vote withheld is leverage. A vote given in exhange for nothing changes nothing, and only further normalizes fascist policy.
If the dems can run further and further to the right, while still counting on your vote, then what’s keeping them loyal to you? Its like enabling a “friend” who steals from you. By not enforcing consequences, you’ve taught them that there is no downside to treating you like dirt.
How, exactly, is not voting “leverage”? That’s the most trapeze ass brain gymnastics I’ve ever read. Refusing to vote literally doesn’t fix anything. If anything it makes whatever people who do vote have more influence, and with a bunch of conservative old fucks voting, I’m not willing to give them more say in things.
Hey, at least I’m using every tool at my disposal. If you don’t want to vote, disempower yourself, that’s on you.
No one’s said voting is the only solution and the magic bullet that will fix things.
It’s quite the opposite: its your belief that voting is of primary importance, it’s your constant public ritual affirmation of the system that’s choking you, that disempowers you. A vote withheld is leverage. A vote given in exhange for nothing changes nothing, and only further normalizes fascist policy.
If the dems can run further and further to the right, while still counting on your vote, then what’s keeping them loyal to you? Its like enabling a “friend” who steals from you. By not enforcing consequences, you’ve taught them that there is no downside to treating you like dirt.
How, exactly, is not voting “leverage”? That’s the most trapeze ass brain gymnastics I’ve ever read. Refusing to vote literally doesn’t fix anything. If anything it makes whatever people who do vote have more influence, and with a bunch of conservative old fucks voting, I’m not willing to give them more say in things.
Well you see Billy,
If you threaten to withhold the literal only thing you have that they care about,
That can sometimes result in a change of behavior.
There are better and more permanent ways to change the behavior of oligarchs, but something tells me you’re not cool enough for that yet.
Whereas if you keep doing the exact same thing that has never worked,
That’s called “insanity.”
Ok Jimmy, that’s a neato idea, but it doesn’t work.
That’s like just letting anyone steer your car.
And the people in charge would rather have less people vote, so you’re not withholding anything, you’re just playing into their hands.
Don’t be fooled into thinking not voting is somehow going to do something, Jimmy, that’s a known route to failure.