this post was submitted on 29 Jan 2024
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[–] Zehzin@lemmy.world 13 points 9 months ago (4 children)

Can you US people make a party that isn't a bunch of ghouls already so we can stop having this argument every day

[–] lugal@lemmy.ml 12 points 9 months ago

German here. He had parties that weren't a bunch of ghouls. Some don't exist anymore or have never been in power, others either replaced the good guys with ghouls or the good guys were corrupted by power and became ghouls themselves over time. Face it, electoral politics aren't enough.

[–] aew360@lemm.ee 9 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Yeah, if everyone voted. I don’t understand why people are confused by this. Just vote. Get your friends to vote. We know that most Americans aren’t evil. Otherwise this entire country would be like Florida. But only like a third of Americans able to vote do so.

You know who votes like, all the fucking time? The ghouls. They love to vote. And we don’t show up. Defeating Trump one more time should end the MAGA movement and then we can focus on propping up a candidate in 2028 who will actually capture the change that we want to see. Midterms too!. But this process only starts if we ensure Biden remains in the White House. You may not like his foreign policy, but he believes in climate change and won’t suppress democracy. Trump will effectively end it via Project 2025, courtesy of the fascist Heritage Foundation.

[–] assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world 8 points 9 months ago

You know who votes like, all the fucking time? The ghouls.

This is actually the greatest evidence for why voting works. The ghouls maintain a hold on government because the ghouls consistently vote.

[–] PrettyLights@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Isn't it also "evil" to know all you have to do is spend a couple hours once a year and not do it?

Why are people who vote Republican evil in your eyes, but those who are too lazy to vote against it not evil?

[–] aew360@lemm.ee -1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I don’t think it’s malicious. I think that most people are just wildly misinformed or uninformed.

Like, I saw a pro-Trump account on youtube share a Family Guy clip about 9/11 and Iraq. Peter kept asking what Iraq had to do with 9/11 and they said they kept saying “there’s no connection”. So then all the Trumpers were celebrating Family Guy.

If they were informed, they would know that the GOP in 2003 and 2004 would CONSTANTLY say Democrats were “aiding and abetting terrorists” by questioning why the Bush administration was so fixated on Iraq. It’s all Republicans. It’s the same party. They’re celebrating Family Guy without realizing Family Guy is shitting on their favorite political party.

Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck and Tucker Carlson and every other slimy piece of shit who defends Trump today were the same ones defending Bush back then. If they were informed, they would likely be more inclined to vote but again, the GOP has successfully waged war on education and critical thinking.

So we’re sort of at this deadline where democracy could realistically cease in the U.S. and the alarms are going off but no one is panicking. I want to think it’s evil to not show up and vote, but it’s not evil. It’s just evidence of how the Republicans have victimized so many people abroad and domestically.

[–] PrettyLights@lemmy.world -1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Thanks for the thought out response! Can you apply this same logic to the people voting right then? Aren't many right wingers just misinformed or outright manipulated by the political and media machine?

Why is it evil to do what they truly think is good? They can't grasp the full impact of their vote in your opinion nor remember history.

I think we need to stop demonizing everyone we disagree with.

[–] aew360@lemm.ee 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I think you’re mostly right about that. I’ve been having this conversation with my wife too. If most people understood how dangerous it is to ban abortion because abortion is absolutely healthcare, then maybe we wouldn’t see so much widespread support for national bans and strict limitations.

At the same time, we have to come to grips with reality and accept that a significant portion of Americans are aware, and simply don’t care or think it’s better for the woman to die. In their minds, at least the woman can go to heaven? I don’t really get their points, but it’s something like that?

There’s also the border. People are dying every day making that crossing. Not all deaths occur at the border, but many occur along the long, perilous journey they’re making in search of a better life. The U.S. is a massive country and can support them. It could use the additional labor. We can assimilate them if we accepted them. And yet, they don’t want that. They clutch their pearls and grip their bibles while simultaneously advocating for a stance that cannot be further from the teachings of Christ

When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.

And then we have the case of trans rights and same-sex marriage. This is more of a Constitutional crisis than a biblical one, but both make the same case that the Republicans disagree with. The Constitution ensures a separation of church and state. They don’t care, and use Judeo-Christian values to influence public policy. The Bible goes on and on about tolerance and acceptance, and withholding judgement for the creator. And yet, here’s Ken Paxton, trying to kick off the second round of the Salem Witch Trials.

They love this shit. They love it when Trump says horrible shit about minorities and women. Whether it’s Nikki Haley, Mitch McConnell’s wife, or Liz Cheney (all three of which served under him or alongside him when he was President). They love it when he says he’ll kick out foreigners because they’re poisoning the blood of America, which is Neo-Nazi as fuck. They eat it up when he stokes anti-Asian sentiment and praises Putin and Netanyahu for killing thousands of people. They can’t get enough of his endless appetite for revenge against people who simply disagree with him.

I don’t see how anyone who isn’t evil can support him today, but I can agree with not labeling people evil who aren’t aware of just how demented he is and will inevitably vote for him this year because “gas was cheaper under Trump” even though the U.S. has had the greatest recovery from COVID among all developed nations and is producing the most domestic energy in the history of any country on the planet.

[–] PrettyLights@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago

In my opinion people say they care about a laundry list of things but really only care deeply about a couple, or sometimes a single issue.

For your abortion comment I think the answer is pretty simple. They believe it is murder, and that makes it black and white for them. In their eyes "letting" a woman die is the lesser evil compared to actively ending the pregnancy and committing "murder". I believe abortion is healthcare but I can also understand their position however much I disagree. Trump is the guy who got them an abortion victory, regardless of whatever else he's done he accomplished their one true goal in their eyes.

Also you seem to equate Republicans and actively Religious people as the same group. People can be nuanced, not every trumper is religious. The majority I've met in person probably haven't been to church since their mom made them as a child, or never went at all.

[–] Prunebutt@slrpnk.net 5 points 9 months ago

It's a systemic issue, so: no, not really.

[–] Neato@ttrpg.network -3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Ghouls as in age? While there's quite a lot of septuagenarians in Congress, there's also quite a few junior congresspeople who are younger.

If you mean ghouls as in those not chomping at the bit to hurt people: Democrats have quite a few progressive congresspeople. Not the majority, but that follows the US's population: the US isn't super progressive yet. It's getting there and quickly but centrist candidates still get more votes (as they do nearly everywhere) so the center needs to keep sliding.

Besides, exactly what countries are doing that much better right now? Which democracies aren't sliding into far-right? We've got Brexit in the UK, Italy has an actual fascist. Far-right Marine Le Pen got 41% in France. Germany's far-right party gained 13% since last election; and while they are doing well to protest that and aren't approaching majority, it's still quite a concerning trend.

This is nearly a world-wide trend which is quite concerning.

[–] NoIWontPickaName@kbin.social -3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

You going what about doesn’t help anything.

It doesn’t matter if everyone else in the world is feeding the homeless caviar, or shoving them in the orphan crushing machine.

Their actions do not affect yours, you can make up your own mind.

[–] Neato@ttrpg.network 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

No one is saying that the US doesn't have problems, especially Americans. Most of the political commentary is about America on Lemmy and the US's problems. But you are complaining about a specific country's actions from the outside when your own house is on fire. Outsiders looking in and complaining when they are barely any better is pretty hypocritical.

You can complain about America's problems without phrasing it as "Can you US people" which implies a state of superiority and lack of commiseration on shared problems.

[–] NoIWontPickaName@kbin.social -3 points 9 months ago

Once again, your actions are unaffected by anyone else’s. Those are your choices.

You see how I didn’t even mention a country anywhere in there?

It is generic advice that applies to literally everyone regardless of country