"To let things slide for the sake of peace and friendship when a person has clearly gone wrong, and refrain from principled argument because he is an old acquaintance, a fellow townsman, a schoolmate, a close friend, a loved one, an old colleague or old subordinate. Or to touch on the matter lightly instead of going into it thoroughly, so as to keep on good terms. The result is that both the organization and the individual are harmed. This is one type of liberalism." -Mao Zedong.
I'm tired. I'm tired and I'm sad. I lost a friend because I was advocating against telling people to vote for those who have slaughtered and terrorized their friends and families.
I used to vote blue. I could see where they were coming from, the feeling as though you're contributing to saving lives. The desire for reprieve from the Republicans. If the democrats were truly the lesser evil then I'd vote for them. I'd encourage activism, yes, but I'd vote. It's not as hard for me as it is for less privileged people.
But... https://thebaffler.com/latest/democrats-are-the-real-party-of-war
Time after time, I've given them my vote, and they terrorize other countries. The terror is only redirected. It isn't gone, it isn't even mitigated. By voting for the democrats, I stab the global south in the back. Another friend of mine tried to frame this as a trolley problem. But here's the problem.
These politicians are fucking liars. I can't tell how many people there are on either track. Or even if there are different tracks. Even if the DNC was more proactive about fighting the GOP, then the lever merely determines the trolley's speed. So there I was, seen as a traitor to queer people. And I'm really, really sad. All because I refused to encourage people to vote for the aesthetics of a better USA.
There are so many variables involved that there's objectively a lesser evil among the two, I'd argue. The problem is they're liars. I don't know which it is. And either way I'd still be voting for the slaughter of innocent lives, domestically and abroad. They're too evil. And I'm too sad.
Seems by the flag by your name you're trans (I'm trans too). And fuck that shit ("traitor to queer people").
Who's the traitor? Doesn't the Palestinian LGBT community deserve some loyalty too? Or those in the Donbass, or in Venezuela, or Syria, or the countless other places the US is actively terrorizing?
The Biden regime has been locking up and terrorizing migrants at the border at a worse rate than Trump, too. Doesn't the LGBT community within such migrant groups- who FWIW probably make up a disproportionate share of the migrant population for various reasons- deserve some loyalty?
What loyalty exactly are they thinking of, here? The loyalty to the party that maybe will wave a little rainbow flag here and there while doing as little as possible to actually improve the lives of LGBT people within the imperial cores, who will never fight for LGBT rights in any way remotely akin to how they fight for genocidaire (Zionist, etc) rights, in any way remotely akin to how they fight to step on the throats of other minorities within the imperial core, etc? The loyalty to the maniacs whose neoliberal policies disproportionately affect LGBT people and other minorities, the the loyalty to the neocons who are goosestepping towards WW3 and nuclear oblivion that will annihilate the majority of our community (and every other community for that matter)?
These clowns harping on about you being a "traitor to the queer community" sure are quickly willing to turn around, and stab other queer folk in the back. From the sounds of it, maybe you didn't lose a friend after all; they're the one who stabbed you in the back, not the other way around, after all.