They come out of the woodwork to say this kind of stuff when there’s an election, but don’t actually stand up for anything remotely revolutionary, during or outside of an election.
What is supposed to be strategic about voting for evil is never quite clear. And let’s be clear, when people talk about voting for the lesser of two evils, that is effectively what they’re saying: “you should vote for evil.” Maybe these liberals would understand it better if their options were Emperor Palpatine and Lord Voldemort. Maybe then they’d get how ridiculous it sounds to say, “Strategically vote for the lesser evil of the two.”
I think what it suggests is that they don’t truly believe the candidate they’re voting for is evil. And they go with that rhetoric because they think it’s more appealing to someone who does view the candidate as evil.
I think it means they know at their core electoralism is a sham, but they just can’t get past all the times they were told that voting is the most important thing you can do in your life and that a vote outside of the two “real” parties is a wasted vote. Consciously acknowledging that electoralism alone cannot fix the world is a harrowing experience for them.
I’ve had liberals genuinely tell me they truly feel good about themselves because they donate monthly to what amounts to a subscription service that gives a portion of your donation to “the most critical elections in the nation.” Aside from casting a vote, this is the beginning and the end of their political action.
That shit just reminds me of paying for indulgences. Radlibs annoy me so much that I don’t even bother explaining anything anymore, I just ask what they plan on doing when we end up having this conversation again 2 years from now when things are even more fucked. At the end of the day, they don’t want to believe in a reality where they don’t have any real power and will have to labor and sacrifice and learn and go outside to develop it. Having a simple binary choice laid out for them + some treats is worth all the chaos and misery apparently. I will never understand them.
Radlibs annoy me so much that I don’t even bother explaining anything anymore, I just ask what they plan on doing when we end up having this conversation again 2 years from now when things are even more fucked.
I really wish it was actually effective. Instead they just move the goalpost to a place they know they can always block from: they just demand that you provide a comprehensive, step by step plan as to how to overthrow the capitalists and proof that you’re already doing it. When you can’t they smugly write you off and continue overposting every tiny little morsel of palace intrigue and spicy Trump quote they can.
Still cathartic. I don’t expect anything to be effective with them.
Maybe a response to the goalpost moving is, “Read Lenin if you want to know the steps. It’s not my job to hold your hand. If you want to help with taking those steps, join our organization. Here’s when and where our next meeting is.”
If they are legitimately interested, it’s worth elaborating, but a radlib isn’t so I think this is enough.
They straight up get hateful. I had a smug bruncher make a even smugger comment about “marginalized people” and me “throwing them away because I didn’t vote” and it’s like…my fucking partner isn’t white and they aren’t voting either…
![[succdem?] Walz is totally gonna push the overton window left](https://lemmygrad.ml/pictrs/image/8be304b1-ce96-485f-b491-a80ac4bd3ebd.jpeg){kind=link}
They come out of the woodwork to say this kind of stuff when there’s an election, but don’t actually stand up for anything remotely revolutionary, during or outside of an election.
What is supposed to be strategic about voting for evil is never quite clear. And let’s be clear, when people talk about voting for the lesser of two evils, that is effectively what they’re saying: “you should vote for evil.” Maybe these liberals would understand it better if their options were Emperor Palpatine and Lord Voldemort. Maybe then they’d get how ridiculous it sounds to say, “Strategically vote for the lesser evil of the two.”
I think what it suggests is that they don’t truly believe the candidate they’re voting for is evil. And they go with that rhetoric because they think it’s more appealing to someone who does view the candidate as evil.
I think it means they know at their core electoralism is a sham, but they just can’t get past all the times they were told that voting is the most important thing you can do in your life and that a vote outside of the two “real” parties is a wasted vote. Consciously acknowledging that electoralism alone cannot fix the world is a harrowing experience for them.
I’ve had liberals genuinely tell me they truly feel good about themselves because they donate monthly to what amounts to a subscription service that gives a portion of your donation to “the most critical elections in the nation.” Aside from casting a vote, this is the beginning and the end of their political action.
That shit just reminds me of paying for indulgences. Radlibs annoy me so much that I don’t even bother explaining anything anymore, I just ask what they plan on doing when we end up having this conversation again 2 years from now when things are even more fucked. At the end of the day, they don’t want to believe in a reality where they don’t have any real power and will have to labor and sacrifice and learn and go outside to develop it. Having a simple binary choice laid out for them + some treats is worth all the chaos and misery apparently. I will never understand them.
A good way to respond to that type.
I really wish it was actually effective. Instead they just move the goalpost to a place they know they can always block from: they just demand that you provide a comprehensive, step by step plan as to how to overthrow the capitalists and proof that you’re already doing it. When you can’t they smugly write you off and continue overposting every tiny little morsel of palace intrigue and spicy Trump quote they can.
Still cathartic. I don’t expect anything to be effective with them.
Maybe a response to the goalpost moving is, “Read Lenin if you want to know the steps. It’s not my job to hold your hand. If you want to help with taking those steps, join our organization. Here’s when and where our next meeting is.”
If they are legitimately interested, it’s worth elaborating, but a radlib isn’t so I think this is enough.
They straight up get hateful. I had a smug bruncher make a even smugger comment about “marginalized people” and me “throwing them away because I didn’t vote” and it’s like…my fucking partner isn’t white and they aren’t voting either…