MAGMA17 said:I would not like to make the situation warmer than it is but what I ask myself is: are you satisfied with the two-party system? Looking at it from a third person perspective, I don't consider it very democratic. In a country that is overflowing with ideas like the US, new parties might come up with brilliant new ideas. In this way everything is really limiting, one party is always and only the antithesis of the other...
I very much agree, on the contrary.Bill Cipher said:I’ll just answer your question before moving on. No, I’m not satisfied with the two party system (or the electoral college, or corporate donors, or no term limits in congress, or lifetime judicial appointments, or the filibuster, or dark money, or much of anything else in American politics…). I regard it all as utterly broken and our empire on the verge of collapse.
And no, Joe Biden was not my choice of candidate. He is, however, the one I got - and the alternative was (and remains) unthinkable. You see, I identify as a Democrat not because I want to be part of any particular club, but because the modern Republican Party is a white supremacist, Christofascist death cult, and to live in this country is to have a choice between one of two binary options.
You can deny my arguments all you like (not you, necessarily), but facts are facts (and as the other side is so quick to point out) they don’t give a fuck about your feelings. The two parties could not be more different. That’s just reality. And it’s undeniable if you’re paying any kind of attention at all and are operating in a semblance of good faith.
So, you can stick your head in the sand like a fucking ostrich (again, not speaking to you, MAGMA17) and wear your apathy on your sleeve like it’s some kind of fucked up virtue to abstain from the process (except maybe when weed is on the ballot), or you can get off your ass and check the box that’s less likely to result in the death of democracy and the oppression of women, immigrants and U.S. people of color, etc.
The choice to me is a clear one, and I’m confident that once the dust settles on this particular moment in time, history will back my shit up.
MAGMA17 said:Tolstoy: "To live with honor you have to yearn, get upset, fight, make mistakes, start over and throw it all away, and start again and fight and lose eternally. Calm is a cowardice of the soul".
Voidmatrix said:Personally, I don't feel people are open minded and considerate enough to have productive conversations around politics. There seems to be a neglect of acknowledgment around the forces or preference and perspective in these matters.
One love
fink said:Voidmatrix said:Personally, I don't feel people are open minded and considerate enough to have productive conversations around politics. There seems to be a neglect of acknowledgment around the forces or preference and perspective in these matters.
One love
Probably true in my case. My cynicism knows no bounds when it comes to politics. I should try to be more neutral. It's not easy.
fink said:Probably true in my case. My cynicism knows no bounds when it comes to politics. I should try to be more neutral. It's not easy.
The oblivion of the left in Europe is precisely due to the lack of social struggle of those who feel represented by those ideas. Activism is something that has always been the force of the left, while now it has become a characteristic of the "social right" that in fact take the votes of the people of the suburbs, the ordinary people who hope for a change. Previously, that change was represented by the left.Bill Cipher said:But, see I don’t think that neutrality, passivity, and civility with liars, fools and oppressors is anything at all to aspire to. To the contrary, I find it shameful. Much like Tolstoy, my friend, MAGMA17 and a number of other people here, I consider this the worst kind of cowardice.
I respect you, endlessness, but I will never share your views about this, and I’m not about to change. To live in a (purportedly) free society is to have a responsibility to speak up. Dangerous ideas take root and grow when they’re given air to metastasize.
What I’m saying is that I’d rather just not be here at all than have to kowtow to right wing toadies. I’ve been pretty consistent about this throughout the past 6-7 years, as I have with the concept of no political discourse allowed being silly and unrealistic.
But if the place is more peaceful without me around and appeasement is your priority, I’ll leave.
Otherwise, I’ll carry on.
Bill Cipher said:But, see I don’t think that neutrality, passivity, and civility with liars, fools and oppressors is anything at all to aspire to. To the contrary, I find it shameful. Much like Tolstoy, my friend, MAGMA17 and a number of other people here, I consider this the worst kind of cowardice