this post was submitted on 15 Sep 2026
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If the people suffering systematically is a constant between the two options, then how is it relevant to the choice? Rational people make choices based on the differences in outcomes between the options.
Haven't we seen a significant uptick in the systematic suffering of historically suffering people under this administration? Between "the status quo" and "worse than the status quo", isn't the status quo the best short term solution if you actually care about the people who are suffering? Is their suffering reduced in any way because you make a principled stand against the status quo?
It seems like you're just feeding marginalized people to fascists in exchange for getting to say you didn't vote for the neo-lib. I don't see how that helps the marginalized people, seems like something a privileged person would do because they can afford to not care about the result of elections.
This is like saying "if my infected wound is going to sting whether I leave it alone or put disinfectant on it, then how is it relevant to the choice?" The answer is that one of the choices, while still shitty and possibly even more painful, creates the possibility for a better future despite the present.
Voting for the corporate neolibs IS what makes more fascist candidates viable. Not voting for them is what forces the party to offer legitimate opposition to fascism and representation of the lower class. Yes, abstaining makes things worse in the short term, in exchange for the possibility of making things better in the long term.
The only reason Trump was ever a viable candidate is because of people using your reasoning being unwilling to take that short term bitter pill for the last 40 years.
I love when people trot out this argument, because it's exactly what you're doing, on a LARGER scale and in a subtler way than you accuse me of doing.
I didn't skip voting so I could win some community respect. It's not exactly a popular stance (unlike yours) in case you haven't noticed. I did it despite the economic, safety, AND social consequences because I truly believe it was the only way to make the possibility of a better future.
I have the right to decide to suffer the sting of disinfectant, it's my body. I don't have the right to condemn others for the sake of political expedience.
No it doesn't. When has it ever done that? Typically it just pushes them right to try to get more centrists.
Vote for the leftists in the primary. That's what forces them. You don't appeal to them, you annex them.
Not voting is literally doing nothing. It is not the crystal clear communication signal you think it is, it's literally nothing.