Voting does sort of make you complicit, honestly.
But guess what? Not voting also makes you complicit. So does voting in a way that has no chance of having an effect based on the current rules.
Basically, existing as an eligible voter, at least in a country where voting isn’t rigged (so like, Russians are off the hook here, for example) makes you complicit in your government’s actions.
That’s kind of a big point of being in a democratic society - we are all, every one of us, responsible for the actions of our government.
And if you don’t like that responsibility, I get it, I totally sympathize, because I agree. I hate that responsibility, especially cause I know damn well I’m not qualified to make those decisions. But I still am responsible, and pretending I’m not doesn’t change that.
at least in a country where voting isn’t rigged (so like, Russians are off the hook here, for example)
So we’re all off the hook, then?
That’s kind of a big point of being in a democratic society
You don’t live in a democratic society.
Everywhere on the internet is America
Everywhere
Tell me where you live and I’ll show you how anti-democratic the society you live in really is.
Up for this challenge?
I’m curious. Please (Unironically) tell me about the anti-democratic nature of germany.
the anti-democratic nature of germany.
Gee… what a challenge! I’m going to be completely stumped by this one, eh?
But just before I do the little surrender dance, we have to… you know - dot the i’s and get the paperwork right, okay?
You did get to vote on who it is that manages you at your job, right?
What a terrible way of avoiding the question.
Oh, not at all.
We are absolutely getting to the heart of the matter… and no amount of liberal pearl-clutching is going to change that.
I take it the answer is a definite no?
Voting does make you complicit in the things the candidate has said they will do. For example, if the candidate says “I will get rid of abortion” then voting for them means you are partially responsible if they actually do get rid of abortion. Or if they say “I will kill all the gays” or “I will lock up all non-Christians” then don’t act all surprised pikachu face when it happens.
It’s not a blood pact, but it’s not a football game either where you’re just rooting for your team. You have to weigh the consequences of casting a vote for someone and decide if you can live with the possible outcomes and/or pick the lesser of two evils.
If you don’t pick the lesser of two evils, you’re saying you’re okay with the greater.
Man, the famed revolutionary Robespierre once said, “To rule innocently is insanity.” He was wrong about numerous other things, but he fucking nailed that on the head. There are no good decisions in positions of power. If you fail oh-so-nobly, the nobility of your fall and refusal to compromise with your ideals isn’t going to save a single goddamn person, and there’s a good goddamn chance it’ll kill many, many more. Every decision has costs in the lives of innocent people, and there is no abstention from that that is anything more than giving license to the currently-occurring trends happening.
In a democracy, we share power. The more democratic the society, the more power is shared - and the power that is shared also comes with responsibility for what that power does. The modern US is less democratic than it should be, but it’s much more democratic than pre-Enlightenment societies - or prior incarnations of the US, for that matter. We all have blood on our hands, because we all have a share of the decision-making power.
We must choose the option that improves things to most - or damages things the least - to the best of our ability, whether in voting, organizing, protesting; all of it. And abrogation of that decision-making responsibility in any area is not abrogation of guilt; it is acceptance of the worse of the results.
I think the best analogy I’ve heard had compared voting to transportation. If you’re at the office and want to go home, there probably isn’t a train that goes directly to your front door. So you get on the train heading in the right direction, and maybe at the end of that line you still need to take a bus and walk a couple blocks, but that’s how you ultimately get where you want to go. Otherwise you’re going to be in the same spot waiting for a perfect train that’s not coming.
So you get on the train heading in the right direction
This assumes any trains will get you closer to your destination.
BoTh SiDeS AlL dAY
If Biden stopped supporting genocide, you would board the other train.
