It’s just annoying that there’s no real leftists to vote for in a country where we let money control elections (cf. Citizens United decision). I might have a “vote” but it doesn’t feel like I get any say when the election is between bourgeois parties.

Obviously not voting and voting for the actual fascists are bad options, but just voting for the liberals isn’t great either. What do y’all think?

  • albigu
    link
    fedilink
    English
    81 year ago

    voting is so low effort and low impact that I don’t think there’s much to do. The advice I’ve heard for the US is to focus mostly on the downballot candidates that actually have good policies (which their party will never actually support) and in the Federal ones to go for actually left-ish candidates in case your state isn’t a swing one.

    But by the time you’re voting, the big elections are already settled in the opinion polls anyway so you’re not making much of a difference by yourself. The real use of elections is to use the lead up to the vote in order to push your politics to people who only actually think about politics once every 4 years. Voting itself is just a religious ritual in the USA.

    • 新星 [he/him/CPC bot]OP
      link
      fedilink
      English
      41 year ago

      Yeah, you’re probably right. I guess it was more of a vent post as the 2024 election cycle starts to get US news coverage.

      • albigu
        link
        fedilink
        English
        51 year ago

        The election coverage lasting 18 months but the voting act itself being a couple of days (and voting day not even being a holiday!) is proof enough of the farce of USA electoralism. Instead of worrying about a vote within 14 months, I recommend you use that time and energy to agitate with people you know about how many promises “union President” Biden broke and to look into actual alternatives like the CPUSA or the PSL. I don’t think you necessarily shouldn’t vote if you have the time, but how you vote depends a lot on where you live, and you shouldn’t worry too much about it for now.

  • Commissar of Antifa
    link
    fedilink
    English
    51 year ago

    PSL usually runs a candidate so you could vote for them just to raise class consciousness even though they obviously won’t win.

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    English
    31 year ago

    If there are Marxists running, vote for the most popular one.

    If a Socialist candidate is running, even a bad one (DSA social-democrats), vote for them, even if it’s obvious they won’t win.

    If there isn’t a Socialist running for that position, vote for the Democrat (or don’t vote at all).

    Pay special attention to ballot measures and referendums, because even in a system without Socialist candidates, these matter just as much as they otherwise would.

              • @[email protected]
                link
                fedilink
                English
                111 year ago

                want something out of the dems? Put a real leftist in charge

                Imagine looking at the past 200 years and still believing this fairytale nonsense.

              • sobuddywhoneedsyou
                link
                fedilink
                English
                101 year ago

                Put a real leftist in charge.

                Even moderate social democrats like Bernie Sanders are not allowed to run for president. For the crime of running on the platform of single payer healthcare system he was ratfucked by DNC. Any “real leftist” does not stand a chance in this system.

              • Vegan btw (LOUD)
                link
                fedilink
                English
                71 year ago

                When asked what a real leftist is, you’d probably just say Bernie Sanders… Real leftism is when you bomb Yugoslavia it seems. The “international community” counts Bernie as one of its senior members 🤡