This criticism is fixed by primaries, not the vote in the general election. This comic is criticizing the latter act. South Park is right about that one.
Comment on the two party system is just one big party
bearboiblake@pawb.social 9 hours agoIt’s not that they’re identical, or that they share 100% of the same policies, they do have differences, but democrats still supported genocide in Gaza, they supported intervention in Iran, they support US imperialism, and most importantly, they’re bought and owned by the ruling class, so they will never address the underlying material conditions which cause fascism to take root. Trump is terrible, but the democrats made a Trump inevitable. We need real change to prevent fascism in the future. Continuing to vote blue no matter who makes everything worse.
Katana314@lemmy.world 3 hours ago
Hubi@feddit.org 5 hours ago
You need to have a foothold somewhere to stop this slide into dictatorship and your only chance to get it is a democratic leadership. You will never see change in the US if you think that it has to be 100 or nothing. It’s not a single issue thing. This whole discussion is absolutely maddening from an outside perspective.
wpb@lemmy.world 3 hours ago
So, I hate to be that guy, but the dems get a chance every 4 years or so, and yet here we are. It seems that the democratic leaderships of the past haven’t really prevented the slow and continuous slide to fascism. And please do note that every dem president and candidate is more right wing than the previous ones. They’re sliding too.
bearboiblake@pawb.social 5 hours ago
I think a democratic leadership might be able to arrest the slide towards a dictatorship, but the chance of that is quite low - it would require a socialist to win the democratic nomination, and I just don’t see that happening. Anything less than a socialist would inadequately address the underlying material conditions which foment fascism, so there would be four years of neoliberalism or social democracy or whatever, another four years of worsening conditions among the working class - thereafter, the authoritarian dictatorship would come into power.
I think the best way - probably, the only way - to prevent dictatorship would be for the working class to continue organizing and building a people-led direct action movement, like the Black Panther Party did.
Hubi@feddit.org 2 hours ago
I think the best way - probably, the only way - to prevent dictatorship would be for the working class to continue organizing and building a people-led direct action movement, like the Black Panther Party did.
Except there is no chance of this happening once the republicans have fully established their totalitarian regime.
bearboiblake@pawb.social 2 hours ago
Authoritarian regimes are only ever toppled by resistance movements like this, but they’re MUCH harder to build once the authoritarian regime tightens its grip. That’s why we need to do it now, instead of wasting time campaigning for Gavin Newsome or whatever fucking ghoul the democrats nominate.
Fedizen@lemmy.world 7 hours ago
Idk when one guy is saying he’ll suspend the constitution and the media is lockstep behind gaslighting everyone about project 2025, I think you should be asking yourself why the billionaire owned media is almost entirely siding with republicans.
DagwoodIII@piefed.social 3 hours ago
So, no difference between one genocide and WW3?
wpb@lemmy.world 3 hours ago
He’s not saying that.
bearboiblake@pawb.social 3 hours ago
Re-read my comment, concentrate, and try again
DagwoodIII@piefed.social 3 hours ago
. Continuing to vote blue no matter who makes everything worse.
Jimmy Carter put solar panels on the White House in 1976. Every Dem candidate since Jimmy has been close to him politically.
Back in 1976 people were being told not to vote for Carter because he wasn’t strongly against the racist South African regime.
People like that were wrong then and you’re wrong now. “Not perfect” is much better than “truly evil.”
bearboiblake@pawb.social 3 hours ago
Carter was a neoliberal who paved the path towards fascism that we are now walking on. He undermined FDR’s New Deal style policies, weakened labor unions and normalized austerity and pro-market, anti-regulatory reforms that his successor, Reagan, milked the shit out of. But, yes, he performatively put solar panels on the roof of the White House. You make my point for me.
realitista@lemmus.org 9 hours ago
I voted 3rd party for 20 years, but I stopped when Trump came to power. It’s not a 10% difference any more. It’s the difference between living in a free and democratic country and living in a fascist dictatorship.
nialv7@lemmy.world 7 hours ago
I don’t think OP was suggesting voting third party… America hasn’t had a democracy that works for the majority of the people, for a very long time. The ruling class is not going to let you change the system. Time to think differently.
Bytemeister@lemmy.world 2 hours ago
Sure, but if you genuinely believe this, then you need to be in the streets, breaking the law, and overthrowing the establishment. I’ve got mad respect for people who are willing to do that. I’ve got respect for people who are willing to vote to keep trump and other far right fascists out of power. I’ve got no respect for someone who doesn’t vote, or votes 3rd party when literally everything is on the line, and then grandstands about it on the internet like they are fucking hero. Those morons risked everything for a chance to gain nothing, and the rest of us are stuck with the results of their 20 IQ bet.
nialv7@lemmy.world 50 minutes ago
Yes, I fully agree with you. I forgot to add: absolutely GO VOTE. Vote out the bad people and vote the less bad people in. I just wanted to say that’s not enough, and we must do more, a lot more.
But please, if you want to convince someone to vote for your candidate, calling them morons, 20 IQ, etc. is not going to work.
bearboiblake@pawb.social 8 hours ago
The US has never been free nor democratic
KindnessisPunk@piefed.ca 6 hours ago
This is not useful. You again dodged their meaning and avoided engaging. No where is completely free and the road between democracy and fascism is spectrum. They obviously articulated that this administration is stripping away freedoms.
bearboiblake@pawb.social 6 hours ago
Personally, I think correcting misinformation is very important, especially when it’s around such an important topic like “is my nation’s government democratically elected” and “am I free”, especially especially when the answer to both is “no”, so yeah, I think it is useful, actually, but of course, you’re welcome to disagree.
I’m not denying that the Trump administration is terrible. I do disagree that “it’s not a 10% difference anymore”, I’d say it’s probably closer to a 5% difference, if even that. The thing is, if you’re privileged enough, it’s very, very hard to really understand that, because you’ve never really been properly exposed to it - for example, through homelessness - so that’s a very difficult (probably impossible) position to convince someone out of. That’s why I didn’t really address it, because there’s not really any productive conversations to be had there.
I genuinely appreciate the thoughtful and respectful feedback, though. Thanks <3
lemonwood@lemmy.ml 7 hours ago
If Dems were in power now, they’d do fascism too. The economic contradictions have simply increased to a point where fascism is necessary for capitalism to remain profitable for the ultra rich.
yermaw@sh.itjust.works 7 hours ago
I mean maybe, but well never know for sure because Americans voted for the people who outright stated “get in loser we’re going fascist”
Fedizen@lemmy.world 7 hours ago
Same