this post was submitted on 26 Oct 2024
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third party voters are not working to "split the vote", they are voting for their preferred candidate.
also known as "voting" in healthy democracies.
and no, a vote for a different candidate is not a vote for Trump, that is fundamentally inaccurate fear-based alarmism.
it's okay that you're afraid, but that's no reason to dismantle democracy.
Unfortunately with the electoral college, it is splitting the vote. Without ranked choose voting, voting for anyone other than a D or an R is literally throwing your vote away.
No, they aren't.
they're living and voting according to their principles.
The system is broken, but that doesn't mean you have to abandon your principles.
their vote is as valid as any other.
it may be less effective because of the adequated US electoral system, but any vote itself is as valid as any other.
To quote DBZa's Android 16:
"But there you stand, the good man, doing nothing. And while evil triumphs, and your rigid pacifism crumbles into blood-stained dust, the only victory afforded to you is that you stuck true to your guns."
Life isn't some black and white fair tale story where if you stick to your guns hard enough everything will turn out ok. Sometimes you have to abandon your principles to protect them.
"...doing nothing"
voting is literally the political opposite of doing nothing.
"your rigid pacifism crumbles into blood-stained dust,"
this quote is irrelevant; it is a wildly inaccurate analogy for actively voting.
"Sometimes you have to abandon your principles to protect them."
pffffff hAHaha sorry Chamberlain, but especially in politics, self-righteous groveling submission isn't as honorable or as effective as the fearful snakes hissing in your ear assure you it is.
I really want this to be true, and I used to believe it, but our voting system is convoluted with a winner-takes-all mechanism. It isn't a direct democracy where all votes are equal and it's naive to ignore our elector-based system that encourages total domination of the big boys over everyone else.
Give me ranked choice voting and I'll vote for my actual preferred candidate. Otherwise, I have to vote for who can actually have a chance to win.
duverger has nothing to do with the electoral college. this is a Gish gallop
I'm saying this sincerely: it's fantastic that a growing minority of Americans have finally understood and begun talking about the critical flaws in their broken electoral system. it really only happened to this election cycle, as far as I can see.
living in a broken system does not invalidate your vote.
it may make their vote less effective, but a third-party vote is just as valid as any other.
they're living and voting according to their principles.
The system is broken, but that doesn't mean you have to abandon your principles.
their vote is as valid as any other.