this post was submitted on 26 Jul 2024
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Who is 'us' here?
Because if you're someone who actually works for a living, neither of these choices is going to do anything meaningful for you.
And the fact that Trump is awful doesn't change the fact that Harris is a shitty candidate too. Some of us actually have to put food on the table in this country.
What does that even mean?
Neither of these choices are going to do anything meaningful? Harris is going to protect my access to my medications, she's going to protect the environment, she's going to protect our ability to actually elect another president after her! Because those are all things Trump is threatening!
You think when corporations are even less regulated they're not going to be squeezing you from both ends?
I really, really do not understand this thinking.
Historically, Democrats have done none of that.
You can't access your medications if you can't pay for them, and Democrats have always sided with price-gouging and cost-prohibitive health care.
Democrats also, despite their promises to the contrary, take very good care of Big Oil and the air and automotive industries.
As for voting... what exactly have the Democrats done that is in any way significant in order to protect voting rights? All I see is the nickel-and-diming was saw on abortion before Roe was repealed and our lawmakers in Washington passing 60 meaningless bills a session then going home to count their money.
In 2/3 of the US states it's still legal to pay 7 bucks an hour, and it's been that way across two Democratic administrations that had control of Congress. Therefore, yes, I can reasonably conclude that Democrats are anti-worker, and to vote for them is to vote against your own interests if you are one.
You elect another Democrat and all we're going to get for it is a ton of broken promises and empty excuses.
Not only am I able to get my medication at all because of Democrats, I get it for free because of Democrats. If Trump were in office? I'm not even sure if federal regulations would allow me to even access estrogen or hormone blockers at all. Even if my own state ignored federal legislation (which I would frankly expect in that situation), I also have to worry about wherever it is that my medication is produced and the pharmaceutical companies that I get it from still being willing to provide it.
I have never once heard a Republican talking about substantially raising the minimum wage. Meanwhile Bernie Sanders literally ran in a Democratic primary with the campaign promise of a $15/hr federal minimum wage.
Do you think we're going to get an increase in the federal minimum wage if Trump gets in? It seems more likely to me that he might just straight up eliminate it.
Democrats got us loan forgiveness. Democrats got us ACA. Democrats got us subsidized cell phones. Democrats offer real solutions to homelessness, like, you know, fucking homes, instead of proposing to burn tent cities and make everything harder for the homeless.
Are the Democrats perfect? No. Not remotely. There's a ton of problems with the party's establishment, mostly that they hug the center and are, as you say, still susceptible to corporate influence.
But when you consider the alternative? Are you kidding me?
It's like saying that there isn't enough water to put out all the fire around us when we're considering whether to pour some on a blanket and shield ourselves with it. Meanwhile there's a cheetoh in a diaper with a fucking gas can that's about to douse the blanket if we let him.
Don't let him.
Perfect is the enemy of progress.
Not op but I suppose 'us' is people with less privilege than those who could reliably survive in a Trump dictatorship. People for whom a Trump presidency is an existential threat.
Understood.
Would you consider cop cities a threat? Or a president who openly and enthusiastically supports child genocide? What about a president who mocked the Defund movement on national television during the SOTU? What about a president who allowed Idaho to get away with criminalizing abortion? Or Georgia making it significantly harder to vote? What about a president who sees a $7 minimum wage in 2/3 of the US states and does nothing to change it?
I'm not arguing in Trump's favor here. I fully grasp that he's shitty too.
What I'm saying is if you want real change, it doesn't make any sense to vote Democrat, especially for one like Kamala Harris, who hasn't even put her policy proposals on her website.
I get that some people are willing to sacrifice others to achieve change. I'm not of that belief. If me personally sacrificing myself could lead to change it would be a much harder question to answer. But I'm definitely not willing to risk others on a protest vote.