I don’t like Biden either, but anyone with half a brain knows there are two choices in the 2020 election. If we had a sane voting system, voting third party might be worth it, but as it stands, no one but you knows your favorite candidate exists and unless you want to become their campaign manager that will still be true in November. Even if you did, and even if you convinced two thirds of the people who would otherwise have voted for Biden to vote for your chosen candidate instead, Trump would still win because half the country voted for him and your guy only got a third. If you vote third party you might as well stay home.

Not voting isn’t going to stop the genocide in Gaza. The US will continue to funnel them arms no matter which candidate wins this November. Trump practically campaigns on how much he hates the Jews and he’s publicly told Israel to “finish up their war”. He’ll also make life a living hell for anyone who isn’t a straight cisgender male back here at home.

A vote for a candidate is not an endorsement of them or their policies, it’s a statement that you like their policies more than the other guy’s, and “sticking it to liberals” and “refusing to support genocide” (that’s not what voting for Biden is doing, by the way – a vote for either candidate is a vote for genocide and a vote for neither is an endorsement of both) is not more important than keeping the furthest right politician America has ever seen out of office.

How incredibly privileged do you have to be to see an entire national election as what will happen in the Middle East and ignore Trump’s campaign promises to wipe transgender Americans off the map, and further, to not realize that the same thing will happen in the Middle East regardless of which candidate wins?

I hate Biden as much as every other leftist here. But I’ll still vote for him because Trump is worse. If there’s a single bone in your body that cares about the lives of your trans friends you will too.

    • Pan_Ziemniak@midwest.social
      27·
      3 months ago

      You wont get to pull dems anywhere if trump enacts project 2025.

      The older generation is at their tipping point before the youth take the reins. Its no coincidence those trying to push for another trump term want u to either abstain or vote third party, i.e. the spoiler effect.

    • Masterblaster420@lemmy.world
      21·
      3 months ago

      If more people vote third-party it will pull center politicians further in whatever direction you vote

      oh you naive child. you’re willing to doom us all for your ‘conscience’. what a spoiled, privileged brat.

      • Trarmp
        7·
        3 months ago

        Yeah, that only works if such third party is nearly as large as the republicans, which it isn’t. Until then they’ll sooner try to appease right wing voters.

        • EmptySlime@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
          5·
          3 months ago

          Yeah. The Democrats have been doing this for like 30 years at this point. The people who “vote their conscience” or try to “revoke their consent” get used as a scapegoat to chase Moderates and disaffected Republicans. They punch left crying how they’re not those crazy hippies and they’re actually just the reasonable common sense consensus. Like bloody fucking hell this exact thing happened in 2016.

          Bernie Bros got vilified for Clinton losing and did any of them look at all the people that went from Bernie in the primary to Jill Stein or even to Trump and say “Hey, maybe this Bernie guy was on to something?” and move even a little left? No, they went with Mr. Bipartisanship, because he was “more electable” to the moderates. But every 4 years like clockwork it’s “No guys trust me, this time they’ll learn their lesson and stop putting forward neoliberal ghouls. We just didn’t threaten their power enough last time.” It’s maddening

    • oatscoop@midwest.socialEnglish
      12·
      3 months ago

      You’re right: nobody is entitled to your vote.

      That being said, everyone else has the right to judge and comment on your choice and justification of it.

    • SuperApples@lemmy.world
      9·
      3 months ago

      I’m from a country with ranked choice voting. We can vote for our preferred third-party candidate and it’s not only fine but better. Even if they don’t get in, they will get a portion of government money for help with campaigning in future elections, and our vote for the first viable candidate will be counted instead.

      In the USA this is totally not the case. Your electoral system is designed to prevent third-party votes from meaning anything. As an anarchist who hates the politics of both neoliberal US major parties, I would still vote democrat, because a third-party vote is literally a wasted vote. It does not influence the 2 major parties in any way. They know there is no real threat from minor parties or independents unless they have massive overwhelming majority support.

      Change the system through political action, community engagement, and spreading information. This vote will not change a thing unless it’s for a major party, and only really if you’re in a swing state. It’s shit but true.

    • Zink@programming.dev
      8·
      3 months ago

      I like the line from the image in the OP that says how a vote is not some kind of statement of ideals, full endorsement, or marriage contract, it is your chance to influence the outcome if you care to.

      I always feel compelled to make the pragmatic choice because I do very much care to influence the races that will have real effects on me or my fellow citizens.

      And it sucks, because it does feed into and perpetuate the first past the post two-party system. But our electoral system is set up to be extremely difficult to change.