-17
No Endorsement: Uncommitted Mvmt. Won’t Back Harris, Trump or Third Party as U.S. Keeps Arming Israel
(www.democracynow.org)
this post was submitted on 02 Oct 2024
-17 points (36.5% liked)
politics
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I am not talking about democracy. I am talking about the relative convenience of a middle class life in the US under a Dem administration compared to under a Trump administration.
In regards to Trump win = End of democracy i am skeptical. If the Democracy is that frail, it means the institutions are deeply rotten and weakened already. Trump could deal the finishing blow, but it could also be dealt by someone else. When it comes to making crucial reforms to strengthen Democracy it seems both Reps and Dems are not interested in that, because it would weaken their power base. So we are back to square one that the US Democracy cannot be safed through just voting for one of these two parties.
With that i'd like to stress that things are not just done with going to the ballot. It requires much more effort, in particular demonstrations and disruptions, which often are equally beaten down by the cops under Rep and Dem state governments.
Republicans have en mass sought to defund or end democratic rights and institutions constantly. Both within the United States and without. For the last 50 to 100 years and you are skeptical? Trump held a coup in 2020 and should not have been allowed back on the ballot and you're skeptical? Our Supreme Court has gone out of its way to give him total immunity and you're skeptical? He said he'd be a dictator on day one and you're skeptical? The people who were in his administration and that he still surrounds himself with are the ones responsible for the fascist project 2025 whose goal is to overthrow the United States and you're skeptical? You're having problems with definitions. That's not skeptical. That's willfully naive or ignorant. Not skeptical. Listen to what they're telling you.
Yes! The institutions have been heavily rotted over the last 25 years at minimum. If not 50 to 100. Yes trump could deliver the finishing blow. He's only said he would. Many many times. And thank you for that straw man argument. Because absolutely voting is one of the least things. One of the easiest things anyone could do. And yet so many are seeming to fail so hard by not understanding the basics of how it works. Or what's actually at stake.
Let me clarify. I am skeptical that the picture presented "Trump wins = Democracy ends vs. Harris wins = Democracy prevails" is accurate.
We were told voting Biden would solve things in 2020. It did not.
Democrats had 4 years, or rather 8 years including Trumps first presidency to acknowledge the threat to democracy and prepare to counter it. However what we saw under Biden and to a lesser extent Harris, was to go for business as usual and choose paddling to neoliberal donors over making fundamental policy changes to "progressive" economic, social and foreign policies. "progressive" because what would be revolutionary by US standards is conservative by the standards of most other developed nations, e.g. access to healthcare, workers rights, prevention of child labour...
And we need to understand that Biden stepped down under heavy pressure and Harris was set to continue, because she is the defacto continuation of his administration. There is nothing past some rhetorical differences that truly puts her apart. she became VP because she was a reliable technocrat, not because she had particular popularity among the people like for instance Bernie Sanders had.
So there is no indication that the Democrats have any motivation and plans to address the issues threatening American democracy. Meanwhile they have shown to crack down on peoples initiatives to address these issues. Be it Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter or now the protests on US campuses against the genocide in Gaza.
The way i see it, the US is headed for another civil war, and it will come regardless of Democrats or Republicans being in power at the time. Also what we saw is the Democrats becoming increasingly authoritarian in the way they conducted themselves in the election process so far. The discussion about Bidens mental health was shunned and it was doubled down on him as the candidate, until it was impossible to hold. Harris was declared successor, without opening up to properly discuss where the party should head and who would be the best candidate.
Exactly. Voting is the lowest-effort participation in democracy