#sitting out is a position of privilege. actively working against candidates for being imperfect is a position of privilege. | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

aeryns · 4 years ago

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i just think when you’re talking abt politics you have to think abt what your goals are. what’s the endgame. what are your values. and then evaluate what you’re doing and ask if those actions are working to promote those values or not. sitting out an election because neither candidate is ideologically pure (hint: no candidate is, sorry.) isn’t helping your values nearly as much as working to put the candidate in who does believe in your general values and then once they’re in trying to push them more in line with your values.

#what's most frustrating to me is people who seem to believe they're morally superior to me #when the truth is just that they refuse to acknowledge the political reality of this country #you are not better than me because i am working for an imperfect candidate while you work for no one #being upset is fine. being angry is fine. but at the end of the day it doesn't matter unless you put someone in office who WILL listen #if my end game is a green new deal and my choices are a candidate who doesn't believe in climate change #vs one who does but doesnt back the green new deal #i'm still further off getting the one who believes in climate change in office and then doing everything i can once they're in office #to push them to back the green new deal #sitting out is a position of privilege. actively working against candidates for being imperfect is a position of privilege.#in many ways i and people i love are directly impacted by the results of elections both federal and local #im happy for you if you're not! i would love to be in that position #but that is a position of privilege #and if you're really that miffed abt a candidate - find a different election!!#federal politics upsetting you?? volunteer for a state senate race #call your neighbors about your local school board race #but don't post 'these candidates all suck' on social media and think you're doing enough #also to the point on local elections - in my last midterm election's primary i found out only 15% of my county had voted #so that says a couple of things #number one: my vote fucking counted. so did the votes of everyone i talked to and rounded up to vote for my candidates #and number two: the vast majority of people complaining about the candidates are people who chose not to involve themselves in the selection #process #and yes that was a state race. federal elections are different. but the principle still stands.#anyways #vote locally #think about the impact of what you're doing #prioritize getting things accomplished. prioritize actually advancing your values #9 times out of 10 progress is slow and incremental and it is not fun. but it is worth it.#just because it doesn't happen as quickly or in the same ways as you want it to happen #does not mean that it is not worth it #life with sarah

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