#think about the most vulnerable people you care about and vote for the person or issue that will make their lives better

[leupagus]

On Voting in America

So one of the most profound comments on routine chores that I've ever encountered was, hilariously, the Pickle Rick episode of "Rick & Morty," where (after a lot of shenanigans have already ensued) this therapist absolutely lays Rick out:

"I have no doubt that you would be bored senseless by therapy, the same way I'm bored when I brush my teeth and wipe my ass. Because the thing about repairing, maintaining, and cleaning is: it's not an adventure. There's no way to do it so wrong you might die. It's just work. And the bottom line is some people are okay going to work and some people, well, some people would rather die. Each of us gets to choose."

I think about this at least once a week — usually while I'm doing my laundry or sweeping or some other task that needs doing and won't get me anything more than clean clothing or a dog-hair-free floor. There's no Pulitzer for wiping down your microwave or scrubbing your toilet; no one's awarding you for getting all the dishes out of the sink. At best you have the satisfaction of crossing it off your list.

Voting is very much the same (and I'm talking about the US here, as an American). Sure, you sometimes get a sticker; but nobody's going to cheer for you. There's no adventure here, no potential for anything more than crossing something off of a list. It's a chore, something that needs doing in order to repair, maintain, and yes even clean. So I get why people don't like doing it.

And I've decided I don't give a shit.

Do it anyway. Your country takes astonishingly little from you — taxes, the once-in-a-blue-moon jury duty, and a theoretical draft that hasn't been used in over half a century and likely will never be again — but it asks you (asks! not requires! not demands!) to vote once or twice a year. It's not always easy; especially in conservative states, the impediments to vote can be ridiculous. But it is once a year and unlike in our nation's all-too-recent past, you will not die if you do it.

In fact, the worst outcome from voting these days is that the person or issue that you vote for loses — but you won't know if they lose until after the election. Polls are less accurate now, for a whole host of reasons; you cannot know until after the election who or what will win. This makes your vote more valuable than possibly ever before.

Use that power. Not because it's exciting or even rewarding, but because your vote is what keeps our country's metaphorical teeth from falling out and our metaphorical ass from stinking.

Brush, wipe, vote.

[anexperimentallife]

Project 2025 would ban anything the far right considers pornography. The far right considers anything queer-positive to be pornography, and they WILL encode that into law if given just a TINY bit more power.

Have queer fanfic (or trad published literature) or pics of your transition, or of two men kissing, saved to your hard drive? If the GOP get their way, you'd be guilty of possession of pornography. Did you share any of it? You'd be guilty of distribution of pornography. Have a sweet coming of age story with a queer protagonist? That'd be child pornography.

Even now, states are trying to make it a crime to be openly queer in public (by, among other things, classifying dressing as the "wrong gender" anyplace kids might see as a sex crime against children). Oh, and Florida tried (and thankfully failed) to impose the death penalty for the above.

This is just one example of the horrors awaiting us if the project comes to fruition.

And the far right is already screaming that any adult who mentions around kids that queer people exist is "grooming" children. Wear your Pride shirt past a playground? You're now a child groomer. Think they won't put that into law if allowed? You're naive.

The GOP currently controls the Supreme Court (which is how they overturned Roe v. Wade) and has a majority in one branch of congress. Imagine what will happen nationwide with the GOP controlling every branch of government, including supermajoroties in both houses of Congress.

Oh, and top GOP officials have also announced their desire to NUKE Gaza, so don't come at me with, "but I can't vote blue because Biden..." Or tell me how you think Gaza would somehow be better off with Trump and the GOP.

In France, the left and center joined together--even though they disagree vehemently on many issues (get two leftists together and they'll have three positions on any issue)--to stop the far right from totally taking over, because the one thing they ALL agree on is that fascists dictatorships are BAD.

Much the same with the UK finally kicking out their own neo-fascist party, the Torries, to install 400 Labour MPs. Not everyone loves Labour's policies, but virtually everyone with a brain cell recognizes that the Torries are fascists, and that FASCISM BAD.

"Every election, they tell us this is the most important election if our lives!" Yeah, because each election over the past several decades has been more important than the one before, until we are now at a tipping point between remaining a fucked up oligarchy with SOME resemblance to freedom, and an outright neo-fascist military dictatorship.

Trump has literally stated publicly his intent to criminalize dissent, use US armed forces against protesters (Kent State, but multiply it by thousands), purge all agencies and stuff them with those personally loyal to him, and use the DOJ to go after anyone he perceives as a threat to his political power, among other things.

And remember the things he did in office, like pulling the teeth of federal workplace protections for queer folks (which Biden reatored).

I don't care if you don't like Biden or Harris. Neither do I. But the alternative is Trump, and anyone telling you not to vote in 2024, or to vote third party, is rooting for Trump, and for Project 2025. Anyone telling you not to vote does not give one single solitary flying fuck about vulnerable populations in the US or anywhere else in the world.

"You're just being an alarmist!" Right. Like I was being alarmist when I predicted the failed Jan 6 coup attempt. Like I was being alarmist when I said the GOP would try to use control over SCOTUS to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Fucking vote.

[tlbodine]

So, Things Are Terrible and You Want to DO SOMETHING

The election is over and, ah...did not go well. While a lot of folks are doing a post mortem of the campaigns and trying to understand what happened with the vote and fighting over who shoulders the blame, we've gotta turn an eye toward the future and figure out, okay fam, where the fuck do we go from here.

I don't have all the answers on this, and I'm not an authority by any means, I'm just a horror author with a blog. But I've been thinking a lot about it and I wanted to share my thought process with others who might want to DO SOMETHING but feel they're spinning their wheels.

Buckle in. This will be a long one.

Step One: Understand the actual risks and stakes.

I think it is very easy to start panicking now about the worst possible case scenario -- jackbooted military busting into the door to disappear everyone who ever said something mean about Trump or bought a banned book or something -- and let fear turn into inaction.

I'm not saying things can't get that bad, and I'm not saying that it won't be absolutely terrifying right out the gate for some particularly at-risk groups -- but the distance between "now" and "V for Vendetta" is long and filled with a lot of intermediary steps. There will be so many opportunities to prevent the worst case scenario.

I say this because, if your mental image of "Bad Things Happening" is The Purge, it will be easy to wake up on inauguration day, look outside to see that the world is not on fire, think, hey, maybe things will be okay after all, and then completely disengage. Alternatively, you might feel so frozen with terror at the possibility of persecution that you do nothing. This is why people are saying: don't obey in advance.

It is essential for those of us with more privilege to use it to take care of those who are more vulnerable.

So. Who is most vulnerable? What does that vulnerability actually mean? What are the most likely risks of Trump's presidency? Here's a Guardian article that I think does a good job of summarizing some of the main issues. Go read that, then come back here.

Step Two: Take steps to protect yourself

You've gotta put your oxygen mask on first, right? So before you start getting involved in other causes, figure out what risks YOU are at, immediately, and do as much as you can to secure yourself. Some potential action steps depending on your circumstance may include:

Renewing your passport (helpful for leaving the country, but also for gender/name change purposes)

Getting vaccines / boosters

Securing birth control

Ensuring your necessary papers (birth certificates etc.) are where you have access to them.

Drawing up legal paperwork for spouses/partners (always a good idea, a helpful safety measure in case you lose marriage rights)

Bolstering your data privacy and online security. Here's a step-by-step guide I found that could help with that.

The specific steps you need to take here depend on what risks you, personally, face. You'll want to do some more research into this for your particular scenario.

No matter who you are, though, it's probably a good idea to start saving money and being a little more conservative with your spending and/or pay down debts to free up some cash. You don't know what kind of emergency may befall you, and having spare money for an emergency is never a bad idea.

There is a possibility that the cost of many things you rely on might go up, if Trump goes through with his tariffs plan. You will want to plan for that.

Food costs may also rise due to tariffs (we import a lot of food from Mexico and Latin America for example) as well as a loss of immigrant labor. There is also a possibility that food safety standards could fall due to overturning regulations. Now would be a good time to look into local food resources like farm share/CSA, community farms, etc., and to stock up on a few key staples like rice and beans.

Okay. Now that YOU are reasonably safe...what can you do to protect your community?

Step Three: Get Involved

Here is your mission: You need to stay engaged enough to know what's going on, without burning yourself out or exhausting yourself, and to take actual decisive actions instead of wasting your energy arguing on the internet.

Got that? Okay. Good. Here are some action steps:

Support independent journalism. Subscribe to local papers, donate to and watch public broadcast programming. I signed up for news from ProPublica, for example, as well as the news-roundup service What The Fuck Just Happened Today. The goal is to stay informed without falling down an endless rabbit hole of upsetting information.

Share news and resources with others in your circle. This can be a good use of social media. It's what I am doing right now!

If it is safe for you to do so, challenge and educate your friends/family members/neighbors/coworkers. Only if it is safe for you to do so. Do not put yourself at risk doing this. And do not waste your time arguing with people who are unlikely to change. But if you have well-meaning people in your life who you think could be won over, look for opportunities to do this - the right way. I've had some success with this, I will probably write a guide about it in the future. In the meantime, here's a good article that can help.

Join local grassroots activism groups. You'll have to do some work to decide what groups to join and which causes you want to support, because you cannot do everything. But there are tons of organizations taking direct action in all kinds of causes. Search "grassroots [cause] activists in [where you live]" to start finding things. Once you get involved in one group, you might meet people who can introduce you to other groups and causes. Yes, this means you will have to go outside and meet people. I'm sorry.

Join direct action groups. Same concept as above. You'll have to search in your area but once you know people it'll be easier to find more opportunities. Some of these groups may overlap. You might find direct action opportunities by engaging politically and vice versa. GO OUTSIDE AND TALK TO PEOPLE WHO ARE DOING THINGS TO HELP.

Get involved in local politics. Here are some quick tips. A lot of things are affected at the city level - stuff like book bans and bathroom bills are often battled first at local libraries and schools, and you can be part of those conversations! Sheriffs are elected and can have a big influence on local policing. Local elections affect how tax dollars are spent, how homeless populations are treated, and lots more. Don't snooze on local elections. Get involved and stay involved.

Look up your representatives. Get in the habit of calling, emailing, and writing letters. Figure out what legislature is being passed and then call your reps and harangue them about it - both to support bills you approve of and shoot down ones you don't. Sign petitions. Join email campaigns. Here's one you can go sign right now from the ACLU. See? Not that scary.

I think a lot of people figure that getting involved in politics doesn't matter or that it's all small potatoes but...man. The president is not god, no matter what he thinks. The sitting administration is not the sole power in the universe. There is an entire machine of government we can lean upon and act upon.

Finally, some general safety notes:

Some forms of direct action are not legal. Take steps to be safe if you choose to partake. Follow the lead of more seasoned activists for what forms of communication to use and so forth.

If you're not willing or able to put yourself at legal risk to act, you can help others by donating to bail funds and legal defense funds.

We've already seen this in some areas, and it will only get uglier - some bad actors are feeling emboldened by the change in regime and will misbehave. It's a good idea to learn some self-defense skills, in whatever way is comfortable to you, and brush up on some tenets of victimology that can help you stay safe. I'll write more about that in the future.

All right. That's all for now. It's by no means comprehensive...but should hopefully help you get started taking the next step. Stay safe out there.

[traegorn]

I'm not surprised these people don't realize a revolution will kill disabled people by preventing them access to care.

They can't even figure out how to take care of disabled people in these mythical anarchist communes that come afterwards.

And when you point out that disabled people have a good likelihood of not being able to contribute anything to the commune they get upset and insistent on everyone can contribute something.

We're never in their framework until afterwards, the steps after.

Vulnerable people who often cannot advocate for themselves left to die bc people would rather be politicly/morally pure instead of doing things that improve circumstances.

While using people's lives as gotchas to hurt others who have valid criticisms and objections.

And if you're a person of colour and not a white liberal/moderate as they accuse?

Oh you're just a traitor and don't care about other POC.

It's annoying that since I turned eighteen and actively could impact any politics (barred bc of previous locations), I have to deal with bullshit from people who either never studied politics or claim they have and then both sides let out the most stupid takes I have ever heard.

If I was American, I would vote Harris. As I am not, I will vote for my more left leaning party, as I do have multiple choices that are valid, in the election next year.

With the hope that eventually we have push the needle far enough left that people stop suffering and participating-outside of civic duties to vote- in government when I can. (Because you know, being disabled is a full time chore and oftentimes leaves not a whole lot of time or energy for much else but if we don't advocate for ourselves, people without disabilities tend to advocate for things that kill us.)

They don't think of the people who will die as people. It's all just a fantasy to them, and if the reality of what they advocate ever came true they wouldn't have the stomach for it.

[schoolhater]

it is election day. i wrote a little essay to share with my IRLs who can't fathom why i might want to abstain from participating in the bloodshed by putting holocaust harris in power, or giving the transpbobic and anti-abortion green party federal campaign money. i've reposted the entire thing under the cut for anyone who wants to read.

but before i begin: donate to mohammed al-habil. he is recovering from surgery, his little sister is chronically ill. the genocide ruined his senior year of high school. it’s his birthday today. he should be celebrating and instead he’s begging on an internet full of people trying to justify the continued destruction of his entire people.

learn more + donate

i keep hearing from people defending their choice to vote for the genocider that even though the democrats are bad, the republicans are worse. or that this election is the most important one. i often see trolley problems that declare that the *only* people who would suffer under the democrats would be palestine, and, because *americans* would suffer under the republicans, we have to put aside our grievances about the potentially-three-hundred-thousand-and-thiry-five people who have been murdered in the past thirteen months and offer our full support to the person who did it.

nearly every time settler colonialism has occurred in history, the first wave of settlers is some vulnerable yet radicalized population who believes they will achieve prosperity in the new world. the uae-backed rsf is establishing settlements using refugees from other african countries in southeast sudan right now. the first wave of israeli settlers were poor. even herzl planned this in the 1890s, in 'the jewish state' he writes that the first wave of settlers should be poor farm workers. and now, the modern settlers in the illegally occupied west bank live in and they are the most radicalized most. despite facing extreme racism within israel, arab israeli settlers are among the most radical zionists. the first settlers in america were poor and tired religious extremists from britain. when they came here they didn't have shit except the military backing of the empire and the carte blanche to commit massacres of indigenous people.

imperialism needs these vulnerable people. it needs to funnel the oppressed populations it creates back into the machine to enact further violence. these people are effective cannon fodder against the indigenous population. they are vulnerable enough that they cannot resist, but their lives are comfortable enough thanks to subsidized housing and special treatment that they begin to identify wholly with the imperialist entity, so they don't even want to. if you're stuck thinking 'well, of course kamala and trump are the same to palestine, but trump will be worse for us!' you've taken the bait. that's exactly the kind of attitude that is allowing this genocide to happen right now. do you know why the usa gives subsidized healthcare to israelis? why we give so many benefits to veterans? why do thousands of people risk their entire lives to come here after we destroy their countries? the usa wants to recruit you into participating in the genocide of gaza so you never oppose it, because it would mean opposing yourself.

even kamala harris knows this. multiple times she's repeated some version of "sure people care about the genocide, but they also care about the price of eggs" as if these things are remotely comparable. because to her supporters, they are. to americans, the rest of the world does not even exist.

i said this on my instagram story and i'll say it again - we understand that the israeli elections are just a performance of democracy to pacify criticism of a violent genocidal apartheid system. none of us would really care if netanyahu stepped down tomorrow because we would see the bombings continue. well, america is the world's "israel"! to the rest of the world, america is that attack dog that only ever brings death and suffering. and regardless of which party is in charge, that doesn't change. and the democrats arent even hiding it anymore.

what the discourse around this election and seeing so many people i once respected voting for the genocide has taught me is that there is no red line for the majority of americans. we are the most self centered, narrow minded, backstabbing group of settlers on this earth. we have seen the terrorist organization that occupies the land we live on fund 70% of the most vile horrific crimes against humanity - the most nightmare inducing rapes, tortures, kidnappings, incarcerations, concentration camps, people being burned alive, people being ripped apart, rendered unrecognizable as human bodies, literally vaporized, killing over three hundred thousand people over thirteen months - and we still want the entities that did all this to exist tomorrow. we want to invest into a future in which all of this still exists.

and when asked to stop, we will threaten to do worse. a greater evil is imagined.

what does this make us?

....

i refuse to participate in this bullshit even to support a third party candidate. i refuse to be bought. i refuse to invest my time and energy into an institution that kills children. i don’t care who runs it.

i wanted to push back against this idea before the polls close as a sort of last ditch effort to be heard. i am not being heard right now. i have gotten into way too many arguments with people i once respected over why voting in favor of a genocide might not be the best idea. and every time i am met with utter disrespect - i am not treated as a person with a political perspective based on my experiences and learning, i am treated like an idiot. and the people voting for genocide are pragmatists, somehow. in lieu of a reason to disagree with me they resort to belittlement. i feel betrayed. i hope this rant changes some minds; if not, let it explain why i treat you differently now.

[derinthescarletpescatarian]

to start off this is long and rambly but please bear with me

you occasionally reblog pro/antiship discourse on the side of "real people are not haunted by fiction or people's opinions" and you generally seem to be very much against the idea of trying to hold people's thoughts against them etc in not phrasing this well but I hope you get my meaning. How does that affect the way you write about Renn?

Aspen and most of the other crew mates are deeply disturbed by him saying that he thinks genetic engineering of brains could sometimes be useful, to the point where his single defining quality is "the guy who supports Lyson projects" and somebody was willing to murder him over it. From a modern perspective what he said doesn't seem incredibly radical (I definitely disagree with the concept, but it's not even close to my least favorite conservative opinion). Maybe I'd be angrier if it was someone minimizing a real tragedy like he was in-universe? That probably played into it.

I'm not trying to imply Aspen's thoughts are your thoughts, or that you should've written them more similar to you, but it is a really interesting dynamic and wondering how/why you came up with it.

Lyson projects have nothing to do with genetic engineering. They're about emotional/behavioural control via brain damage.

I'm not really sure what you mean about people's opinions haunting people. People's opinions influence their behaviour, which absolutely can cause problems for other people. Somebody who thinks gay people are mentally ill predators out to corrupt children is dangerous in groups, in the voting booth, and in general life because they hold that opinion.

I don't agree with Aspen on most things, and this Lyson disagreement got into the story the same way all the other ones do -- I come up with a topical conundrum about care, community, liberty or justice, and throw as many different viewpoints at it as possible from different crew members. Which crew member I personally agree with is more or less random; their positions are chosen by their personalities, not mine. I'm interested in giving the reader a space to consider a messy issue, not forcing them to listen to my opinion specifically. (If I wanted to do that, I'd just get into online discourse about it instead).

In the case of Lyson projects, the issue is pretty obviously the question of risk and autonomy in the care of vulnerable patients, and the question of benefits of certain treatments vs. their potential for abuse. I was specifically thinking about euthanasia and MAID when I wrote it but there are literally uncountable other examples of the same conundrum, including the more literal (long discontinued) parallel of performing medical lobotomies.

If you're interested in discussing the ethical stuff that shows up in TTOU specifically, the Discord is constantly having those conversations.

[hobie-enthusiast]

NO BC MORE PPL NEED TO TALK ABT PROWLER HOBIE!!! - 🕷️

— oh 🕷️ anon i completely agree and shall deliver

— cw; not comic accurate 616 hobie, a mix between him and 138 hobie, canon typical violence, mentions of making out

alright, so before a life of crime, the two of you were high school sweethearts. the talk of the school, everyone adored your relationship. voted most likely to stay together, the works. you worked like a support system; hobie having had to raise himself and needed more love than others, along with the hardships you may have faced during your upbringing. hobie originally had a really hard time letting himself be vulnerable around you, but he got used to it, letting you in to help him through what he needs to.

despite having great support, things were rough on him after high school. when he lost his job, the equipment he essentially invented for it made him turn to crime for a shot at protecting the innocent, especially you. you were essentially a victim to the terrible mistreatment of such a fascist country, being terribly poor while with hobie. with such a corrupt government, and tons of heros who defend it, it seemed to be up to him to fix it all. so, he took his inventing skills and became a villain, deeming himself 'the prowler'.

and he felt like he was protecting the people. stopping those bloody cops from hurting the innocent, or punishing officials who've done bad. he was a villain with a good cause, but not many saw it that way. they saw their beloved spider-man as the one who does the good, not some scary villain in a scary suit. essentially, the constant battle between the prowler and spider-man began.

hobie tried to keep his second life a secret from you, he really did. but the one day he was out, you managed to find his prowler suit and mask. along with that, all sorts of gadgets that seemed far too advanced for some regular civilian. upon confronting him about it, he admitted to everything. what he’s doing, who he is, and where he goes.

it’s.. tough at first. learning your high school sweetheart was a super villain isn’t the easiest piece of information to take hold of. but you stayed. you knew he was fighting for a good cause, so you kept him close to your heart. how could you not? hobie always wanted better for you, for the people, for himself. so you stuck your support, staying right by him through it all.

hobie can also find himself in a habit of stealing from large corporations. it’s his thing as the prowler. it would range from stealing food for the local shelter to stealing a nice knick-knack to gift to you. though you feel some guilt at first, it soon disappears upon remembering that these places won’t ever miss what hobie steals. they’ll just find something to replace it.

some things hobie does not do as the prowler (that normal villains tend to); hurt the innocent, steal from small businesses, cause commotion during charity events or rallies of protest, have an innocent be his “person on the inside”, kill like, anyone.

the most he would do to hurt anyone (which is government officials and fascist politicians), is beat ‘em up and give them a good talking to. he reminds them of who’s truly running this country, who’s actually the one feeding them their money, and that normal shuts them up. hobie hates the way they plead with him to not kill them, it honestly makes him laugh. he has the same reply every-time.

“you beg t’ not be offed, but kill ‘ur citizens everyday. think ‘bout it.”

even as the prowler, hobie always makes time for the things he loves. you, for one. he’s always taking you for a night in the city or to hang with his friends. dinner dates at home are a must for the week, he’ll never miss it. he eventually does propose to you, which consists of him just asking out of the blue in bed if you wanna get married. he gives you one of his rings and says, “boom, married. g’night, love.” yeah, you never got official documents. but who cares?

hobie’s other commitment lies with his band. never misses a show to play. he’s sticking with them, even as the prowler. he loves the high he gets from performing onstage for the people he fights for, listening to their enjoyment. he loves laughing with his band as they keep a high energy show going almost all night. and the best part? he sees you after his shows, warm smile on your face as you congratulate him (either verbally or with making out. your choice). he would never trade those nights for fighting as the prowler.

overall, hobie as the prowler is not like every other villain. he’s committed to doing good in the wrong way. and even when spider-man convinces him to find a different way to get his message, he never gives up. he retires his prowler costume in exchange for one that advocates loudly, leading protests and riots at the front lines. he had to admit, it was a lot more refreshing than being painted as an evil villain. plus, it help that you find this option much safer :). he’s content with life as the prowler, even after he retires the persona.

[forsetti]

On Voting: Read A Civics Book And Do The Right Thing

Once again, like the swallows returning to Capistrano or the sun rising in the east, Democrats are in full panic mode about the upcoming Presidential election. They go through this ritual every four years because, as a group, they are really, really bad at political strategy and basic civics.

Of course, they will never admit this because they think they are intellectually superior to their right-wing counterparts. In many ways, this is absolutely true. However, when it comes to elections and voting, their political opponents are much, much better.

The phrase, “The perfect is the enemy of the good,” was most likely coined by someone who has watched the left’s political strategies and voting histories.

Voting isn’t American Idol. It isn’t about who performs best on a stage at any given moment.

Voting isn’t a reality show.

Voting isn’t about who looks the best on television. I know the OpticsPolice™ love nothing better than to over-analyze body language, voice modulation, and speech patterns… over content and context. However, it is easy and intellectually lazy.

Voting isn’t about who looks the most energetic. We all have known bosses or colleagues who talk loudly and quickly and almost to a person, they are full of shit. Being verbally active doesn’t signal anything positive. This should be especially true when it comes to governing. I don’t want a used car salesperson running the country. I want someone who is thoughtful and deliberate.

Voting isn’t who you’d like to have a drink with at a bar. You aren’t voting for who would be a good hang. You are voting for who will do a good job. If my kid needs their brain operated on, I really don’t give a damn if the neurosurgeon has a great bedside manner. I care about if they can do the job.

Voting is about who, of the options available, will do the most good. Even if you believe in the idiotic view that a particular election is between “the lesser of two evils,” less evil is ALWAYS better than more evil. There is no moral calculus where letting more evil win is the ethical choice. I can’t even believe this is a thing but it is remarkable how many on the left use this “argument,” to justify their bad choices and strategies.

Voting for president in America, like it or not, is a binary choice. It doesn’t matter if you disagree with the fact America has become a two-party system or want it to be something different. It is. Any political strategy that doesn’t accept this and act accordingly is about wish casting, not reality.

Voting for president is about the agendas, policies, and people they surround themselves with, as much or more than the candidate, themselves. The makeup of administrations matters. The right/wrong Cabinet member or department head can make a world of difference.

Voting is often not getting a chance to vote for your favorite candidate. Democracy does not guarantee you get the opportunity to vote for someone you really love. Sometimes your favorite candidate isn’t a good candidate runs a bad campaign or isn’t as popular with others the way they are to you. Just because your pet candidate doesn’t make the cut doesn’t absolve you from your responsibilities, as a voter.

The first rule of voting is the same as the Hippocratic Oath -First, do no harm. If your vote or lack of vote brings about terrible consequences, you’ve failed to do your job as a voter. If voting for someone won’t benefit you directly but will benefit others, especially the most vulnerable in society, that is the right choice EVERY SINGLE TIME.

The second rule of voting is a corollary to the first: “Vote the way the most vulnerable in coalition votes. The most vulnerable in your coalition have the most to lose in any election. They know who and what is best for their situations. If you aren’t a member of this group, you don’t and should act like you know what is best for them. Listen to them. Follow their lead, even if it means voting for someone not at the top of your list.

Voting isn’t just a right, it is a civic, moral responsibility. What you do/don’t do has consequences. Voting for Jill Stein, Gary Johnson, or Hammurabi in 2016 is directly related to a 6-3 conservative Supreme Court and all they have done to roll back progressive laws and polices in the past few years. No amount of linguistic or logical gymnastics makes this not true.

Voting isn’t about the individual candidates as much as it is about their worldviews. Even if you vote for the right candidate and they win, sometimes they are unable to do what they want to do and what you want them to do. Presidents are not all-powerful. They can’t just do whatever they want. It’s a complex, complicated system of government, intentionally so. The Framers didn’t want wild fluctuations in laws and how the government operates. They opted for consistency over the ability to change course quickly. This limits what a president can/can’t do. Sometimes all the political stars align and a lot can get done in a short period of time. If/when that happens, you want the person most willing to make those changes.

I don’t care who runs against Trump in November. If that person loses, they will be blamed for fascism taking over America when the ugly truth is those responsible are every single person who voted for him and those who didn’t vote for his opponent. That is how American politics works. It doesn’t matter if you agree with or like it, that doesn’t change the reality. If you don’t cast a vote for the Biden/Harris ticket in November, you are directly responsible for whatever consequences follow. There is no moral horse high enough for you to straddle to avoid the consequences and culpability.

[hertwood]

"I do find it interesting that ppl will ignore the many many times Taylor Swift has publicly supported democrats just because she was friendly to her boyfriend's coworker's wife"

the "many many times" in question being an entirely self-serving activism kick in 2019 and 2020... she hasn't even spoken up about this year's (arguably more consequential) election Imao if normal ass people can cut off their own relatives for being bigoted then white woman of the year can certainly avoid snuggling with a loud and proud racist. i'll also remind you that the "political arguments" in question that occur between trumpies and normal people directly affect the lives and safety of millions of people both in the States and abroad but okay! sure! not everyone has enough empathy to care about that! whatever!

if you want to believe taylor swift is a bad person, or not progressive enough, or a performative activist thats fine!! you don't have to like her and you also don't need to justify it with any "good enough" reason!!! you can just hate the bitch you're allowed!!!

the point i was trying to make is it is weird as hell to be making polls and speculating if she's a republican when she's endorsed joe biden in 2020 and many other democrats since 2018, it really seems like a bad faith fucking conversation to me 🤷 i think the people who are having these discussions have already decided that she's a bad person and are discounting very significant data points to present their opinions like they're reality. if you think it was self-serving activism, that is actually just your opinion :) that you are allowed to have but that does not change the objective truth that she has never been vocally anything other but liberal in her political views.

i also think its fucking weird that people who hate her so much won't shut the fuck up about her TBH!!!!!!!

also acting like i, a disabled nonbinary dyke don't know how politics affect real people?????? bitch i'm one of them. and you're right, not everyone has enough empathy to care about everything wrong with the world all the time. not everyone has the capacity to argue with every bigot they meet 100% of the time without getting burnt the fuck out. it is not sustainable and also not very effective to do! most of these crazy assholes are not gonna have their minds changed with an argument. caring for vulnerable members of our communities is a far more valuable way to spend your energy. getting young leftist people registered to vote is gonna be a much more viable strategy for change than arguing with trumpies.

i have also, for the record, been kind to bigots. so fucking cancel me too i guess. i've said hey i'm not gonna start an argument bc my siblings deserve a christmas without all that. i've heard coworkers say bigoted things and said hey i'm exhausted from the work day i dont have a capacity to deal with this right now. and if you think i'm a bad person for that? dont worry you can unfollow me i will still sleep easy at night :)

i also think it's worth mentioning that taylor swift recently had to cancel a show bc of a real terrorist threat. i personally think it's very likely she's being advised not to say anything in order to not increase risk of another tragedy like the manchester ariana grande attack. if this is true and you still think that taylor swift prioritizing the safety of herself and her fans dying over speaking up politically, thats your right to think so!! but i don't expect my faves to be activists 24/7 personally, for any reason. i dont think thats fair to expect of people who aren't politicians.

but that's just me!!!

[tau1tvec]

I am forever surprised at just how unfathomably stupid the American public truly is. Most of the people I know voted for trump because they think he'll make the economy good. But if I asked them what specifically he's going to do to make it good, they won't be able to answer. Republicans continue to win tax cuts for the wealthy, the privatization of social programs, benefiting the wealthy, all on the backs of the average person and yet they can win control over all three branches of government. Absurd

Not to mention all the terrible human rights abuses, but in my experience the average republican doesn't care about them. Until it happens to them anyways

That last bit, sadly it’s something I’ve seen that probably blurs partisan lines atp, but the way our country works, or how a lotta countries work, is that it relies a lot on us ignoring injustice, and inequality for our own convenience and prosperity. We do it everyday with what we consume, and how much we consume it with very little regard as to how it gets put in our hands. We get pissed at Amazon drivers for running behind, knowing full well they’re probably working ridiculous hours, with very little breaks, or off time, and for even less money, but since we don’t see it with our own eyes, and have our own piss poor jobs taking advantage of us while we struggle to pay for food, we kinda just take our frustrations out on each-other anyway. Which is essentially what this election turned out to be.

Empathy is in short supply, to put it simply. Not bc it’s something humans struggle with, we’re still likely to donate money to others in need when we can, or stop and help someone with a flat on the side of the road, we’re just feeling less compelled to do it as often as we probably should.

I know a lotta ppl will say we live in an individualist society now, and perhaps we do, and I’d argue we have for a long, long time, but a lot of the time we’re doing it against our will bc it benefits someone at the top, and it’s getting crowded up there.

Did you know millionaires are literally being priced out of the Alps ??? Yeah, there’s that many multi-millionaires and billionaires now, that they’re pricing out millionaires. Their airport is just a private plane storage facility atp.

I don’t want to absolve what Trump voters did, I very much can’t stand them personally, bc as you said they’re willing to just cherry pick certain things he says and promises, and even straight up misinterpret them ( oh conservative christians are so so so good at this ). Promises he will likely not even keep, or be able to keep, at the expense of ignoring all of the truly fascistic shit he says on the daily, and lives he will ruin bc of it. But a buncha “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” ass ppl wanted a way to get themselves out of their own personal turmoil, and took the path of least resistance to do it, whilst selling out their most vulnerable neighbors in the process.

United States of America, my ass.

[secretsofsbopl]

Ideologically perfect isn't even possible for potential marriage partners; ideologically *compatible* is about as good as you get. Voting for a candidate in a presidential election comes down to the most broad, general levels of approval on the most fundamentally important values you hold, especially in a two party system; and sometimes you even get two moderately reasonable, decent choices, all things considered. We have not had that in years, and we really don't have this this year. This year we have a genuinely good choice, a wildly competent, experienced, kick ass Black Asian woman who made Brett Kavanaugh cry, and we have one of the most pustulent threats to basic civil liberties and freedom of democracy on the other.

This is not about "liking" Harris. You don't know her. She's not your friend. You're not inviting her to your birthday party or a sleep over or whatever. This is picking one of two possible candidates for a job that has massive real-world implications for every politically vulnerable person you know. You aren't going to agree with her on everything. Voting for her doesn't mean you don't get to criticize her, either... AFTER she's in office. Or even better, actually work and organize to make that difference you care so much about. I promise you aren't alone in whatever it is; there's almost certainly a coalition of people already working on it.

Don't even hold your nose. Don't twist your face up or pretend that voting for a qualified candidate makes your stomach turn. That's pathetic, it's infantile. Your problem isn't Kamala Harris, it's all the bullshit built into the United States, which she can only stand to improve upon as much as we allow her to, and push her to. She's not the problem, but she might be just a little bit of a solution instead of a fucking totalitarian wannabe dictator convicted felon rapist fraudulent white nationalist dickhead.

Continue to talk about Gaza. Scream about Gaza, in fact. The horrifying tragedy happening there will only be exponentially worse under a Trump regime. Everything you think she might be bad at, he would be worse in ways I don't think many of us care to imagine.

And vote blue down the ballot, please, thank you.

[woman-respecter]

Here's the thing: if you can't vote your way into saving Palestine you can't vote your way into dooming it either. Pro Palestine activists themselves admit it, there's an entire post by f*iruzfan where someone asks which solution to take and they say "there's none and you should be angry about it", but when someone decides to cast a pragmatic vote to ensure the guy who wants to make being gay illegal, among other atrocities, don't take office they're the first ones to yell "YOU'RE THROWING US UNDER THE BUS". Why, I thought this issue was out of our hands, so how are we making it worse for you? They're the ones who think the safety of everyone being directly threatened by Trump's agenda must be thrown under the bus in the name of an empty gesture of solidarity to Palestine that won't help it in any material way, they're the ones who think the lives of these people are disposable and negotiable, and they are reverse projecting it into everyone who dares to care about more than one issue and concentrate their efforts on the people they CAN help

i do think the person we vote into the oval office will have an effect on the situation in i/p but its solely going to be NEGATIVE if harris loses. but yeah, if they really think that the election will have no bearing on i/p, from a purely utilitarian perspective, it is ridiculous to not cast a vote to at least help vulnerable americans (in most cases including THEMSELVES bc most of tumblr is lgbt and many are not white. leopards eating my face party fr.) but they don't care about vulnerable americans, just their moral purity.

[anatovrocktail]

The UK general election is on Thursday and I keep seeing things about tactical voting to get the Tories out. I've even seen people well respected in the local voluntary community say this.

One posted "think of the most vulnerable person you know and vote like their life depends on it".

Okay, but that's not Labour. The most vulnerable friend I have is trans and disabled both physically and mentally. Labour won't help them.

I've voted Labour since I could vote, I was a member for a bit but they don't speak to me or the people I care about anymore.

[speedyslothboi]

I spent an hour making a flower crown today. I'd never made one before. It didn't turn out very good; clumsy knots and and sticky fingers and broken petals but I still put it on and smiled. I never got that kind of childhood. I wondered if this is what healing feels like: sitting on a picnic table, gently warmed by the sun, breathing in the world. I have so much to do (an ap psych test in three days, ethics bowl nationals and science olympiad state to prepare for, a read through for the play on Monday) and instead I went outside and listened to the birds.

Then I got home and cried. Because 30,000 people will never get to make a flower crown again (and how many never had? It took me 17 years. That's more time than many of them ever got). I haven't breathed clearly in 6 months; a weight on my chest and a pit in my stomach but for one hour, I felt like I could breathe, the smell of grass unfamiliar but comfortable (and how many died in that time? Trapped under rubble? The weight on their chests real).

I feel like I've been sitting Shiva for strangers halfway across the world but I'll die before I finish mourning (575 years is a lot to ask of this body). I'm not doing a very good job. But what else can I do but remember? I don't know know what to do with myself. I'm heartbroken and horrified and I am so angry. I go to school and hear kids talk about tik tok drama and I want to grab them and shake them and yell "how can you think about anything else? How can breathe around your guilt well enough to speak?" I feel like I know to much and too little, never informed fast enough. I feel like I'm grieving and like I have no right to grieve. I'm tired. I'm not doing well (I can't remember the last time I brushed my teeth and I still need to schedule my fillings and do my laundry and change my sheets) but I feel so selfish doing anything to make myself happy, like I'm stealing joy I don't deserve. And I know that I'm burnt-out (years into it) and that I have to take care of myself too but I just don't know how to carry all this grief. And this isn't about me (I'm making it about me, aren't I?)

This will be the first presidential election I get to vote in and I can't vote for him, I can't. And I'm scared. People keep saying it's selfish not to but I'm the one who will face the consequences. I'm one of the "vulnerable" people (does that make it self-sacrificial? Does that make it okay? To risk my communities if I am at risk too?)

Paul Alexander died three weeks ago. I can't stop thinking about him. (Most of the articles won't tell you why though; that one of the most vulnerable members of society was abandoned to a disease that has killed 3 million). I keep seeing inspiration porn articles about how he didn't let his disability "stop him" (I feel like I'm "letting" mine stop me). None of them mention "I love the sun, but I haven't felt it in a long time. It's lonely." (I feel lonely all the time but I didn't feel lonely at the park, with dirt in my fingernails. I don't really believe in heaven but I hope it exists so Paul can sit in the sun again). I think of Paul and I am filled with rage. 5,000 people die of covid every week; that's one person every five minutes (how is that okay? how could you abandon us for "normal"?) and I'm one of three people out of 2200 at my school who still wear a mask. I got the most recent booster two days ago (the one only the "vulnerable" can get as if long covid isn't becoming an increasingly documented mass disabling event. And the genocide is one too. And what about the countries we blocked from getting vaccines with patents. How dare we condemn the global south to suffer without vaccines only to stop getting them). And I need to buy more masks (yet another expense to exist while disabled) and they aren't free anymore so it's another 3 hours of work. Cases keep rising despite the lack of testing and wastewater doesn't lie. And whats the new variant? News isnt reporting on it anymore because "no one cares" (I care. I need to believe others would care if they knew. Maybe thats just wishful thinking) I still have at home tests but their negatives feel like taunts (a positive is a positive though, I remember)

I don't really have any friends. I have acquaintances and people I work with for projects but I don't want them to be my friends. My mom and my therapist keep telling me to reach out and do things with them (I know it would be good for me to socialize but doing so would put me at risk. They can't even wear a mask, and I'm supposed to choose to spend extra time with them?) Neither my mom or therapist wears a mask. (My mom fought for me when doctors didn't believe anything was wrong. Fought for 7 years to get a diagnosis and now she won't protect me.) I go to the doctors and even they aren't wearing masks (didn't you learn your lesson?).

I've seen people complain about "boycott fatigue" and I'm just wonder how you are surprised? I lost faith 2 years ago when people decided that disabled people's lives weren't worth discomfort (I used to value the nuance, how it isnt that simple. Now my compassion is shot. My empathy used up on three million deaths. But it is, isnt it? Simple that is. You just dont care enough). When the accessibility we begged for for years that had been "impossible" was suddenly "easy" when everyone needed and then taken away just as quickly. The second you could leave us behind, you did. So how could I be surprised people would do the same for Falastin? I love theatre, and I'm excited for too much light. But half of them will walk in with Starbucks on Monday (and none of them will be wearing a mask) and I know these people will never truly be my people (I resent them and love them but mostly I'm disappointed.)

I've been crying alot. I never used to cry. Sometimes I feel like that means I'm healing (some of the time I wonder if I have the right to heal right now). It's like this grief keeps overflowing but the world keeps turning (and how can everyone keep living right now?) and homework keeps coming and the genocide keeps happening and I need to get back to making my magma composition notes. (I left the flower crown at the park. I felt guilty about picking the flowers; that must be bad for the environment, right? How selfish, to kill things just to make a silly crown, and I didnt even do it very well. It fell apart within a minute. An hour of work crumpled in my hands. A moment of enjoyment stolen at the cost of life, what a bad vegan I am. Anyway, i left the flowers there, to decompose where they were born)

[dvasva]

I have a sincere question.

How will not voting for Biden help? Threatening not to hasn't worked to make him do anything to stop this monstrosity and I'm sure Trump will be (however slightly) worse.

I'm just wondering what you're proposing as a solution here? Are you just saying that it's selfish or something to care about how much worse things will get in the us while there's a genocide going on, or is there some alternative to voting for Biden that will actually help because I want to help whatever I can to stop the genocide.

/genuine

I'm gonna be genuine and honest when I say this; at this point, if you don't already dislike Biden and feel the same way I do, I doubt anything I will say will convince you one way or another, and I can tell your question is coming from this fearmongering rhetoric that was born during the 2020 election of 'Vote Blue no matter who', that I didn't agree with back then and I definitely don't agree with now.

I'm gonna level with you right up top, answer your question first, tell you what I think about all of this, even though it's not the most cheery thing. I don't think there's anything that will make things better. I think we are living in a rotting corpse that is like at most 6 months away from exploding from the built up pressure of gasses. I honestly don't know why you even asked me of all people. I can only really support community outreach, community building and mutual aid to mitigate the inevitable harm this whole clusterfuck, either way, will cause to the most vulnerable people, and can only urge you to do the same. We cannot have any political action until people start building community outside of online spaces. That is the biggest flaw of modern leftist political praxis, the lack of community. This is why the college protests are fantastic, because it is a small scale general strike amongst students, with people organizing and providing mutual aid to make organizing easy for the most amount of people possible. That's my solution. Mutual aid.

And, despite how I feel about questions like this, (especially considering aside from a few replies in various posts, and a generally active reblog and tag life about Palestine and Biden, I haven't made any original posts about this and I'm like... a rando with like less than 200 followers, so it's weird that you're coming to me with this question) I will treat this like a genuine question.

That being said, I did vote for Biden in 2020, despite my reservations. So, anything that happened during his presidency puts blood on my hands as much as anything.

I'll kind of start with saying that I am a hispanic, mexican, nonbinary person with a uterus and disabilities from Texas. My current governor is Greg Abbot and a lot of the most heinous conservative bills and debates regarding immigration, police, free speech, lgbt issues, abortion, etc, have taken place in my state where I live, and I am distantly related to Linda Coffee, one of the Roe v. Wade lawyers.

So, I'm not like. Some cishet white guy from Wisconsin who has never seen or witnessed oppression and who doesn't have any stake in any of this, and thinks the edgiest thing I can do is not participate in the system.

I come at this issue from multiple angles, and these are not like... the official political opinions of everyone who has ever agreed with me, this is just mine.

To start with, 1. I'm still voting in local and state elections, and 2. I don't believe in rewarding bad behavior. You said 'Threatening to not vote for him hasn't done anything to change his behavior' and so I'm going to carry through with my threat. Consequences and all that. Not that it really matters what I vote in presidential elections anyways. I live in Texas, a winner take all state. As we have seen multiple times, the popular vote is meaningless, and the only thing that matters is the electoral college. Texas is gerrymandered to all hell, and it's districts are drawn in a way that will always favor republicans. Until our corrupt ass state can finally manage, by some fluke, to vote in a non-republican who is actually willing to redistrict the state and prevent gerrymandering (which they wont do cause they're all chickenshit), all of Texan electoral college votes will go to the Republican candidate. I know we're not supposed to say our vote doesn't matter cause 'every little bit helps' but my vote literally does not matter in a real, tangible, way.

I know a lot of people are scared of having their rights stripped away, sure, but none of you have listened to POC, especially to POC living in southern states. All of this stuff that Trump is threatening? The more police, the border stuff, anti-trans bills, abortion? It's already happening in this country. I don't have abortion rights, I don't have freedom of speech on college campuses, I don't have a right to form a new union, I don't have trans rights, and if the police wanted to, they could pull over anyone in my family and arrest and deport them simply because of the color of their skin, regardless if they're actually an immigrant or not. Cop Cities are popping up around the world, the police is militarized and think it's ok to violently arrest peaceful protesters on college campuses. Meanwhile, the rich keep getting richer. Rafah was invaded last night, tanks placed on the border preventing anyone from leaving into Egypt anymore, and all the while the richest fuckers in this entire country, many of whom have voiced open and intense support for Israel, all met up with their tickets that cost 75k to take pictures in their pretty outfits and ignore the ongoing genocide.

All of this stuff is already happening regardless of who's in charge, and the only difference between Trump and Biden, to be honest? Northern Liberals will actually care about what's happening if Trump is in office. If Trump did everything that Biden did, there would be mass outrage about Palestine from every single Vote Blue No Matter Who person who's around. It's easy to blame the people whose rights have already disappeared for the threat that your rights might disappear as well. This Vote Blue No Matter Who thing is a cry for comfort. It is the people who are not feeling the effects of the crumbling empire we live in crying out, screaming 'Let me feel the comfort for a little bit longer, I don't want to be subjected to the things that others are already subjected to! I just want to be comfortable for a little bit longer!' And I honestly am not interested in voting for white northern comfort just because the other guy is threatening to take that away too.

And you are right. I do think it's selfish to try to focus on your own comfort while ignoring the active genocide of Palestinians, the ethnic cleansing being done with American Money, the thing that puts blood on every taxpayers hands, a true example of Taxation without Representation. Palestine is not the sacrificial lamb that we are entitled to trample over to ensure that we are comfortable. To think so is so monstrously dehumanizing, to say 'I can't focus on that cause I have to worry about me' while actively funding it. That's the biggest catching point for me. We have a responsibility to oppose Biden, to not vote for him and to actively call for him to step down and allow a different person to run, if not dismantling the system entirely, because this blood is on our hands.

Other people have said a lot more clever things about this than me, but Palestinian oppression is directly linked to all oppression around the world. Police in the US train with IOF soldiers, use the same methods on american citizens as IOF use on Palestinian citizens. This is not a case of 'two random countries that have nothing to do with us duke it out'. Israel is acting with the direct and explicit blessing of Joe Biden and the United States Government. He is, even for the standards of Democrats who like to say pretty words while bombing brown people, a warmonger. Like, violently so. Biden is legitimately more dangerous than anyone is giving him credit for, and is actively and openly funding blatant and obvious war crimes. That should honestly get him arrested and tried in an international criminal court.

Anyhow, that's all that from an American perspective. If you wanna really figure out what to do to help, seek out voices who actually know what they're talking about instead.

I recommend Imani Barbarin:

Also, check out my pinned post for ways you can provide a bit of support or learn more about the active ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestine.

Especially check out Esims for Gaza. Aid has been inconsistent at best, but if you can't find anything else to do, send esims to help keep Palestine connected to the world.

[fatfemmefreaquency]

if you’re demonizing people who didn’t vote for the democrats i’m probably going to unfollow/ soft block you in the next bit

(that’s the closest i’ll come to my version of and a response to the “if you didn’t vote for Harris unfollow me RIGHT NOW” crowd)

I only have time for compassion & willingness to connect with others and try to understand & have dialogue in order to move towards solidarity, change, and justice

I don’t want to be harsh and I don’t want to be angry—this isn’t a hard boundary of the “unfollow me now” variety

but at the same time what the FUCK y’all

rather than building walls and being spiteful and angry maybe it’s time to build a better coalition & more solidarity

we need to reach out to people who you disagree with and genuinely connect around what their priorities and needs are. to make community. to take care of each other

if you’re saying fascist shit like “I’m glad that people who didn’t vote democrat are fucking around and finding out” maybe assess why you’re “glad arabs and latinos who didn’t vote democrat are going to be deported”

if you’re talking like that: where’s your head at? fucking take just a MOMENT to really think about your reaction, because it’s not an acceptable one

if you’re saying shit like “well trans people who didn’t vote for Harris deserve to suffer the consequences” THINK AGAIN

seriously: rethink. take a step back and process because the processing you’re doing right now is irrational, vindictive, violent and, yes, FASCIST

you don’t get to punish your own notion of an “enemy within” in the Left just because you don’t understand, or agree with their personal choices

if you’re out here screaming & yelling at and cyberbullying people who couldn’t bring themselves to vote for genocide, vote for a party & a candidate that courted the endorsements of war criminals, a law & order candidate (and a law and order establishment party in general), for pro-cop, pro-prison politics and at BEST weak and poorly outlined platforms around healthcare, the economy, and environmentalism:

it’s time to consider that maybe your vitriol and inability to engage compassionately (along with the same failings in the Democratic establishment) is the real thing that cost the Dems & Harris the election

it isn’t leftists & idealists that failed to make the Democratic platform tolerable for the people the Democrats are actively killing & committing genocide against (Latinos, Black americans, people in US occupied territories, Palestinians, trans people, and more)

it’s the shift of the Democratic party’s leadership that is becoming more fascist that has people refusing to vote for them

its the shift of some of the “vote blue no matter who” crowd towards fascism that is the issue, too. is some goddamn solidarity too much to ask for?

at the very least can you be generous? can you listen? stop making this about you if you’re not a direct target of the genocide & other violence that the Democrats perpetrate as part of the US empire

It cannot be said enough that your inability as liberal or as a so called “progressive” or “leftist” or “queer” to recognize that you need to build empathetic, compassionate, and genuine solidarity is a much bigger issue than people who didn’t “vote blue no matter who (even if they’re committing genocide)”

it’s on us to shift the needle by being tolerant and choosing to listen and respond to the victims of genocide with true care & compassion. we will only make change by building solidarity

It is not on the most vulnerable, marginal, and subaltern people living under the weight of US imperial & capitalist violence to hold their nose and vote for the slightly less violent and the more covertly fascist party

it is not the responsibility of a lamb to vote for the shepherd who will beat them into submission & a life of oppression rather than the wolf that devours

it’s on the safest & more privileged people to fight against all tyranny and to shelter, protect, and have solidarity with the most vulnerable among us

if your response is to say “maybe those lambs deserve to get eaten & beaten because they wouldn’t endorse one of their two oppressors” it’s time to sit with your thoughts & find a new way to be

i’ll be here to build a better future with you when you get there

or if you want to chat (genuinely) and work through your frustration & move towards solidarity: I’m here right now. let’s talk. i truly wish you the best. i wish the best for all of us