this post was submitted on 13 Jun 2025
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Antique Memes Roadshow

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[–] atro_city@fedia.io 127 points 4 weeks ago (3 children)

Voting doesn't change anything.

*doesn't vote*

Things get worse.

*surprised pikachu*

[–] tdawg@lemmy.world 62 points 4 weeks ago (3 children)

When local elections only have a 20% turnout we actually don't know if voting works or not

[–] teslasaur@lemmy.world 32 points 4 weeks ago (14 children)

Yup. Thats why i say to people, vote locally or run locally. If you actually want change.

[–] NaibofTabr@infosec.pub 22 points 4 weeks ago

When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world.
I found it was difficult to change the world, so I tried to change my nation.
When I found I couldn't change the nation, I began to focus on my town.
I couldn't change the town and as an older man, I tried to change my family.

Now, as an old man, I realize the only thing I can change is myself, and suddenly I realize that if long ago I had changed myself, I could have made an impact on my family.
My family and I could have made an impact on our town.
Their impact could have changed the nation and I could indeed have changed the world.

Rabbi Yisrael Salanter

There are two lessons here:

  1. Start local. This will have a greater impact on your life anyway. The desire to have a large, world-affecting impact is more likely motivated by a desire for attention and recognition than it is by a desire to help other people.
  2. You cannot force other people to change, and in fact you have no moral ground on which to expect that other people will or should behave the way that you personally think they ought to.
[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 5 points 4 weeks ago

I wouldn't recommend running unless you're really invested in municipal issues. Most people cannot be arsed about road maintenance schedules and budgeting.

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[–] stebo02@sopuli.xyz 15 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

tbf the lower the turnout, the more powerful your vote is, so that should be a good reason to vote on its own

[–] tdawg@lemmy.world 4 points 4 weeks ago

Yeah unfortunately that's how minority views (racist bullshit) gets pushed through easily

[–] Signtist@bookwormstory.social 3 points 4 weeks ago

Whether or not people care enough to do something is the first and most important factor in determining whether it works or not.

[–] lnxtx@feddit.nl 31 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

*voted*

Things get worse anyway.

*cat shrug*

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 12 points 4 weeks ago

Unfortunately, lots of people who don't vote need to for this to work.

[–] Nalivai@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

*votes once in a presidential election*

Thinks they did everything there is to do in democracy.

[–] ScottThePoolBoy@lemmy.world 46 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

And that is why they succeed.

[–] Zachariah@lemmy.world 34 points 4 weeks ago (3 children)

That and all of us just scraping by each day with no capacity left to spare.

[–] spankmonkey@lemmy.world 14 points 4 weeks ago

Also the voter suppression, gerrymandering, court shopping, SCOTUS stacking, propaganda channels...

[–] Caesium@lemmy.world 7 points 4 weeks ago

yeah, I really want to do something. I want to fight back. but my job has taken everything out of me and it's barely enough to skirt above the line of a depressive state nowadays. I hate how I can't will myself to fight

[–] darkdemize@sh.itjust.works 6 points 4 weeks ago

Which is by design.

[–] RadicalEagle@lemmy.world 5 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] ScottThePoolBoy@lemmy.world 4 points 4 weeks ago

100%. As long as we have 2 day shipping and streaming services, we'll just let it all burn.

[–] PixelatedSaturn@lemmy.world 31 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Living too comfortably is not the main problem. There problem is when you are struggling. When you are struggling you don't care about anything else but your immediate circumstances. You are in constant triage. And now and more people are forced into that .

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 5 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

Happy cake day, but comfortable and satisfied are two very different things, and most people in the West are still very comfortable. What you're saying might apply to Gaza. Here, 90% of people honestly haven't considered that they're part of history and bad things could happen.

[–] The_Picard_Maneuver@lemmy.world 31 points 4 weeks ago

Have you tried vacillating between comfortable indifference and acute outrage on an hour-by-hour basis?

[–] 0laura@lemmy.dbzer0.com 31 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

I hate my government but I'm too disabled to do anything about it

[–] zip@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

I was just thinking the same thing. :( I'm right there with ya and I know how miserable and sucky it is. I'm sorry. 🫂

[–] TheThrillOfTime@lemmy.ml 26 points 4 weeks ago

Damn didn't have to come for me like that

[–] wpb@lemmy.world 17 points 4 weeks ago

Well I try to do my part by telling the protestors that they're doing it wrong.

[–] gwilikers@lemmy.ml 16 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (1 children)

This isnt unique to the first world. In fact, I'd argue it's even more prevalent in many developing countries where government incompetence and corruption is more appearant.^1^ In places where things like war and famine are in living memory, a shit government can seem like an acceptable tradeoff.

  1. A relative rule of course, the current US executive branch would give any tinpot dictator a run for their money.
[–] Retrograde@lemmy.world 5 points 4 weeks ago

This guy cites

[–] x00z@lemmy.world 10 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Keep the peasant happy and they will not revolt.

[–] LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 2 points 4 weeks ago

New rule: Let 'em be unhappy - as long as they can feel like badass justice warriors by venting online, they will not revolt.

[–] EmpathicVagrant@lemmy.world 8 points 4 weeks ago
[–] stebo02@sopuli.xyz 1 points 4 weeks ago

thank past governments for that

[–] DMCMNFIBFFF@lemmy.world 1 points 4 weeks ago