this post was submitted on 20 Jun 2025
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[–] febra@lemmy.world 9 points 6 hours ago

Because the only thing both parties have to offer is capitalism, which inevitably always morphs into oligarchy and fascism.

[–] Gammelfisch@lemmy.world 4 points 6 hours ago

How about the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)?

[–] Ironfist79@lemmy.world 22 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago)

It's true. I'm sick of Republicans but I'm also sick of weak, ineffectual Democrats who keep rolling over and snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. When it comes down to it, most Democrats are still capitalists which does not help to solve the issues at hand. We need a real leftist party who will actually take action and change this country for the better.

[–] match@pawb.social 13 points 12 hours ago

i always knew we had more in common than we did dividing us

[–] BlameTheAntifa@lemmy.world 33 points 1 day ago (1 children)

You have a choice between a room temperature Pepsi and being hit in between the eyes with a hammer repeatedly, and while I am also sick of this stupid binary choice, I don’t keep voluntarily choosing the hammer. This is truly a “we’ve tried nothing and are all out of ideas” scenario.

[–] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 14 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

If you cannot refuse both, there is no choice. You're just forcing people to drink lukewarm pepsi by threatening them with a hammer between the eyes.

[–] lennivelkant@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

For the most realistic path to that end, the hammer would become so unpopular that an actually decent choice would stand a chance of being more than a spoiler to the Pepsi. For that to work, the Pepsi would need at least twice the approval of the hammer, which would require compromise for the sake of common purpose. Then, the decent alternative would need to be united enough to start pulling the balance, which would also require compromise on lesser points.

But that level of unity seems impossible for many of the progressive factions I see. They're fed up with compromise, and I get it. I just don't think a lasting improvement will happen without it.

[–] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 4 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago) (1 children)

But that level of unity seems impossible for many of the progressive factions I see. They’re fed up with compromise, and I get it. I just don’t think a lasting improvement will happen without it.

Do you think that compromise is what the party has been doing with progressives?

Do you think that compromise is what they have been doing with republicans?

They refuse to compromise with the left. They capitulate to the right and call it compromise.

Democrats need to treat the left like constituents. They need to treat the left better than they do the nazis that want to murder us all in camps. They have refused to do so for decades and it's really starting to look like they want the same future the nazis want.

[–] lennivelkant@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 9 hours ago (2 children)

Like I said, I get being fed up with compromise. I'm fed up too. But plurality voting sucks, so let's do some math:

Hammer Party has 45% of the votes. Pepsi Party has 50%. 5% go to some other, minor parties.

Now suppose a Cool Water party appears, clearly better than Warm Pepsi. They start drawing voters, some from the Pepsi, some maybe from non-voters, but the Hammer Party adherents don't relent. They make it to 10%, with the Pepsi Party now standing at, say, 45%. Hammer are down to 43% thanks to higher turnout. Other parties down to 2%.

Next election, more Pepsi compromise voters are encouraged to vote Water. Water is up to 25%! Hammer is at 38% now – we're making progress! Except that the Pepsi party now has a maximum of 37%, if there are no non-voters. Hammer party now has the most votes. That's called the spoiler effect.

Obviously, the Pepsi fraction might see that shift coming and try to avoid it. For that, they'd either have to pull some of the Hammer voters, or accede to the Water voters in hopes of retaining them. Do you think they'll compromise with Water? And do you think the Water voters are willing to trust that compromise?

Unless you somehow manage to rapidly turn a party up to 50% or win a significant amount of voters from both camps, odds are you're going to make things worse. Hopefully, they'll get better after that, unless Hammer Party manages to rig the system in their favour or even get rid of it. Is that a risk worth taking?


For a different example, suppose Water and Pepsi teamed up. Let's take the initial 5% other voters, manage to push Hammer down to 31% and put the Pepsi party at a solid 64%.

For the next election, hammer and other voters remain the same, but the Water party has split off and immediately pulled a solid 25% of voters. Pepsi is still at 39%, still wins. Not ideal, but better than Hammer, right?

The following election sees even more Water voters, maybe higher turnout too. Hammer down to 30%, other voters 2%. Water and Pepsi are a close race, but turn out 33% to 35% in favour of Water.

That's what I mean with compromise: strategically creating a statistical base on which change can be built without risking shooting your own foot.


Of course, the best option would be an actually fair voting system, like Ranked Choice (which is probably easiest to explain), but with how things are now, it'd take a lot of prep work and publicity work to get enough people on board so it doesn't go sideways.

[–] agent_nycto@lemmy.world 2 points 5 hours ago

The article is saying that people in the rust belt are sick of both the warm Pepsi and the hammer, so now would be a great time to come in swinging with cool water because at this point people would actually vote them in over both.

[–] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 3 points 7 hours ago

Your entire explanation is predicated on the belief that the Warm Pepsi party doesn't prefer watching everyone get their faces smashed in by hammers to working with the Cool Water party in any capacity.

This is not the case.

[–] yournamehere@lemm.ee 20 points 1 day ago (1 children)

guess who is sick of both rust and bible belt voters

[–] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 7 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

People who don't want to change their positions to appeal to the electorate.

[–] yournamehere@lemm.ee 1 points 11 hours ago

true. but i guess there might be a bigger party than that...think outside the box...outside the country.

[–] t_berium@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago

So is the rest of the world. Get your shit together, you maniacs!

[–] XTL@sopuli.xyz 74 points 2 days ago (2 children)

So they voted for a dictator to end all this party business.

[–] TheDemonBuer@lemmy.world 43 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (10 children)

Edit: I feel like I need to explain this. For those who don't know, this is from Silence Of The Lambs. The person in the top panel is a serial killer who has the woman in the bottom panel trapped in an old well. He's telling her that she has to rub lotion on her skin or else he will punish her.

The meme is that we, independent American voters, are the woman trapped in the well, and the two-party, American political system is the serial killer. Liberal technocrats tell us that we must vote for them, regardless of whether or not we feel they will actually represent us, because if we don't we will get "punished" with the Republicans.

There is no question that complying with the serial killer is a better option than failing to comply and receiving his punishment. But, regardless, we're trapped in a fucking well, held against our will, by a psycho. Similarly, there's no question the Democrats are a better option than the Republicans, but either way we're being ruled against our will, by people we do not like or believe in.

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[–] jonne@infosec.pub 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Most likely they just didn't vote.

[–] ech@lemm.ee 14 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Same thing. Not voting is explicitly saying either choice is equally good to you.

[–] NauticalNoodle@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

No, not voting is simply not voting. More to the point, not voting is "explicitly" saying you don't care enough to spend the time or energy on casting a vote or you couldn't vote. A person might think it implicitly* says "either choice is equally good", but then I could argue that the Democrat party implicitly considers "either choice equally good" because they didn't attempt to earn the votes.

When it's easier to not vote than come out to vote, then the responsibility is on the candidates to convince their potential constituents to turn out for them.

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[–] altphoto@lemmy.today 19 points 1 day ago (1 children)

And so we'll get another nazi for president.

[–] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 2 points 12 hours ago

I mean, if democrats don't start trying to appeal to voters, that is what will happen. And you will blame the electorate you have been treating with withering contempt for decades like you do every time you lose.

[–] Bahnd@lemmy.world 26 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Then enact a form of ranked-choice or instant-runnoff, or quit complaining.

[–] nulluser@lemmy.world 19 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Oh, darn! If only we'd thought of that sooner! Hold my beer for a moment while I go push the "enact a form of ranked-choice or instant-runnoff" button, that's just been sitting there this whole time. Why didn't you suggest that sooner? It would have saved everyone so much trouble.

[–] explodicle@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 day ago

Ok but that has been a button for decades and we keep deciding other things are more important.

[–] meyotch@slrpnk.net 19 points 1 day ago (1 children)

We will do that when we rebuild from the rubble and reinvent government again. Til then, we need practical action now to preserve lives, not ineffectual righteous exhortation.

Unless you have a concrete plan to enact sweeping electoral process changes within our current system. That’s sort of the problem, our system is designed to resist change.

Sorry to be curt, but we all know there are better ways to enact democracy. Being right about the way we should have been voting all along helps no one.

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[–] knightly@pawb.social 13 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I don't think the Democrats or the Republicans would like that. XD

[–] Anomalocaris@lemm.ee 3 points 1 day ago

they agree on what's good for them but bad for the pubic

[–] Almacca@aussie.zone 8 points 1 day ago

I only see that as a plus.

[–] III@lemmy.world 20 points 1 day ago

Party A told me that party B is bad. I supported party A but now they are hurting me specifically... BoTh PArTieS!!

[–] radiohead37@lemmynsfw.com 22 points 2 days ago (1 children)
[–] cecilkorik@piefed.ca 26 points 1 day ago (7 children)

There are a very significant number of shitty, entrenched, high-ranking members of the Democratic Party both in government and throughout the organization itself at the federal and all lower levels who are absolutely in on this. They're providing a false opposition, appearing to oppose what's happening intentionally without opposing anything at all. They sabotage and undermine any attempt at resistance or true opposition. They refuse to make an issue of anything that might gain significant traction. They are quiet when they should be loud, and loud when they should be quiet, and this is not an accident, it is a misdirection and a form of self-sabotage.

Remember when they rug-pulled Bernie who was winning the primaries? This is not a new or sudden phenomenon, either. They've been working towards this for awhile, and billionaires and corruption have infiltrated both parties maybe not to the same extents but these parties are not your fucking friends. Thinking there's "one good party" vs "one bad party" is exactly how they want you to think and keeps you locked in that two-party system where both parties are corrupt, "I voted for Kodos" is not a useful choice. The reality is there are very bad people in both parties actively working against the working class real humans just trying to live our own damn lives without getting completely fucked by the economy, the police, healthcare, laws, taxes, social supports or any of the other things they manipulate to make our lives difficult and keep us line. This is class war and the Dems, largely, aren't going to save you. Some of them are great. You'll notice none of the "great" ones actually have control over anything, and there's a reason for that. AOC and Bernie are a threat to the Democratic establishment, and they don't want that shit any more than the Republicans do.

Trump took over the Republicans and purged everything that wasn't useful to turn it into his own fascist party. If we all want to rally behind the Democratic Party to oppose it, they must be similarly purged of the corruption that allowed this to happen and continues to enable it. Then and only then can they provide a credible grassroots opposition. Otherwise, we're just running on the same corrupt treadmill we always have been on.

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[–] QuarterSwede@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago (2 children)
[–] Anomalocaris@lemm.ee 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (5 children)

source is literally the post.

edit: thought he was referring to OP, not the public

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[–] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I mean, give them someone else to vote for first. Have you seen how liberals react when you even hint at the idea of a third party?

[–] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 4 points 17 hours ago

Or that they meaningfully be a second party?

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