2092
US Democracy (lemmy.world)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/lemmyshitpost@lemmy.world
329 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 50 points 2 years ago (34 children)

Well, it is nearly dead now.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • hideshow 34 child comments
    •
  • [+] -139 points 2 years ago (33 children)

    The majority voted for the candidate I don’t like. That means democracy is broken.

    Trump said the exact same thing in 2020 and was rightly condemned for it. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Get used to it.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 33 child comments
    •
  • [–] 136 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    He literally said you won't need to vote again. Fucking brain-dead take there.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
    •
  • [–] 53 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    Republicans literally wrote a playbook on how they're going to do it called Project 2025 ya dunce.

    It's clear Americans need to learn the hard way just like Europe did a long time ago.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
    •
  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Germany is heading that way again. Maybe we all haven't learned the real lesson yet.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 35 points 2 years ago* (4 children)

    The majority voted for the candidate I don’t like. That means democracy is broken.

    Don't worry, the US democracy was already broken. That became painfully clear when Trump started whining about not winning the popular vote when he was elected the first time. Being able to lose while having the support of the majority of voters is proof enough:

    Hillary: 65,853,625 votes

    Trump: 62,985,106 votes

    Not every vote has the same weight, which is just completely bonkers and proof that your archaic system is due for a retrofit. Let's just hope it won't get chucked away entirely in the coming years.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
    •
  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (3 children)

    FYI, Trump DID also win the popular vote this year. Perhaps it's time to retire this argument.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
    •
  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (2 children)

    Why? Trump won fair (proverbial at least, I don't think all the misinformation that has been spewed on X counts as 'fair') and square this year, but that doesn't mean your system isn't flawed. Votes from certain states still carry less weight due to improperly distributed electors. Same happened with Gore vs Bush by the way.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 0 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    What part of "he won the popular vote" did you not understand? Across all states, more people voted for him than for Harris. Even if there was no electoral college, he would still be president.

    Unless you're arguing that electoral college votes should be redistributed in a way that ensures the winner will always be a Democrat...

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •
  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago

    Across all states, more people voted for him than for Harris.

    I never said otherwise.

    Unless you're arguing that electoral college votes should be redistributed in a way that ensures the winner will always be a Democrat...

    No, I'm saying that your system needs to be fixed so every vote has the same weight, that's all. The fact that the term 'popular vote' exists at all is the flaw. Who won this year is irrelevant to the argument.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 19 points 2 years ago (12 children)

    I think us non-USians are alluding to the clusterfuck of only having an either/or choice. That’s not how democracy works in most democratic places. There’s only ever two runners and riders that stand any real chance of winning over there. Most people would call that a fixed race.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 12 child comments
    •
  • [–] -1 points 2 years ago (11 children)

    While there technically might be more choices available in other places (for instance, in Germany there's usually at least 2-3 smaller parties that have a legitimate chance to make it into the Bundestag), de facto it still boils down to the two major parties (conservatives and social democrats) duking it out amongst themselves, and voting 3rd party is merely a matter of choosing who their junior partner will be. It might help sway the resulting coalition's direction on some minor issues but the overall direction is still very much decided by the 500 lbs gorilla.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 11 child comments
    •
  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (10 children)

    Someone downvoted you for spitting facts? Interesting. The two US parties are both right of centre, which gives an immediate imbalance. Small parties can have some bearing on their senior partners policies, like you say. I’m assuming Germany has local elections, mayoral elections etc. surely some of the smaller, more niche parties, pick up seats in those if they happen. Trends identified by smaller parties will get picked up by bigger parties, so they serve their worth there, too.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 10 child comments
    •
  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (4 children)

    Results of the last German Federal election:

    It's really not 2 major parties and their junior partners anymore.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
    •
  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    Nice. I was hoping it might look a bit like this. Thanks for researching / posting.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
    •
  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (2 children)

    Unfortunately, the day after Trump was elected, coalition talks between the non-nazi parties in Saxony, a German state, failed. Which means there is no likely way to build a government coalition without a re-election or admittting the far right party in that state now.
    And the day after that, the center-left federal government coalition broke apart, leaving it without a majority, which will trigger an early federal election next year.
    And with current sentiments, the result of that election will likely pose the exact same problem Saxony now has, but for all of Germany.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Whilst things do appear quite bleak across a lot of the European continent right now at least with a parliament that’s receptive to multiple parties there is a hope that one could quickly rise-up from the ashes of those defeated should the AfD (? + others) lurch the country far from the centre in the not too distant future. My confidence isn’t that high, but it is a possibility.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •
  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago

    Unfortunately, the only new development was another split of the left wing party into a new one that wants to appease Russia.

    So we now have:
    AfD (Nazis, Trumpists and Putin fans)
    CDU/CSU (Conservatives increasingly considering a coalition with the nazis)
    FDP (their entire goal is lowering taxes for the rich, and keeping petrol cars legal)
    SPD (Center left, stagnating and inreasingly aimless)
    Greens (unsuccessful in pushing preogress against the others, unpopular due to identity politics)
    Linke (old school left wing, sunken to irrelevancy)
    BSW (most recent split of the left, want to move foreign policy away from NATO towards Russia)

    We now have Putin bootlickers all throughout the political spectrum.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (4 children)

    Someone downvoted you for spitting facts? Interesting.

    Certainly not the first time this has happened.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
    •
  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (3 children)

    It’s wild. No matter how fond you might be of your opinion you’ve got to kick it to the curb when facts unravel it.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
    •
  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (2 children)

    Keep that in mind for when they come after your own sacred cows.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I killed a lot of my sacred cows in my early twenties… but, yeah, good point all the same. I do understand that when you’ve held a belief for so long it is a trauma to a.) realise you’re wrong and b.) reprogramme your mindset. Nothing but respect for people that can accept this and move on.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •