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Politicians Will Not Save Us. (lemmy.zip)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/politicalmemes@lemmy.world
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Grassroots organization will save us.

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[–] 2 points 1 year ago (1 child)

Look around, the majority of people don't vote, and haven't historically. Capitalism thrives on civil inactivity, and it is getting worse. So what you do is provably not efficacious, if it were the fact that most people do not vote would have weakened the capitalist state, it proves to do the opposite. It also just helps to cement the two party dictatorship.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

    Something that is frustrating is that chem is right about their complaints, but then don't want to do much for it. I get the tought my way or the highway, but the incumbents are happy to take the highway on our leftists position.

    Like I'm empathic to a lot of the discourse here. At one point I felt against UBI because it felt like a bribe to not address inequality and such. But then I though about it, and it still helps those who are most vulnerable to joblessness and automation be less desperate and exploitably. So I can't say no to it.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 child)

    Yeah, I don't think capitalism is sustainable, and the we need to more away from it for a lot of reasons. These kinds of actions though, they prove ineffective, and at worst they actively push people away. Which is my point with the fact that if anyone stops this bill from cutting 14 million people from they need to live, it will be the democrats, and anyone who sees these sentiments, and then has the democrats come in for them, in a life saving situation, will likely be pushed more towards being liberals. They will take away from this type of interaction that leftists are the coddled, privileged, kids they were told to expect, and move away from it.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Yeah, I don’t think capitalism is sustainable

    The more you learn about it and how it has historically played out, yes. And a big part of why I am a lefty.

    On a somewhat historical approach revolutionaries are oppressed and kept down, and that does mean that those in power have implicitly give up all bargaining power by refusing dialog. I feel that in a sense we have done similar to ourselves electorally. We won't participate and organize there, so no one will ever take us seriously and our issues are never heard. Voting lesser evil is not a long term solution, but it is lower effort than organizing a new third party. Even still it is less effort than picking up a rifle and holding down a trench. I get that in the discourse it feels like the fastest way (unfounded assumption that war is ever fast)and that sentiments for a total revolution is always around the corner. Given that we won't have any third party organization now I don't see how it will form and put our ideas out in more chaos. Presumably the most informed on the subject matters and theory are also the most bought in and going to be leaders, who cannot be bothered to commit an evening to the lowest effort civic engagement.

    I think we have some good leaders in AOC and Mamdami to start some foundations, but I fear apathy might mean no shows and they genuinely lose their seats or have to make even more compromises than they otherwise have to.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

    Voting lesser evil is not a long term solution

    agreed. It is about mitigating how much damage is done before change, of whatever form, can be affected. Mamdani's popularity, even if it is NYC, thus more fertile ground for progressives, is a good sign. The way all of the establishment reacted to him killing that primary tells me this is a guy I want to back. So I have. I am also active with several activist, and specifically leftist, groups. We have moved the little, dying, shit hole city, I currently live in, more progressive. We have restructured, what used to be, the worst projects in the state to a place, which is still all section 8, into a nice place, where people get town houses, and the same space has more resident capacity, and have yards, and have freedom to like repaint, redo the garden, etc. Things to make it feel like their home, not a human filing cabinet. This worked, super well. The crime in my neighborhood has plunged since then. We have also accomplished free public transportation, though it is pretty limited compared to more developed countries. We are working on ending the status of food desert for my neighborhood, and the surrounding ones, too.

    There is more, primarily getting changes to the DA, a judge, and city council, and other local politicians, but I think you get the idea. The shift in crime from the project reform basically assured our current mayor was going to get re-elected, and even though I have some big differences in ideas than he does, he is very progressive, you know, for a US politician. If this wasn't a dying place we probably would have gotten further than we have thus far.

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