• agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works
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    17 hours ago

    Sure, every grain of rice helps. If polling indicates that they are the only two parties with a chance of winning, voting for anyone else serves no purpose.

    Obviously this would highlight the need to take actions outside voting, but what’s the point of wasting a vote doing nothing, even if all you get is a single grain of rice?

    • porous_grey_matter@lemmy.ml
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      17 hours ago

      Alright, fair enough I guess. I used to think this way too, but I changed my mind about it. I don’t think that voting is actually value neutral, but rather affirmative consent for what the people you vote for then go on to do. There are practical aspects to it - I think it sucks the energy out of taking other actions outside of voting, and gives the winner of the election legitimacy in the eyes of normal people who are kind of checked out - but beyond that I think it morally ties you to the program of the party you voted for. I don’t think someone has to be perfect to be able to vote for them, but there is a line beyond which it is too far. After that, the only thing left to do is to take actions outside voting and not get distracted by the circus.

      • agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works
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        11 hours ago

        I disagree. I don’t think it really sucks any energy out of anything else at all, it’s one or two hours every couple years. And I don’t think the handful of people who would otherwise not vote would shift the perception of normal people.

        Not do I think strategic voting morally ties you to anything. It’s a harm reduction action. You didn’t have to get distracted by the circus, and nothing stops you from taking actions outside voting.