smitten on Nostr: I know a lot of people are disengaged this election because of how horrific the Biden ...
I know a lot of people are disengaged this election because of how horrific the Biden administration has been acting. The main theme is "I won't be complicit" or "I won't give my permission". I think this is an admirable goal but it's too focused on action as a source of blame. Supporting genocide is not like a sin where it gloms onto you if you choose it and you can remain pure otherwise. It's already all over you, if you live in the US. There's no opt-out that absolves you.
People often attribute moral judgments more severely to action rather than non-action, but that's a false distinction. Non-action can be incredibly harmful, just look at not wearing a mask or not opening a window when it comes to covid. I think strategy is a valid idea to apply to a situation like this, what strategy improves the situation? I do believe that Trump winning would make things worse for people in Palestine, the war would likely escalate even worse than it is now. So I believe I am obligated to try my best to prevent that. The result, a Harris administration, will not be "good" in an absolute sense, if she's anything like Biden it will be horrific actually. But I don't think that's a good reason to let Trump win.
There may be some solid arguments for not voting, but I think they need to rise above the level of an individualistic sense of purity. If you believe that not voting or voting third party is a way to 'wash your hands' of the situation, I think you would prefer to feel like you opted-out. You believe that damaging consequences of non-action don't count, which I think is wrong.
The other common rationale is that Trump winning would spark the revolution. This is salvation ideology repackaged. step one Trump wins, step two ???, step three revolution. Personally I don't buy it, why wasn't covid and climate catastrophe enough to spark the revolution? If Trump wins, the next few years will mostly look like the last eight years, but with Israel escalating its aggression and with more desperation for people domestically.
People often attribute moral judgments more severely to action rather than non-action, but that's a false distinction. Non-action can be incredibly harmful, just look at not wearing a mask or not opening a window when it comes to covid. I think strategy is a valid idea to apply to a situation like this, what strategy improves the situation? I do believe that Trump winning would make things worse for people in Palestine, the war would likely escalate even worse than it is now. So I believe I am obligated to try my best to prevent that. The result, a Harris administration, will not be "good" in an absolute sense, if she's anything like Biden it will be horrific actually. But I don't think that's a good reason to let Trump win.
There may be some solid arguments for not voting, but I think they need to rise above the level of an individualistic sense of purity. If you believe that not voting or voting third party is a way to 'wash your hands' of the situation, I think you would prefer to feel like you opted-out. You believe that damaging consequences of non-action don't count, which I think is wrong.
The other common rationale is that Trump winning would spark the revolution. This is salvation ideology repackaged. step one Trump wins, step two ???, step three revolution. Personally I don't buy it, why wasn't covid and climate catastrophe enough to spark the revolution? If Trump wins, the next few years will mostly look like the last eight years, but with Israel escalating its aggression and with more desperation for people domestically.