mekka okereke :verified:
Both things are true:
1) Democrats winning is needed for preventing a slide to open fascism.
2) Trans people have objectively fewer rights and much less safety than even four years ago. Despite the centrist efforts, trans folk are losing ground. Fast.
I 100% don't agree with Ice Cube's tactics. But they're born out of centrists taking Black votes for granted for decades. The logical counter for that, is "Don't take Black votes for granted."
Dana Fried
@deilann @mekkaokereke that's real cynical, especially when you consider the massive advancements that were made legally and socially under recent centrist democrats.
I'm not saying Black people are wrong about democrats taking their votes largely or completely for granted, but a Democrat winning is a necessity for the continued safety of queer families throughout much of the US.
Dana Fried
@deilann @mekkaokereke also: voting blocks aren't going to matter under fascism
Pax Ahimsa Gethen
As a Black trans person I refuse to support either the Democrats or the Republicans. Couldn't care less about Ice Cube's tactics; this has been my stance for a long time.
AnthonyJK-Admin
@shoq @funcrunch @mekkaokereke @tess @deilann
Uhhhh.....no.
Consistently voting for the "lesser evil" without any tangible results or policies only results in the evil becoming greater and greater. Democrats have done next to nothing to effectively oppose the Right, other than tokenism and empty platforms that are tossed like tissue to feed the furnaces of the corporate Center and the war machine.
Why not build an actual party for good, instead of having us choose between two evils?
Shoq
@funcrunch @mekkaokereke @tess @deilann Of course, not voting for the lesser of two evils, fails to negate one vote for the greater of the two evils. Thus, it actually is voting. Just too often it’s voting for the wrong side.
https://theconversation.com/why-there-really-is-no-ethical-reason-not-to-vote-193612
AnthonyJK-Admin
@shoq @funcrunch @mekkaokereke @tess @deilann
So....my choice to be a Black Indy Leftist and only support candidates that follow my personal values and politics puts "the rest of us at risk" because I don't reflexively support right-wing Democrats?
Nope. That won't fly anymore.
I despise the fascist GOQP as much as anyone, but I am NOT going to give the Democrats any more reward for their failure to effectively oppose the Right, if not actively pander to them.
Time for a real Left party.
Shoq
@funcrunch @mekkaokereke @tess @deilann
I assure you I’ve heard your essay a few hundred times. It’s pointless trying to shame you or blame you. I’m simply pointing out that as a factual matter your choices do help put the rest of us at risk. So have no Illusions about your choices. If you feel shame or blame from those facts, that’s a choice too.
Pax Ahimsa Gethen
@shoq @mekkaokereke @tess @deilann
I refuse to be shamed or blamed for my voting choices. Read my essay if you haven't already.
AnthonyJK-Admin
@shoq @funcrunch @mekkaokereke @tess @deilann
I can't speak for Ice Cube, but I'm guessing that he has the privilege and the power to attempt to woo Republicans to his cause by appealing to their "colorblindness" and attempting to play political brinksmanship.
I don't have his class privilege, so I have to go another route: building an Independent Left opposition movement & party against not only the Republicans AND Democrats, but the system they feed from.
He has his methods; I have mine.
AnthonyJK-Admin
Thanks, but if continuing to vote for Democrats who simply do not prove effective in fighting against the Republicans, and even cross the aisle and enable the GOQP in their assaults on marginalized people, has permanently lost my interest.
You can talk all about "third parties" being the "graveyard of political activism", but all I see is that continuing to rely on Democrats as the only true opposition to the Republicans has been a spectacular failure due to their lurch to the Right.
Shoq
@AnthonyJK If going another route means you’re not voting for Democrats, or encouraging others not to, I’m not interested in that movement. The time to create movements is well before a current election cycle where choices and outcomes this stark. Even under ideal circumstances, third party movements in American are the graveyard of political activism. But Republicans always get behind them if they can hurt Democrats. Which they typically do.
AnthonyJK-Admin
Funny how you reduce all criticism of Democrats from the Indy Left to "Republican plants" while the Democratic Party leadership continues to lurch towards Reaganism & corporate conservatism.
I could care less about "hurting Democrats" because I am far more concerned about my own position as a working class man who has been battered by 40+ years of conservative policies enabled by BOTH major parties. Also, I am a registered Independent, so I have no obligation to "help" Democrats.
AnthonyJK-Admin
Not to mention, I absolutely resent the attitude that we on the Left are obligated to support Democrats -- even and especially the most conservative ones -- without any bit of reward in actual policies in return, other than empty platform planks and campaign promises that are immediately watered down or tossed altogether to please the corporate conservative donors.
It's as if we on the Left are treated like basement dwellers to emerge only on Election Day, only to disappear otherwise.
AnthonyJK-Admin
You may not have said it directly, but it is standard practice for loyalist Democrats to denounce any criticism of their party's leadership from the Indy Left as GOQP plants or enablers; and your rebuttal statement reinforces that idea that we directly enable the Right by not simply backing Democrats.
Sorry. No sale here.
My vote and my principles are MY business, and I will vote accordingly. Don't bring your vote-shaming bullshit over here.
Peace.
Shoq
I don’t see where I said you were a “Republican plant.” Regardless, your argument is as old as the Republic and I’ve heard it since junior high school You say you have been battered by conservatives, but it sounds like you’re fully prepared to help elect more of them so long as you don’t have to pull the lever for a democrat. I am sure a few people in your life think that’s principled and courageous. I think it’s ridiculous, reckless, and dangerous.
AnthonyJK-Admin
No, sir.
What I am actually saying is that I do not like the way things are, I refuse to participate in a rigged game, AND I will work to change the game for the betterment of all through developing new modes of political and social change.
If you can't accept that because your privilege allows you to stick with Democrats, then that's your issue, not mine.
Again, peace.
Shoq
@AnthonyJK this argument is literally as old as the party system itself. All you’re saying is that you don’t like the way things are and you refuse to participate in it. . Bully for you. Such a courageous stance. I mean capitulation. Don’t try to rationalize it any other way. Bullshit is bullshit no matter how you dress it up for public consumption.
Lumpenproletariat Bike Mayor
@emilygorcenski @mekkaokereke @tess @deilann there's no right to health care at all so there's definitely no right to trans health care.
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