Post #1296785

2026-04-09 17:59 UTC

Its just confusing because I'm told I should have voted for Kamala because: 1. I need to think about more people than myself 2. Sometimes we need to pick a lesser evil for the practical benefit of more people 3. I need to make personal and ideological sacrifices for the greater good 4. I need to accept that hard choices have to be made and be willing to take real action even if it inconveniences me 5. I can't let the perfect be the enemy of the good But from my perspective, that's exactly what I AM doing, in fact to an even greater extent, by not voting for Kamala. And when I bring this up, suddenly your rebuttal is that actually I should be picking.... What's best for me personally in the next couple of years? I *knew* Trump winning would mean disaster for me, my family, my friends. But I felt like Kamala winning would just buy us a few more years of relative peace (at the continued expense of exploiting much of the rest of the world), only to then land us with the same ultimatum ,but with higher stakes, four years later. So I: 1. Thought about more people than myself, my friends, my family. I also thought about their kids, and people all over the world, and about millions of people who haven't even been born yet but one day will grow up under the same horrible America that we'll still have even if progressives manage to undo the last 20 years of crazy. 2. Picked a lesser evil (Trump now) over a greater evil (another century of stable American evil at home and abroad) for the practical benefit of more people (future people and young people) 3. Made personal sacrifices (I need to plan to leave the country) and ideological sacrifices (I don't like picking lesser evils! I wish I could only ever pick good things!) 4. Accepted hard choices (not voting for Kamala) and was willing to take real action (selling all my stuff, boycotting corporations, giving up a hundred comforts, and preparing to leave the country) 5. Didn't let the perfect be the enemy of the good: Of course not voting for Kamala would ideally not be so catastrophic. Ideally vote boycotting would have started decades ago. But oh well, we can't have things be perfect, so I guess starting the change now, messy and painful as it is for me today, will be good for future generations after me

Replies (3)

@Wakmrow@lemmy.world 2026-04-10 15:13

That's the analysis I had about Biden, too. And your analysis was correct then too. We got a few years of not accelerated evil policies (still evil policies but not slam the foot on the gas although that is an open question) then obviously the deteriorating material conditions led to a revolt again against the status quo.

Open ##1296786
@Witchfire@lemmy.world 2026-04-09 18:31

I hate Kamala, I think she's a terrible candidate and don't disagree that she would've just bought us more time. But it's easier to fight back with a persistent cold than with supertuberculosis. Because Trump got elected, my partner and I uprooted our lives, said goodbye to a massive community of people, gave up multiple career prospects, and moved to another country. I'm a trans latina immigrant in a gay relationship, so enemy of the state #1. The battle isn't over either as we're now dealing with immigration. I'm not legally allowed to work so I'm just living off savings right now, and effectively starting from 0. I still worry about my friends back home, many of which are also trans immigrants but who lack the opportunity to move, who are now scrambling to stockpile meds and fighting daily to continue living. I've had to talk friends down from suicide. I have never cried as much as I have in the last year. And I'm just one person. So thank you for that, your direct lack of action contributed to it. I hope your horse was worth the blood on your hands. You're no better than the other centrists eager to throw us under the bus while calling it "progress"

Open ##1296787
@DarkFuture@lemmy.world 2026-04-09 20:05

> I knew Trump winning would mean disaster for me, my family, my friends. But I felt like Kamala winning would just buy us a few more years of relative peace It's like you already know the answer, but you STILL did the wrong thing. And you justify it by ASSUMING the stakes would be higher 4 years later? How so? How would it be WORSE after 4 years of a LESS bad president? That makes no logical sense. > Ideally vote boycotting would have started decades ago. But oh well, we can’t have things be perfect, so I guess starting the change now What the actual fuck? There is NO SITUATION in which choosing to not exercise the power to vote that a fuck ton of people died to give you is the right thing to do. You use that power to primary bad actors out of the party you most agree with, so you can reform that party. Something that's happened multiple times throughout U.S. history. Anyone that utters the phrase "vote boycotting" needs to stop and re-evaluate their lives. That shit is downright disrespectful.

Open ##1296788