• jol@discuss.tchncs.de
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    10 hours ago

    In America you either one of the 2 main or a spoiler. Y’all really need ranked voting.

    • Dessalines@lemmy.ml
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      9 hours ago

      Alternative voting systems haven’t proven to be even the slightest obstacle to capitalist rule. Japan and Australia have alternative voting systems, and they’re still on the same far right path, still evict indigenous peoples, and still act as US military bases.

      • celsiustimeline@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        8 hours ago

        It’s not supposed to counter capitalism or any one political ideology. It’s supposed to create more proportional representation. If everyone in a city is a conservative, then ranked voting will still skew conservative.

        • PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmy.ml
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          2 hours ago

          In Poland we currently have 17 political parties and 42 independents on 460 seats in sejm. Yes, that’s potentially 59 different political stances… but every single one is still neoliberal.

        • Dessalines@lemmy.ml
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          7 hours ago

          Its impossible to have a government that represents the people, if capital stands above the political system.

          • celsiustimeline@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            4 hours ago

            Actually, it’s very possible. Capital, despite being a tool of oppression, is also a tool that pays for roads, schools, hospitals, and everything else that the government funds. Capitalism is definitely not the best system, but it’s the one that’s currently available, and despite the common narrative here on lemmy, there are people that work at the Federal level that aren’t being actively lobbied that do indeed pass good legislation. The way to improve the system is by implementing ranked voting, which increases the equity of representation in DC. Voters in Wyoming shouldn’t have the same say in politics as voters in New York or other more densely populated congressional districts.

            • Dessalines@lemmy.ml
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              12 minutes ago

              Capitalism is not a tool that pays for social services. Its a system that allows private individuals to own the means of production (and along with those, the political systems, laws, and media of their domiciled countries) with the goal of extracting a profit from the sale of commodities produced by wage workers they employ.

              Capitalists only apportion some of the surplus value stolen from workers to public services, when forced to by political agitation from below.

              These proposals for ranked choice voting are a dead-end, because they already exist in many capitalist countries, and it doesn’t fix anything. They just stack any number of candidates they like, and have their media push the most friendly ones.

              If you allow capitalists to own production, then the political system will always be subservient to them, and be nothing but puppets to serve their interests. Anyways here’s some more resources:

            • Cowbee [he/him]@lemmy.ml
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              4 hours ago

              The way to improve the system is by implementing ranked voting

              Then do it. Try to test your ideas against reality. You’ll find that RCV

              1. Will only be allowed in small amounts as a show of feasibility, without affecting major change

              2. Will be gutted if it ever does get implemented and stands chance of changing anything.

              The path forward is revolution, not a giant prayer for RCV to be implemented magically.

          • frezik@midwest.social
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            5 hours ago

            You fix that by seizing the means of production, generally with unions.

            You protect union rights by both voting for candidates that will protect unions, and also fighting to unionize your own workplace.

            • PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmy.ml
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              2 hours ago

              While your proposition is still better than the neoliberal merry-go-round, unions can only serve as a base for vanguard worker’s party. Unions by themselves never once seized the means of production and ultimately most of them turned into tools of class collaboration.

                • Cowbee [he/him]@lemmy.ml
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                  1 hour ago

                  What’s wrong with Marxism? Why do you advocate for Syndicalism, does it just sound good to you, or is there a materialist reason for it?

                  • frezik@midwest.social
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                    1 hour ago

                    First off, nobody takes Marxism by itself. If it’s accepted, it’s always with extra things attached and other parts removed.

                    Second, my issue in this case is the Lennist part. A vanguard party degrades into cult-like behavior, and this is very consistent with ML groups big and small.

      • jol@discuss.tchncs.de
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        8 hours ago

        But then you would be more likely to have counties voting for other parties. The electoral college would actually make more sense with ranked voting.

        • celsiustimeline@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          4 hours ago

          The electoral college doesn’t need to exist period. It’s just bureaucratic nonsense. People vote, those votes are counted, then whomever got the most votes in that district is the winner. It doesn’t need to go to another un-elected party who doesn’t have to vote for the party of the person who actually won the district.

      • Dragon "Rider"(drag)@lemmy.nz
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        8 hours ago

        That’s because Australia is using the seat system, which is like a supercharged electoral college. Australia needs proportional representation.

    • Cowbee [he/him]@lemmy.ml
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      10 hours ago

      Can’t get ranked choice voting with either establishment party, and I don’t consider the only major leftist candidate to be a spoiler for 2 right parties.

      • frezik@midwest.social
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        5 hours ago

        Democrats have instituted ranked choice voting in some states.

        Republicans have also made moves on ranked choice voting. They banned it in Florida.

        • Cowbee [he/him]@lemmy.ml
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          5 hours ago

          It’s a carrot that will never be implemented in any meaningful capacity, it’s kabuki theatre. Even if it got implemented nationally, the moment it risked changing the status quo it would either be defanged or gone entirely.

          • frezik@midwest.social
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            4 hours ago

            There is no implemented nationally. States run their own voting systems. You do this state by state or you don’t.

                • Cowbee [he/him]@lemmy.ml
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                  3 hours ago

                  There is, though minor.

                  1. It delegitimizes the Electoral system.

                  2. It signals strength in Communist Parties, serving as an advertisement.

                  3. In the microscopic chance it succeeds, revolution may not be fully necessary.

      • flying_sheep@lemmy.ml
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        10 hours ago

        Hilarious. Let me think about who I’d vote for if I was US-American. The Fascist or the at least slightly socially progressive neoliberals? It’s anyone’s guess really. NO. Of course the Dems, fucking obviously.

        So if I was US-American and also hit in the head enough to consider voting for third party in a country with a first-past-the-post voting system, I’d not vote for the Dems as a result.

        This is called the spoiler effect. This makes her a spoiler candidate, no matter her intention.

        • OurToothbrush@lemmy.ml
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          2 hours ago

          least slightly socially progressive neoliberals? It’s anyone’s guess really. NO. Of course the Dems, fucking obviously.

          What are they actually socially progressive on though? They’re still supporting ICE and police state expansion, still doing tough on immigration bullshit, still presiding over migrant concentration camps, still funding and arming Israeli genocide, still rattling the saber at China, still blockading Cuba, not doing anything to protect trans people from genocide, doing exterminationist shit to homeless people in blue cities in blue states,

          I could go on but you get the point.

          Putting a HRC sticker on doesn’t mean you’re a little bit socially progressive, it means you have a PR team.

        • TheLameSauce@lemmy.world
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          8 hours ago

          I fucking hate this rhetoric.

          Voting for a third party is not “taking a vote away” from anyone.

          You’re arguing with someone who would in all likelihood JUST NOT VOTE if not for an alternative option. If you want assurances that fascism doesn’t get voted in, how about you direct that passion towards getting people to vote for someone, anyone, instead of staying at home? That is the only certain way of getting not-the-GOP-candidate elected time and time again. Republicans always come out to vote in about the same numbers every election. Just get more people voting, and not only do the Dem numbers go up, but the viability of a third party goes up astronomically as well.

          Just VOTE. For anyone!

          • celsiustimeline@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            8 hours ago

            You can hate it all you want. It isn’t rhetoric. It’s basically math. Every registered vote that votes 3rd party is a wasted vote. There isn’t enough support in the US for any 3rd party thanks to the First Past The Post electoral system.

            • explodicle@sh.itjust.works
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              7 hours ago

              Since it’s so basic, then surely we can stop giving candidates the benefit of the doubt when they refuse to support its reform.

          • Dragon "Rider"(drag)@lemmy.nz
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            8 hours ago

            You’re arguing with someone who would in all likelihood JUST NOT VOTE if not for an alternative option

            Just because the big silly in this conversation is a big silly, doesn’t mean all the sillies are. There’s lots of sillies who are silly enough to vote third party but not silly enough to abstain.

        • Cowbee [he/him]@lemmy.ml
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          10 hours ago

          The Fascist or the at least slightly socially progressive neoliberals

          Neither are acceptable, both are genocidal regimes that are working towards WW3, Climate Collapse, and genocide. The only peaceful solution is voting third party, otherwise revolution is necessary. Taking the miniscule chance of a peaceful solution is morally correct, especially if we believe revolution to be necessary.

          • flying_sheep@lemmy.ml
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            10 hours ago

            Meanwhile you “peacefully” increase the probability that the guy who destroyed women’s reproductive rights gets voted in again.

            I say you should help punish the Republicans for MAGA and once they try a moderate candidate again you can vote third party. But don’t ignore the consequences of your actions.

            • Cowbee [he/him]@lemmy.ml
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              10 hours ago

              Meanwhile you “peacefully” increase the probability that the guy who destroyed women’s reproductive rights gets voted in again.

              Meanwhile you “peacefully” increase the probability that genocide continues, climate change continues to be ignored, and World War 3 kills us all.

              I say you should help punish the Republicans for MAGA and once they try a moderate candidate again you can vote third party. But don’t ignore the consequences of your actions.

              What do you think fascism is? Why do you think MAGA is just a random event and not a systemic problem? Fascism is Capitalism in decline, there will be no “moderate” candidates because Capitalism is still in decline. The conditions for fascism persist, so fascism persists, and the Dems get closer to fascism.

              • flying_sheep@lemmy.ml
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                9 hours ago

                I’m not doing anything like that, the will never be public support for a socialist candidate in the US without first changing the voting system.

                I wish it wasn’t like that but I’m convinced it is.

                • Cowbee [he/him]@lemmy.ml
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                  9 hours ago
                  1. Why do you believe there will never be public support for a Socialist candidate in the US? Where do you believe people draw their ideas from? Is the US a static, unchanging system? We know this to be false, wealth disparity is rising, the climate is changing, it’s anything but static!

                  2. The mainstream parties will never risk losing power intentionally, ergo there will be no change to the voting system.

                  • flying_sheep@lemmy.ml
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                    9 hours ago

                    Because that’s how the spoiler effect works.The more support a leftist third party gets, the easier it is for the Republicans to win.

                    I can’t tell you how to fix it, but I can tell you that an election with 10% Socialists, 40% Dems, and 50% Reps will scare people away from voting Socialists.

                    At least as long as MAGA is a thing and the Dems aren’t seen as totally corrupt and basically the same as the Reps by the general public. And believe me: they aren’t.

          • Dragon "Rider"(drag)@lemmy.nz
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            8 hours ago

            Drag is happy that you get to feel like you’re being peaceful, but sad that you’ve convinced yourself the way to do so is through apathy and inaction. Drag wonders if you’d feel the same way if you understood that choosing not to do a good thing is still choosing to do a bad thing.

            • Cowbee [he/him]@lemmy.ml
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              8 hours ago

              Drag should not assume I am saying electoralism is the end all, be all of political action. I am advocating for organizing outside the electoral system as the primary role of leftists, and refusing to give the electoral system legitimacy. Voting Dem is not a “good thing,” because the Dems are unacceptable and will lead to genocide, world war 3, and failed climate action.

              • Dragon "Rider"(drag)@lemmy.nz
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                7 hours ago

                Drag is confused. How does voting legimitise the electoral system? Drag mostly does direct action, but drag also votes.

                • Cowbee [he/him]@lemmy.ml
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                  7 hours ago

                  If voting for Democrats is seen as activism, then activism is oriented around voting for Democrats. Voting third party signals disapproval for the system in general and tells the public what views those in disapproval have.

                  If Drag wants to do direct action, and believes it to be the path to systemic change, then voting for Democrats is counter-intuitive.

                  • Dragon "Rider"(drag)@lemmy.nz
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                    6 hours ago

                    Drag doesn’t get it. None of that sounds like practical, material effects. It just sounds like symbolic gestures. Drag wants to know if there’s any physical reasons not to vote, or just symbolic ones. Also drag is not a capitalised pronouns user, but drag is glad you’re willing to respect people with capitalised pronouns.

          • InputZero@lemmy.ml
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            9 hours ago

            So I don’t have a hat in this race because I can not vote. I think you have a fundamental misunderstanding about how a government is formed in the United States. The odds of stopping a Democrat or Republican from not winning the 2024 presidential election are futile. If I could vote, but I can’t, if I voted third party I would be putting my effort into what I know is a futile effort. That seems morally the same as ignoring it because I know the results would be identical. The only moral option I would then have is to choose the least bad option. The most moral option would be off the table for me.

            Actually the president used to be less important than they seemed. The United States Supreme Court decision that president’s are practically kings changes a lot. The other side of this is that the president doesn’t really matter. The president really only executes the will of Congress. It seems to me that if you really wanted to do the moral thing, it would be changing the roots of the problem. Not a single branch. It’s the hearts and minds of grass roots organizationa you want to change long before anyone walks up to a polling booth.

            Just saying, as someone who can’t vote.

            • Cowbee [he/him]@lemmy.ml
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              8 hours ago

              First off, I understand how the electoral system works. The odds are incredibly slim that a third party will win. I disagree that a Democrat victory is acceptable, because the Democrats will only push for more genocide, failed climate action, and world war 3. It isn’t a matter of being “better or worse,” both result in the doom of humanity. Either we push to end that electorally, or via revolution.

              Organizing is also good, Claudia De La Crúz represents PSL, a party that does that more than try to win the presidency. They serve to highlight the sham of the election and gain recognition.

              • InputZero@lemmy.ml
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                7 hours ago

                I wish I could tell you more because my area did that, we’ve done what we both agree is what needs to happen. We elected a third party candidate as our representative. Not as our president, that’s insane lol. Also I don’t know how what we did would apply to the United States other than just saying grass roots organizing. Saying even that much reveals more about me than I’m comfortable with online.