It's a situation that I have been expecting for a while, but I wasn't fully ready to accept it. Specifically it's one of my LGBTQ friends who honestly believes in the democrats will protect them and their partner. I have tried to make the point that both parties are eroding any sort of civility towards all marginalized groups, but fear seems to drive them more than logical observations. They make the excuse that change doesn't happen over night and that the left continues to grow and will have meaningful affects down the road. I fundamentally just don't agree with that idea and vocalize it regularly. More and more it is ending up in a circular argument where I am painted as unrealistic and my rhetoric (leftist rhetoric) is doing more harm than good because it promotes distrust in the only system we have to work with. I try to tell them it's kind of the whole point. We gotta start somewhere if we want to see a better, more representative system, but they are so hung up on the immediate future while simultaneously saying that my idealistic feelings are shortsighted and I cant expect change in the immediate future... The double-talk is wild, I know.
I am trying my hardest to stop from engaging at this point because on the most basic level we agree on a lot of stuff, but they are just way to wrapped up in the fear mongering of the democratic party. They know that the two party system is broken, they know that something drastic needs to change, but they also think that they are powerless to do anything except choose the lesser evil. It pains me because I am watching them do the same shit past generations have done, where they give up on their ideals for the sake of preserving the current status quo that they benefit from. I am legitimately watching them imply "fuck you, got mine" under the guise of civic duty and I hate it. I want nothing more than to be able to finally say "I told you so" without being a smug asshole about it and ruining our friendship.
Thanks for reading my rant. It's probably a bit disjointed, but the frustration is boiling over and I needed to vent to the only group of people that seems to understand the hopelessness of being a disenfranchised leftist.
There is daylight between the parties on LGBT issues, IMO. Republicans have placed it as a central pillar, with promises to persecute, and we all know the dems won't go to the mat over this. All it will take is a poison pill slipped into a committee and the dems will say they had no choice.
Dems aren't generally looking to actively persecute queer people, they'll cede ground, but the party as a whole isn't building around it. This IS a distinction. There are donors and notable people that the dems may not want to give up readily (Queer orgs donate and volunteer in numbers, and Hollywood actors are mixed in with enough queer people that it's personal for some of them).
Totally understand that, and that is where the erosion comes into play. Dems constantly being ready to cede ground eventually leads to the floodgates opening when the balance of power shifts harder right.
Yeah, it's buying time at best
Yeah I've been hard in on the protest voting / voting for PSL course of action. But the anti-trans ads are giving me serious pause. I know for a fact the Dems don't care about queer people, but they also aren't campaigning on killing them, so there's a genuine distinction there.
I know people don't want to endorse genocide, I wouldn't expect anyone to cast a vote in support of Kopmala due to some moral obligation, quite the opposite. But I think calling the people who are voting for K*pmala genocide apologists or endorsers of genocide is completely wrong. Voting is absolutely an endorsement, don't get me wrong, but these people aren't voting to throw Palestinians under the bus in exchange for not being killed themselves, they genuinely believe that there is no choice in a electoral context to vote against genocide, so they're just choosing the genocide option that doesn't involve them. Many (relatively) of these people would likely risk themselves to stop sending money to Isn'treal if they felt they had the option. But they're convinced they don't.
But, how are we supposed to build socialism if we keep voting for the lesser evil? If we don't even attempt to get actual leftists into positions of power? How are we meant to show people that electoralism is a waste of energy unless we actually push the people and organizations we care about?
It's like a big blackmail scam, and the whole point is to convince people there's no other options but genocide. And the most horrific part of it is that it's true that there's no other options, but only because everyone collectively believes it.
So if I have a friend who actively despises Kopmala but votes for her, I'm still going to talk to them. I don't really approve of it but they're not an inhuman monster. They're just... housebroken.
These people are genuinely pissing themselves levels of scared. They know they have a gun to their head and they've been convinced through a lifetime that trying to take the gun will always end in them dying. And they think that no matter what they do the person holding the gun to their head will kill a bunch of other people regardless.
if they are quiet about it and vote on election day, I honestly don't care all that much.
I just can't stand the people who just immediately accept months out from November that "these are the candidates and these are their policies and you can do nothing about it so I am going to vocally support Kopmala and browbeat anyone who says they won't or is critical of her"