As a European who is very familiar with Weimar era Germany and its terrifying similarities to the US right now, my opinion on this is as follows:
The AmeriKKKAn left needs to be prepared for all-out fascism, whether now or a few years down the line. At this point, a DemoKKKrat victory, which hinges on beating a rigged system in the first place, barely even means stalling the machine on its way to domestic extermination camps, as has been evidenced by Biden's total inaction when it came to Roe v Wade or the more than 500 bills persecuting trans and other queer people this year alone. He's the president, he would have a ton of options even against RepubliKKKan action on the judicial and state level, such as offering abortions and gender affirming care on federal land, which exists in any of the states ran by evangeliKKKal fascists, to give just one example. Yet he chose inaction, or at best a measly finger-wagging when he talked about protecting gay marriage (when the battlefield is not if some cis gay yuppie can marry his boyfriend, but the very right of people like me to even exist). Anybody telling you that you should vote D to protect trans people ignores how that "protection" has played out in practice over the last 3 years. You cannot count on elected rulers to save you from this nightmare. You need to take things into your own hands or you're all lost.
Sure, you can still try and buy a little bit of time with voting, but treat it as just that. Do not fall into the liberal trap of making electoralist theater the central arena of political activism, that will get all of you murdered. You need to prepare yourself and your local marginalized communities for the worst case, not hope that it won't be that bad if you wish upon a star hard enough.
As a European who is very familiar with Weimar era Germany and its terrifying similarities to the US right now, my opinion on this is as follows:
The AmeriKKKAn left needs to be prepared for all-out fascism, whether now or a few years down the line. At this point, a DemoKKKrat victory, which hinges on beating a rigged system in the first place, barely even means stalling the machine on its way to domestic extermination camps, as has been evidenced by Biden's total inaction when it came to Roe v Wade or the more than 500 bills persecuting trans and other queer people this year alone. He's the president, he would have a ton of options even against RepubliKKKan action on the judicial and state level, such as offering abortions and gender affirming care on federal land, which exists in any of the states ran by evangeliKKKal fascists, to give just one example. Yet he chose inaction, or at best a measly finger-wagging when he talked about protecting gay marriage (when the battlefield is not if some cis gay yuppie can marry his boyfriend, but the very right of people like me to even exist). Anybody telling you that you should vote D to protect trans people ignores how that "protection" has played out in practice over the last 3 years. You cannot count on elected rulers to save you from this nightmare. You need to take things into your own hands or you're all lost.
Sure, you can still try and buy a little bit of time with voting, but treat it as just that. Do not fall into the liberal trap of making electoralist theater the central arena of political activism, that will get all of you murdered. You need to prepare yourself and your local marginalized communities for the worst case, not hope that it won't be that bad if you wish upon a star hard enough.
Get organized. Now.