• PhaseFour [he/him]
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    4 years ago

    There is no reason why you can’t cynically support a lesser evil why also advocating against capitalism

    You can. No one will take you seriously.

    its not “rightful” to think that Bernie is a “Clitonite” lol

    How else would you describe playing cover for the DNC leaks & working harder than any elected official in the country to get Clinton elected?

    If you support Bernie, you might twist yourself into believing he's playing cynical politics. I don't blame anyone who sees him as controlled opposition for the Democratic machine.

    • autismdragon [he/him, comrade/them]
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      4 years ago

      You can. No one will take you seriously.

      The fact that people are too idealistic and naive to understand how American politics works isn't something anyone should kowtow too. We should insist on it actually, emphasize the point. Yes, I get the fact that some people are deeply resistant to seeing American politics for what it is is a reality that I'm aware of and constantly frustrated by. I'm not going to change my political stances because of it though. I'm going to continue to advocate for my political positions. For the same reason I'll support police abolition even though most people are too propagandized to understand what it means. And yes, I "believe in" lesser evilism in a similar way because lesser evilism has given me a home, food, and healthcare, basically. Anyone who takes me less seriously because of that position can 1. fuck off, because my life is literally on the line and 2. has been propagandized, I'm not going to bow to that. I'll explain it to them sure, but the fact that my idiot ex-roommate told me he "respects me less" because I voted for Hillary in 2016 instead of writing in Bernie (a literally useless action because he wasn't a qualified write in) isn't a reason to change my positions.

      The one thing I'll criticize Bernie for here is not actually vocalizing that cynicism. But I sort of get that too, because people are like pathologically resistant to hearing cynical takes on American politics. They believe in **Democracy** religiously. I get why you wouldn't want to turn those people away. For whatever reason, "Vote for Biden because he's actually good" goes down easier than "vote for Biden because he's the only alternative" lol.

      How else would you describe playing cover for the DNC leaks & working harder than any elected official in the country to get Clinton elected?

      Not Clintonism. His political positions, like his actual policy positions, are decidedly not Clintonian. Anyone who thinks that is incredibly out of touch with reality. Supporting someone who you disagree with politically because they are better than someone you disagree with politically even moreso isn't actually bad lmao. And it doesn't mean you suddenly agree with their politics. Again, I'm not going to kowtow to dumb bullshit. I'm going to explain why its dumb bullshit.

      If you support Bernie, you might twist yourself into believing he’s playing cynical politics. I don’t blame anyone who sees him as controlled opposition for the Democratic machine.

      I'm not twisting myself lol. Its quiet obvious from Bernie's political positions that he doesn't passionately support neoliberalism. Like yeah, social democracy and neoliberalism are in fact distinct ideologies! Shocking, I know.

      I don't necessarily blame those people, in that I won't attack them for it. But its a naïve, misguided position to hold and I will explain to them why its not true.

      • PhaseFour [he/him]
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        4 years ago

        And yes, I “believe in” lesser evilism in a similar way because lesser evilism has given me a home, food, and healthcare

        I'm glad to hear the Democrats are somehow providing you a house, food, and healthcare. That isn't the case for millions of people.

        "Lesser evilism" gave my hometown NAFTA, which has turned it from a strong union town to a drug den with decent gentrified restaurants. It has over doubled my current city's prison population.

        There were two factories right nearby that had plans to shut down after TPP. Trump is the lesser-evil to their workers.

        This is why I reject lesssr-evilism. It allows the ruling class to pit the working class against each other.

        Not Clintonism. His political positions, like his actual policy positions, are decidedly not Clintonian.

        No one trusts politicians. His actions have been incredibly pro-Clinton.

        • autismdragon [he/him, comrade/them]
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          4 years ago

          Do you really think all that shit that you think came from "lesser evilism" wouldn't have happened just as bad or worse under Republicans though? If you do, and the workers in your city do, they are ignorant of reality. Lesser evilism doesn't have to pit workers against each other, because blaming the Democrats for things that the Republicans would have done the same or worse on is just ignorance, that can be educated away. The TPP is a really, really weird aberration, no other Republican president would have done what Trump did with that, but being single-issue about TPP is also ignorance. Also I'm like, 90% sure that any claims of Trump saving factory jobs have been proven to be absolute bullshit, so the workers who think he's the lesser evil for that are probably misinformed.

          Bernie's actual like, votes and bills and shit as a Senator are not "pro-Clinton" though, you say "no one trusts politicians" like all he's done is talk. Like he doesnt have a many decade long political career of actual like actions. He unfortunately hasn't accomplished all that much because all his colleagues are neolibs, but he keeps on voting and putting bills out there anyway. And he keeps on speaking in favor of political positions well ahead of them becoming popular.

          • PhaseFour [he/him]
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            4 years ago

            Do you really think all that shit that you think came from “lesser evilism” wouldn’t have happened just as bad or worse under Republicans though? If you do, and the workers in your city do, they are ignorant of reality.

            Hillary endorsed TPP. I'm not reading the rest of this post if you are going to call workers ignorant for listening to exactly what Hillary said. Fuck off.

            "Lesser evil" does not map one-to-one onto the Democratic Party. Often Democrats can do more fucked up shit under the guise of "liberal humanitarianism."

            • autismdragon [he/him, comrade/them]
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              4 years ago

              Your very, very specific example of Hillary/Trump and the TPP is true. I was referring to Democrats and Republicans in general, and their policies in general. You're the one who's fixated on one thing.

              • PhaseFour [he/him]
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                4 years ago

                I was referring to Democrats and Republicans in general, and their policies in general. You’re the one who’s fixated on one thing.

                NAFTA, 94 Crime Bill, Glass Steagal, Libyan invasion, Syrian invasion, Fracking, etc. You can be the one to convince victims of these policies that the Repiblicans would have been worse. That is impossible to prove.

                • autismdragon [he/him, comrade/them]
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                  4 years ago

                  OK I can be 100% confident than Republicans would have been worse on 94 Crime Bill and fracking, and anything else "law and order" and environment related. I don't care that it's technically impossible to prove, its very obviously true to anyone who pays the slightest bit of attention to Republican rhetoric and votes.

                  NAFTA is the same as TPP. Trump was an aberration on being better about free trade shit, any other Republican president would have been as bad or worse. And the Republicans in congress are nearly all as bad or worse. If you think Trump is a lesser evil on the whole because of of free trade, you're incredibly single issue.

                  Forpo stuff is more like, they're both evil as hell and they'll do different individual actions than the other might not have done but you basically dont know what you're going to get with forpo so its barely even worth considering who's the lesser evil on that front. Like yeah technically you can't know if McCain would have invaded Libya but you also didn't know that Obama was going to do that in '08 so its just like, there's no point in trying to figure out who's going to be worse on that front. Technically I think its possible to claim that four years of Hillary would have been worse forpo wise than 4 years of Trump was, even though by your own logic its impossible to prove that, but that's like... entirely because of Trump being an incompetent which isn't actually a point in his favor. His incompetence, and his pettiness, and his entire personality could have easily lead to the opposite result. We just sorta lucked out that it didn't.