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this post was submitted on 15 Jul 2024
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Political Memes
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Me. Obviously. Since I'm bitching about it.
After 2016, I'm very wary of ignoring the influence of trolls on discourse.
It's funny, then, that it always seems to come along with lots of voter suppression. Spreading right-wing talking points, saying both sides are the same, playing up the idea of a 'protest vote' to anyone who will listen...
I'm not trying to convince the self-proclaimed leftists. The self-proclaimed leftists who engage in this bullshit are not people who are working on values that are compatible with a vote for anything except fascism.
Propaganda, if unchallenged or tolerated, changes communities. I've seen it happen with various forums - and now I feel a little old. Man, I'm not deluded enough to think that memes on here are going to create a surge of suddenly-shamed pseudoleftists to cast their votes for Biden. I just don't want their talking points justifying fascism and genocide to be welcomed, or propagate in the same way that gossip does, or be normalized in this community.
At best, sustained effort might choke out a vector of a vector of misinformation which may have swayed a voter. As intended, it's not even about that much. There's other work than posting memes to be done for actually getting out the vote and generating enthusiasm. This? This is a step above posting ordinary memes, but only a step. Insofar as it has a purpose, the purpose is recreational (to maintain standards in a community I enjoy and vent), not civic. It's not some great effort that will sway the election - but it can be enough to see useful idiots and fascists frequent decent communities less often.
Yeah, "bitching" is a good description.
Did I tell you to ignore it? Your mode of discourse is the problem. What I did say is that it will have the opposite effect of what you are apparently trying to achieve. The more convinced the left is that the Democrats hold them in contempt, the more they will see Democrats and Republicans as two sides of the same coin. You are pushing people away.
For decades it was absolutely true that there was almost no difference between the two parties, each competing to out-neoliberal the other. Biden has inched the Democrats left, and Trump has taken the Republicans full fascist. That's what you should focus on.
You asked "Who cares?" and I pointed out who cares and why. Don't know why answering your question is upsetting.
So you didn't actually read what I said, despite the fact that my explanation consists of the vast majority of the comment you're replying to, and just presumed that I was trying to convince pseudoleftists still. Okay. Cool. Good talk.
Down voting every comment your opponent makes is such a bitch move.
I read what you said. It's nonsense. The impact of your posts on actual leftists and also average voters is what I was addressing.
That's a convenient excuse for not actually addressing it.
Oh, so it's your opinion that actual leftists are sitting here on the fence about whether or not to welcome fascism, but someone calling out people who, say, condemn AOC and Bernie as insufficiently pro-Palestine for critical support when the GOP has become an openly fascist party, is what tips them into welcoming it. Okay. Weird people to call actual leftists, but alright, you do you.
Average voters are not going to be turned away by rejecting the kind of people who say "The US has always been a fascist country, and nothing will change anyway". In fact, welcoming those kind of people will turn off the average voter. But I guess fascists painted red get treated with kid gloves, and everyone else gets the gauntlet.
Let me clue you in about something. It's not all about voting. You don't just need the left to vote for your candidates, you need them attending rallies, canvassing, running voter registration drives, making phone calls, and getting their friends to vote. You know, all the shit you don't do. The left will vote for the shitty candidate the Democrats gave us because we always do, but driving down enthusiasm on the left damages all those other things that are critical to winning. That's what you're fucking up
I wonder if you missed the original point of the post? It's criticising people who call themselves leftist for rejecting AOC and Bernie, the two highest profile most left leaning politicians in the USA, for not being perfect. You know, the two people who got famous by caring about people on low wages.
If Biden loses it will because of this arrogant clueless attitude being pervasive in the Democratic leadership. But sure, go ahead and try again to win an election by berating voters. I'm sure it will work this time!