Image Transcription:

A tweet from the George Takei Twitter account which states:

"A Democrat was in the White House when my family was sent to the internment camps in 1941. It was an egregious violation of our human and civil rights.

It would have been understandable if people like me said they’d never vote for a Democrat again, given what had been done to us.

But being a liberal, being a progressive, means being able to look past my own grievances and concerns and think of the greater good. It means working from within the Democratic party to make it better, even when it has betrayed its values.

I went on to campaign for Adlai Stevenson when I became an adult. I marched for civil rights and had the honor of meeting Dr. Martin Luther King. I fought for redress for my community and have spent my life ensuring that America understood that we could not betray our Constitution in such a way ever again.

Bill Clinton broke my heart when he signed DOMA into law. It was a slap in the face to the LGBTQ community. And I knew that we still had much work to do. But I voted for him again in 1996 despite my misgivings, because the alternative was far worse. And my obligation as a citizen was to help choose the best leader for it, not to check out by not voting out of anger or protest.

There is no leader who will make the decision you want her or him to make 100 percent of the time. Your vote is a tool of hope for a better world. Use it wisely, for it is precious. Use it for others, for they are in need of your support, too."

End Transcription.

The last paragraph I find particularly powerful and something more people really should take into account.

  • HobbitFoot @thelemmy.club
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    11 months ago

    The President isn’t a dictator; a lot of decisions are made by other politicians as I noted. Hell, we are seeing what happens when you have a divided government versus one led by one party.

    Also, there is voting in primaries. Again, the presidential candidate may be chosen, but there are other candidates as well and some may need your support and align with your interests.

    And I get that you might have an election with a candidate you may not love like Biden or you find out that a candidate is a piece of shit like Simena. However, I’d still rather show up and get a chance to affect the choosing of my leaders rather than not.

    Not voting is defeatism.

        • Maalus@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          Yeah I heard that repeated without a reason as to “why”. Ultimately it boils down to “we got conditioned to voting for the status quote”

            • Maalus@lemmy.world
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              11 months ago

              I know how it works. I’m saying you got convinced that your vote doesn’t matter and to “vote strategically”. Which is entirely defeatist. It’s no wonder you only have a two party system, when it’s so easy to tell people “you don’t have a choice”.

              • null@slrpnk.net
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                11 months ago

                Your silence speaks volumes.

                Glad that video helped you understand and hopefully you’ll spread less bullshit in the future!

                • Maalus@lemmy.world
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                  11 months ago

                  People have shit to do. Also, I decided to stop arguing with a person who doesn’t even know that they have a choice. I’ll now be ignoring you, since I don’t care about debating a defeatist american and furthermore I don’t care about you.

                  • null@slrpnk.net
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                    11 months ago

                    Haha cute. I posted something that completely dismantles what you’re saying so you run away with your tail between your legs.

                    Classic.