Anonymous 6ffc6dead75384b0bfc19578e28cc52b started this discussion 3 months (2008-09-06 20:32:06 UTC) ago:
Please do us a favor and just vote. Screaming, sitting on the sidewalk in pacifist protest, or carrying plastic signs that people rarely read is just plain stupid. If you want to effect change, the best possible way is to vote for Barack Obama in the fall. That's it. Protests are unnecessary and accomplish nothing.
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Anonymous eb5d739f1eb666ddb0a469c74c354ef0 replied with this 3 months (2008-09-06 20:57:35 UTC) ago, 25 minutes later (#57,989):
> Screaming, sitting on the sidewalk in pacifist protest, or carrying plastic signs that people rarely read is just plain stupid.
You mean exercising the rights we're constitutionally guaranteed? Yeah, that really is stupid. Let's all just sit on our asses and watch TV and vote for another Democrat puppet. I don't want to have to do any real work, but I can make myself feel like I'm politically involved because I put a piece of paper in a box. Really proactive there.
Anonymous 6ffc6dead75384b0bfc19578e28cc52b (OP) replied with this 3 months (2008-09-06 21:53:00 UTC) ago, 55 minutes later (#57,996):
Hold on there. Protesting is definitely a constitutional right-I agree with you on that. But that doesn't mean that protesting is an effective way to change our government. I am sympathetic to people who are frustrated with the repeated attempts by Democrats to move to the center to pander to conservatives. I am also sympathetic to people who feel that Democrats (like Republicans) are too beholden to many of the same corporations that they denounce. There are many reasons to be skeptical about Democrats, as well as Republicans.
Having said that, I think it is quite clear that Democrats are closer (if only a bit) to the ideals protesters espouse. If you vote, you will make a small difference. If you do not vote, however, you will make NO difference (let me reassert my previous point: protesting, on the whole does not work, it doesn't practically achieve the policy changes that many protesters hope for). I would rather make a small difference by voting Democrat rather than make no difference at all by not voting.
Anonymous 332b6c0849a57735a7343279ce6edc4f replied with this 3 months (2008-09-07 01:07:38 UTC) ago, 3 hours later (#58,054):
Haha yeah, that's a good idea. Vote Democrat to keep the Republicans out. Come on people, it's the same product in a different box.
Anonymous 28f54d470644dcb33ab0a93a7890e67a replied with this 3 months (2008-09-07 06:34:10 UTC) ago, 5 hours later (#58,102):
And remember, several small differences add up.
Go ahead and vote for the democrats the next 12 years and pretty much will happen.
Anonymous 22ff6a90ea2c1293a6149f9553a2200b replied with this 3 months (2008-09-08 13:14:02 UTC) ago, 1 day later (#58,506):
The fact that we always talk about "both" candidates is evidence enough that our system is not democratic. In a good parliamentary 'democracy', minor parties always take a few seats, representing the relevant minority that voted for them. Just because they are only 6-7% doesn't mean you don't represent them. eg in the UK the Liberal-Democratic party ('liberal' in europe actually means right wing, but the Liberal party, but in their case they mean politically liberal, as in getting people to vote regularly and properly) or the Democrats in Australia (not sure if they've survived, when I left Australia they were having problems) and so on.
By simplifying every political situation into a false dichotomy, obviously the political system is going to break after a time.
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