If we had a more representative electoral system, more of the non voters would be engaged by the political process. More voters always has lead to more democratic votes.
Why is the democratic party saying no to these easy extra votes when they fail to replace First Past the Post voting in states they control between elections?
“We won it last time! Why change now? Besides, proportion representation only leads to more parties and that’d mean we’d have to… cooperate.”
Yeah, a two party system with two right wings only.
That wouldn’t work.
Anybody got that American political plane meme handy?
This one?
🫡
the folly of democracy:
When you figure out that the United States was established by wealthy white males who owned slaves, had a revolution due to “no taxation without representation” but then purposefully ignored to repent the 99% until major reforms over the years, it makes sense.
The first set presidential elections were only voted by a handful of Americans. Not the women. Not the slaves. Not the natives who were here first. The landowning white men.
When we claimed England is a tyranny but abolished slavery and gave universal aufferage before we did, I think we lost that argument. America was built by out of touch white men, and it has always been ran by out of touch white men.
Rebecca Latimer Felton, the first woman elected to the US House, “spoke vigorously in favor of lynching African Americans, under the pretense of protecting the sexual purity of European-American women.”
Everyone has made their bed, now everyone has to sleep on it.
Yall got housing? Fancy.
Democrats were voting to avoid a repeat. Republicans were voting to avoid jail time. The latter was a bigger motivator to get off the couch.
What??? We literally saw democracy play out. You can’t even use the excuse that he lost the popular vote, he won every type of democratic way we have.
You know what wasn’t democracy? Installing candidates into primaries over democratically popular candidates. Hillary in 2016, Biden in 2020 and Kamala in 2024. In every single one of these primaries, they did everything they could to shut down anyone popular who showed any sign of having a backbone, even though they killed democracy as it happened.
What we saw was a backlash to a stifling of democracy. Democracy won last night.
If you’re referencing Bernie Sanders in 2016 and 2020, he wasn’t “democratically popular” in either race. That simply is not supported by polling or election results. He was well behind Clinton by all metrics. Then in 2020, he was briefly “winning” because several similar candidates were splitting the center-left lane. The moment the center-left lane narrowed, Sanders’ lead evaporated.
It’s SOP for candidates to more or less clear the field for an incumbent president. This is partially because of a perceived effect from a strong primary challenger weakening an incumbent. So Democrats were just doing what both parties have been doing for the last half century.
The change from Biden was in response to clear reactions from the US electorate. The electorate saw Biden’s debate performance and was not impressed. There wasn’t time to run a process, so Kamala was the obvious choice given a non-ideal situation. But the electorate got what it wanted in terms of an option that wasn’t elderly.
I think you’re forgetting the part where Clinton paid off the DNC’s debts and became it’s only financial lifeline, for which DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz abdicated control of party to Clinton’s team long before she secured the nomination.. Or that the AP controversially called the primary for Hillary just before California voted, giving voters the impression the primary was over before voting finished. Or that the DNC argued in court that they had no obligation give Bernie a fair, democratic primary. Or that Representatives Ford and Smith admitted the party did coalesced around Biden in 2020 to block Bernie. Or that polls had Bernie beating Trump by a wider margin than Clinton in 2016 and Biden in 2020.
Did you forgot the part where it came down to just bernie vs biden in 2020 and people overwhelmingly voted for biden?
I like bernie too, but he wasn’t gonna get the pick
Except it wasn’t just him and Bernie. It was also Warren, so the progressive vote was spit, while the centrist vote was coordinated around Biden. Nice try though!
Biden made more than bernie and warren combined in alot of states. If bernie was meant to be, more people would have voted for him, plain and simple.
You’re right, I forgot that Bloomberg was still in and running a campaign entirely designed to block Bernie. Nothing says, “Democracy,” like an oligarch entering an election and using his personal wealth to undermine another candidate, right?
I am not sure you remember but the media reaction to Bernie doing well initially was major outlets like CNN reacting with fear, loathing, and uncertainty. And it impacted rhe course of an election. You had anchors yelling about how Sanders will result in public executions in central park during the primary.
Bernie Sanders won 3 out of 5 primaries that occurred before the DNC called it for Biden in 2020 with Buttigeg picking up 1 other. In 2016 Sanders won 23 races and was at 43% of the popular vote despite extreme pushback by the DNC. He was democratically supported cause he had people voting for him. Democratically.
And sure but with some of the worst polling numbers Biden, did not need to or should have thought he had incumbent advantage. Mud had a better approval rating.
And the change was from that and a protest vote of 100,000 voters voting against Biden in a primary that had no other option that’s was being ignored until the rich donors realized the polling wasnt gonna get better after the debate proved he was not fit for office.
There was time but the argument was made that it would be difficult and all the donations already made could be immediately given to Harris as she was already on the ticket, thus letting the money flow (which the DNC outspent Trump 2:1)
They got what they wanted which was a younger centrist willing to do Biden-esque policy without question that they thought would be easy with identity politics and being “not Trump” which is viewed as the main issue and not what issues he represents as a fix for.
Mostly being a willingness to change from status quo.Which is exactly what hasn’t been allowed in races as shown before.
Bernie Sanders won 3 out of 5 primaries that occurred before the DNC called it for Biden in 2020 with Buttigeg picking up 1 other.
I’m not sure how to parse what you’re saying. As far as DNC rules are concerned, they “call” it once all primary races are held.
In 2016 Sanders won 23 races and was at 43% of the popular vote despite extreme pushback by the DNC. He was democratically supported cause he had people voting for him. Democratically.
The Democratic primary uses proportional representation, so candidates don’t win states, they win delegates. Hillary Clinton got 55% of the popular vote, Bernie Sanders got 43%. There are no two ways to slice it, Bernie lost that election by the rules of a democratic election by a sizeable margin. Meanwhile, Hillary was dealing with getting hacked and Benghazi Benghazi Benghazi. And you’re forgetting the often adoring coverage that was played to audiences on the left about Sanders.
The selling point for Kamala wasn’t anything in particular about her. She’s the VP and was the only obvious choice. There was no appetite for a contested convention, which was the alternative. It was always going to be an uphill battle, so in a sense she’s also a sacrificial lamb.
I’m not sure how to parse what you’re saying. As far as DNC rules are concerned, they “call” it once all primary races are held.
I believe it means that you weren’t paying attention during the 2020 primaries or the news around them then. The DNC Does not wait and did not. Claiming Biden the Presumptive nominee 38 days after the first delegate picked. Obama took 120 days. To give you an idea of how fast that was, faster than Trump’s nomination in 2020.
You are correct though. The primary eventually went the way it went. He lost it by the rules but there is a reason people don’t feel good about the rules presented and that needs to be dealt with.
I would also just want to finish with the simple, how is pointing out how popular his rallies were be a negative to his electability while being an usurper to someone in social and legal discourse?
He wasn’t “democratically popular” because the Dems suppressed all support he had. All those news medias that have been hounding on trump being the worst thing since Hitler? Yeah, they used that same power to stifle anyone who had an iota of a chance to get votes
Wisconsin, US here. My county went 70% for Trump this time. That’s versus ~48% in 2016. The problem isn’t democracy. The problem is the people. Pissed as hell for all the wrong reasons at all the wrong people. Unable to see reality, expecting that the person in charge could make it a utopia with the flick of a switch. The average American is delusional and irreparably stupid.
We constantly joke that it’s Idiocracy, but the truth is…
This. Was crazy to see everyone turn on the DNC and Harris the moment it was over like we are just unable to come to terms with the fact that we’re surrounded by garbage and morons and there’s no way around it
The results aren’t showing that though. They are showing a large amount of Democrat voters just stayed on the couch. Trump didn’t get more votes than 2020, all that was needed was an energized democratic base.
Couch-bound voting was easily possible and effortless. They CHOSE to sit it out.
Sorry but staying on the couch makes you fall under the garbage and/or moron category imo
Maybe dont genocide next time. Genociders, their financiers, and those who enable them are garbage.
Thank you for saying it. The voter is the fucking problem. Anyone with half a brain realizes this. Gaza, egg prices, and the candidate not having a dick was enough to the traitor rapist felon to get a trifecta. That’s not a campaign problem. Maybe Harris didn’t run a perfect campaign, but that’s clearly not the issue here
I’m not American. Maybe my opinion also comes from a place of not understanding how government works in the US. But in 2020, Biden won the Presidency and the Democrats had control of the House and the Senate. Yet, they had a harder time of reversing Trump’s policies than he had pushing them through. Let alone not even trying to enact progressive policies.
As an outside observer, maybe that’s why people have lost faith in the Democratic party.
Because you have to consider all the court appointments he made, including the supreme court that he stacked. If the Biden admin did any more, itd just get struck down. The court can basically nullify any law or executive order they want without repercussion. Im frankly shocked he got away with as much as he did
Yeah uh, I really really hate to say it, but… democracy worked this time. The voice of the people is “Trump please”. Democracy just means you get what most people want, not what the best option is.
I’m pretty sure the majority of people mourning the loss of democracy aren’t saying it because they feel the democratic process was broken this election, rather they say it because Dump vowed to dismantle democracy and serve as a dictator.
Eh… I’m sure that’s the case for some people, but a lot of left and right wing people seem to think democracy=my ideas winning. Those people seem to think Trump winning is not reflective of the (very shitty) will of the people.
(in spirit since I am not American)
Part of that joke though is that they’re both exactly the same which is of course a false premise.
Well I was posting it more to the point of the I am sure wave of people saying “Well I voted for the Dems” is fast approaching.
this is what a terminal case of neoliberalism looks like, kids
Yeah but it was our democracy, damn it.
Are you guys going to tell him?..
Why bother?
Thank you for giving me a bitter laugh.
Now is time for the “well, if we don’t develop it first, the bad guys will” superpower to show itself off, I guess.
If American democracy survived Jackson, Buchanan, Hoover, and Nixon…
You’re making this statement while standing over a dead body. Need to pause for a moment and smell the flesh starting to turn right beneath you. This is that moment. There was never going to be a letter embossed with a seal sent to you to announce it. America is dead, our neighbors quietly suffocated it with a pillow. And today is the next day. The changes will be quieter, more subtle at first, but longer reaching, more impactful and longer lasting.
trump wasn’t elected, a train, driven by hate and fear, overflowing with explosives that’s been fixed on everything you think you know about America was elected. The holocaust branded with trump’s name will be quieter, I imagine it will take longer, but it will probably collectively kill more.
America is the name of a country that used to attempt to maintain democracy. It’s the country the failed that mission in 2024. Anything you hear otherwise is self soothing. You’re entitled to it though, we all are, because hope is dead and that’s what used to bring us back to earth in difficult moments.
People are not basically good. People don’t “come to their senses” and we’re all just so fixing tired while they are all just in so much fucking adderall.
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musk will be in charge of the National Highway transportation safety board
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rfk jr will oversee vaccine production/distribution
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abbott will lead formation of the National laws on abortion and miscarriage
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joe rogan will be the named author on a new fairness doctrine (that won’t actually be)
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tim scott and lindsey graham will co-chair the committee on reforming LGBTQIA+ rights
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steve bannon will be on every month’s cover of normal skin magazine
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that church guy and trump’s close buddy that just got in trouble for abusing kids will be in charge of repealing the sex offender registry
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mike johnson’s son will be in charge of porn
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betsy devos will come back to finish devastating the DOE as public education is killed in favor of vouchers to religious schools
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and brawndo will be what plants crave.
Maybe those of you that stayed home will actually read protect 2025 now. It’s all going to happen.
America is dead, our neighbors quietly suffocated it with a pillow.
Canada and Mexico?
The holocaust branded with trump’s name
Bullshit, Harris Biden and the DNC are 100% oboard with it too. Its a little late for lies isnt it?
Sure, Bud.
Sure, Bud.
We are all a bit stunned, but we have 4 years to think about what happened and why. Lets not just jump to an easy conclusion on hour 1 day 1.
America is dead
You’re thirty years to late to write The End of History. Fukuyama wasn’t right about it then, either.
Maybe those of you that stayed home
Speak for yourself. She only lost because you didn’t vote hard enough.
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Things are quite different. While Trump was in office, he did multiple things that were worse than what Nixon did, and was never forced to leave office. I think our institutions were stronger back then. We didn’t have a very good democracy when Hoover was president, and it took many decades for the Voting Rights Act to get passed (which has recently been weakened by SCOTUS, and will probably be weakened much more). I think we’ll regress quite a bit. Republicans obviously want more of an autocracy/oligarchy. I think it’s a very real possibility we have Russia-style “elections” in the future, and I don’t even know how you come back from that. Assuming democracy isn’t completely destroyed, it may take many decades of fighting and changing the minds of the people who aren’t disenfranchised to get back to where we were. Hell, even civil war is on the table if Trump follows through on some of his more egregious promises (i.e. if he deems Democratic state governments as the “enemy within” and tries to use the military to depose them).
Nixon (also Reagan and Johnson) severely damaged it, Trump is just the end stage.
They all paved the way for trump to fucking topple it.
Then it’ll probably be so exhausted it won’t survive trump?
I can’t tell you how much faith I’ve lost in the average person in America, especially compared to how… ok, I guess, the last election went and how tight, or possibly over this one is.
I can’t fathom how fucking stupid anyone would have to be to elect this orange piece of shit that has been upping the dangerous rhetoric constantly. America is broken and it isn’t worth fixing, especially not for the morons that somehow get him elected again. I just hope that I can get to a point in my career that I can move elsewhere, maybe Ireland or New Zealand or something, fuck.
For real. The rest of the world needs to get their shit together and cripple the US. Cease all trades immediately, end all alliances with the US. The US has the largest military in the world, and now the facists have the reins entirely. They have the oval office, the have the house, they have the Senate and they have the supreme court. The entire world is going to suffer because of this election.
God you blue conservatives are ridiculous.
You’d rather support the death of America over doing away with the two party system.
Bud id fucking love to get rid of the two party system. Personally I’ve been talking about it for fucking years. but that’s not gonna fucking happen.
Go fuck yourself with this blue conservative bullshit.
Cool story, bro. How do you propose to do that? You got a magic wand? How many of those ballot initiatives failed this time around?
Go ahead and wait for the U.S. to implement a viable system. I’d bet it’ll be longer than our lifetimes before that even happens. And that’s ignoring what is probably the desire of keeping the status duo of a broken two party system like this.
There may not be any need for that.
The United States, China, etc. all have trade policies that are fundamentally unsustainable and result in persistent trade imbalances.
This causes all sorts of poor economic outcomes for large sectors of those countries. For example, an anaemic household sector in China and over investments in housing, huge private and public sector deficits in the United States, etc.
In the free market world of Adam Smith and comparative advantage, persistent trade imbalances should not exist.
Over the medium to long term, imports are meant to pay for exports.
If there are persistent trade imbalances, it means there is persistent under consumption (China) or over consumption (United States).
Note: This is not just limited to these countries.
At some point, there is going to be an economic crisis because it can’t continue forever.
US politics have gone to dangerous direction for decades. Orange freak is only a symptom. US is gonna become Russia level cleptocracy and when climate crysis hits fully, world will be more separated and chaotic than ever.
Yeah, this recent election shows how far gone my country really is. But unfortunately it’s also the golden opportunity facists have been working towards for a long time.
