Politics

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In-depth political discussion from around the world; if it's a political happening, you can post it here.

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‘A dying empire led by bad people’: Poll finds young voters despairing over US politics (www.semafor.com)

submitted 5 months ago by Five@slrpnk.net to c/politics

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[–] apis 14 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Easy to let despondence & cynicism override reality, but if it were true that voting does nothing, nobody would put such effort into discouraging us from voting; into confusing us so much that we disengage.

Standing in line to tick may feel too tiny to count, but everything counts, from the mysterious interactions of subatomic particles to your most basic civic interaction with the rest of your nation (voting).

[–] BobGnarley@lemm.ee 2 points 5 months ago

https://adst.org/2016/10/2000-presidential-election-florida-recount/

Except this one time pinky swear. Also the electoral college can override any vote the peasants cast.

[–] t3rmit3 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Voting can have an effect, of course, but whether it does is dependent on many things.

if it were true that voting does nothing, nobody would put such effort into discouraging us from voting

This is not necessarily correct.

Never assume that the thing that an opponent loudly and visibly opposes is their actual goal; it may very well be a distraction to keep you from their real goal/ or the real threat to them. That's not some abstract hypothetical, either; this is done all the time in politics. Putting non-starter provisions in bills in order to expend your opponents' political capital killing the extreme provisions in order to get your real goals passed, is a common practice, as one example.

An inexperienced opponent telegraphs their real moves unwittingly. An experienced one feints.