Democracy is at stake. | An address from Bernie Sanders - eviltoast
  • infinitevalence@discuss.online
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    8 months ago

    Only because the Democrats have contributed to support a failed and broken system because it sometimes kept them in power.

    Conservatives have been openly stating their goals for the last hundred years all the Democrats had to do was stop supporting the status quo.

    • HubertManne@kbin.social
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      8 months ago

      ugh. I don’t get where this comes from. You think people should sign up under a stystem and run for office under a system and then not support and try and make that system as best it can be from within the system. You want revolution then revolt but if your in a democracy vote for the best option and that includes the options for the option (primaries) and if you can try and be an option if you will do a better job and making the best of the system. You want to toss our the system and start anew, well then revolt.

        • HubertManne@kbin.social
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          8 months ago

          not really. reagan over carter. bush over gore, bush over heart, trump over hilary. We went with the worst option plenty. Problem is we are a democracy and not everyone views the best option is the same. Many of those races were extremely close when the worse option won (hanging chads). Sure we would not be perfect but if those races had went the other way because of the best worst option having more support it we would be way better off today and its possible the worst worst option would find it had to be a bit better which might have pushed the best worst to be a bit better to. What has happened is the worst worst finds they can just be worse and worse because that just turns off folks from seeking better and buy into the, they are all the same, fud.

            • HubertManne@kbin.social
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              8 months ago

              The dems though are the people who vote in the primary and work with their local chapters. Anyone can improve the canidate pool. The dems win some times though while the non dem liberals have never defeated a republican canidate. They just bitch about the innefective job the dems do while not getting the job done themselves.

                • Facebones@reddthat.com
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                  8 months ago

                  Even on the local level, Democrats will attack you and shun you if you don’t share their specific neolib agenda. I tried a couple times to get involved but if they find out you’re too progressive they’ll freak tf out about how they need people “serious about making change” or whatever and start pushing you out.

                  Like bro I just wanted to help make copies or wtfever you do here but OK I’ll go home lol

        • Zworf@beehaw.org
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          8 months ago

          I think the biggest problem with the US system is the FPTP thing, the winner takes all.

          This always leads to two parties that become pure enemies because of the zero-sum game that ensues. A loss for one is a win for the other, there is no incentive to collaborate.

          Our coalition system is not perfect because it often causes very uncomfortable coalitions of parties not well suited. But at least it doesn’t feel like a stalemate.

    • Dark Arc@social.packetloss.gg
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      8 months ago

      He does. It’s the reason he’s running again, he believes he can beat Trump (and that he might be the only one who can).

            • sqgl@beehaw.org
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              8 months ago

              It is bad in Gaza and I agree with Bernie that Biden should stop funding Israel however the hyperbole of “genocide” is devaluing the word.

                • sqgl@beehaw.org
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                  8 months ago

                  You did not read your own link. They did not call it service cleansing (yet).

                  A UN human rights expert warned today that Palestinians are in grave danger of mass ethnic cleansing

                  I agree with the expert though. There is no need to invade Rafah, to expel Palestinians, or even eradicate Hamas (since it is impossible). To do so will justify calling it ethnic cleansing and indeed that does seem to be Likud’s aim.

              • TheDankHold@kbin.social
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                8 months ago

                Interesting that the chart starts in 1948. It seems to miss that immediately prior 80% of Palestinians were forcibly removed from their lands and/or massacres by Zionist settler militias.

                Next you’ll tell me that the population swap between Greece and Turkey was a genocide too, considering how you count the migrations of Jews that occurred after Zionists murdered and purged as many Arabs as they could from Palestine.

                The conflict has existed longer than the Israeli state and ignoring that time period only obfuscates the reality of the situation.

                • sqgl@beehaw.org
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                  8 months ago

                  Yeah I would call myself a Zionist because it merely means I think they deserve to live in that area. Not exclusively like “from the river to the sea” or anything. A two state solution is Zionist.

              • t3rmit3@beehaw.org
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                8 months ago

                For a more informative explanation of this chart, and what’s right, and what’s wrong:

                • After the 6 Day War in 1967, when Israel attacked 3 of its neighboring countries, those countries and other states either allied to them or sympathetic, DID actively persecute and expel large parts of their Jewish populations, and seized their homes and valuables. That WAS ethnic cleansing.
                • In the 1948 Palestine War, Israel violently displaced 750,000 Palestinians, which was more than half of the population, and the military and settler militias killed many thousands more. That was ALSO ethnic cleansing. This is completely erased by this chart.
                • In the 2023-2024 Israel-Gaza conflict, Israel has displaced over half of Palestinians in Gaza, destroyed their homes and livelihoods, and targeted essential infrastructure like water and power, and denied food entry, in order to make Gaza unlivable. This is ALSO ethnic cleansing. This is also completely erased by this chart.

                The chart is inherently biased by another key point, which is that ethnic cleansing is not based on national borders. A UN commission of experts on humanitarian law violations defines Ethnic Cleansing as: “…a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic or religious group from certain geographic areas.”

                The Commission of Experts also stated that the coercive practices used to remove the civilian population can include: murder, torture, arbitrary arrest and detention, extrajudicial executions, rape and sexual assaults, severe physical injury to civilians, confinement of civilian population in ghetto areas, forcible removal, displacement and deportation of civilian population, deliberate military attacks or threats of attacks on civilians and civilian areas, use of civilians as human shields, destruction of property, robbery of personal property, attacks on hospitals, medical personnel, and locations with the Red Cross/Red Crescent emblem, among others.

                The UN themselves has identified Israel’s action in Gaza in 2023-2024 as an ethnic cleansing.

  • ReallyKinda@kbin.social
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    8 months ago

    Democracy was dead from the beginning, the ‘founding fathers’ were afraid of the masses and the structure of the government is a reflection of that. On top of that the dominance of political parties (which George Washington warned against) makes it essentially impossible to vote for someone who generally shares your interests which is what you’re supposed to be doing in a democracy.

      • tangentism@beehaw.org
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        8 months ago

        “Hey! That thing you do every four years is actually a sham and always had been but don’t let that stop you participating because you know, we really need you to vote this time to preserve the illusion of democracy”

        Stop huffing jenkum and most of all, stop encouraging others to take up huffing with you

        • Storksforlegs@beehaw.org
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          8 months ago

          One candidate is openly planning to install himself as a violent authoritarian dictator. Voting against that is in fact important?

          • tangentism@beehaw.org
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            8 months ago

            And the other is actively engaging in a genocide with supplying intelligence, weapons and boots on the ground and has bypassed Congress multiple times to do so.

    • MxM111@kbin.social
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      8 months ago

      We had only once in US history a candidate who was not committed to peaceful transfer of power and who incited insurrection. No, not every election you have a choice to vote for or against such candidate.

  • Izzgo@kbin.social
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    8 months ago

    Thank you for posting this. I’ve put it on my FB page (very tiny, family and close friends only). My Bernie loving friends who won’t vote for Biden because he’s too conservative or whatever need to see it. And my conservative family members who consider themselves trump loving patriots need to understand the consequences. I captioned it “If you believe in democracy, please vote to support it.”

    If we’re going to keep Trump from a 2nd term, each of us needs to do what we can to convince all our friends and family to vote in support of democracy.

    • knightly the Sneptaur@pawb.social
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      8 months ago

      The DNC chose to elect Trump in 2024 when they pulled their shenanigans against Bernie in 2018. They squandered 2020 on a minimum-viable candidate and now that re-election has come due they’re lashing out at everyone except their own sycophants.

  • hex_m_hell@slrpnk.net
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    8 months ago

    So… Trump has promised to carry out a coup if he doesn’t win. A good coup would be indistinguishable from him just winning… Yet, people keep saying “vote harder.” Like, yeah, this is all super important stuff and the more people vote the harder it will be for Trump to carry out the coup… But a lot of people have put in a lot of money to make this happen so he’s going to have another coup attempt. This time it won’t be a bunch of idiots, it will be Eric Prince and the Academi soliders who got deployed in Portland.

    If you are in the US, you need to prepare to fight. If he wins, democracy is over. If he doesn’t win, democracy is probably over too since he’s already rigged the supreme court so he can steal the election and make it look legal. Police all over the country have already pledged allegiance to him. When you come out to protest they will run you over with SUVs and just open fire on you. They’ll shoot at reporters to make sure no one can see what’s happening, just like they did during the George Floyd rebellion. But this time they’ll just kill people and claim they were violent.

    You all need to be ready for the absolute worst. You also need to vote to make it harder, but voting will absolutely not be enough. You need to prepare.

    • TheDankHold@kbin.social
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      8 months ago

      You should actually watch the video because you might be surprised that he directly talks about Gaza and states his position (no more money for Israel if they can’t control their violent impulses). You know, instead of spouting off like a blind partisan.

      • juicy@lemmy.today
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        8 months ago

        Yeah, he says that and then says you need to vote for Genocide Joe. Just a reminder that Bernie is a Zionist and waited until Dec. 13 to even call for a ceasefire. He’s hot garbage, just like AOC who refuses to call the conflict a genocide.

        • TheDankHold@kbin.social
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          8 months ago

          Reductive purity testing won’t end the genocide you know. Do you know the position of the Republican candidate on Gaza? (hint: it’s an example of actually advocating for genocide)

          Refusing to take steps to reduce harm enables the worst outcome and there are also other issues besides Gaza that exist beyond this wedge issue.

          • juicy@lemmy.today
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            8 months ago

            I’m not quibbling. Bernie is supporting a man committing genocide. Oh, Trump is advocating for genocide? Why should I give a hoot whether Biden says he likes genocide while he gives Israel the bombs they are using in the genocide. Words mean nothing if your actions contradict them. Biden’s duplicity is no virtue. At least Trump has the spine to own his crimes. Biden kills babies while crying crocodile tears, and Bernie is his apologist. Shame on them all.

            You know what won’t end the genocide? Wringing our hands while we vote for the politicians carrying it out.

            • TheDankHold@kbin.social
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              8 months ago

              Don’t infantilize Netanyahu and the IDF. They’re doing the genocide. Bernie is opposing a person that wants total immunity from the law and is advocating for what he believes even still.

              There are more things to consider than Israel Hamas. Don’t be the left wing equivalent to pro lifers. Hyped up on a wedge issue to the extent you let yourself get taken advantage of by the rhetoric of the worst actors.

              • juicy@lemmy.today
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                8 months ago

                How can you be so cold blooded as to call the starvation of 2.3 million people a “wedge issue”?

                There was recently a story about a woman in Ohio who left her baby in a pack 'n play while she went on vacation for two weeks. She returned to find the baby dead from starvation and dehydration. I imagine my own baby wailing with hunger for days on end.

                This is what Israel is deliberately subjecting tens of thousands of children to while Biden continues to give them weapons and diplomatic cover. This isn’t a wedge issue. This isn’t a talking point. This isn’t a bargaining chip. As long as we are on the wrong side of this issue, we are “the axis of evil” in the world. We are irredeemable.

  • Paragone@beehaw.org
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    7 months ago

    https://www.hiddendominion.com/sir-glubbs-250-year-hypothesis-on-the-duration-of-great-nations/

    Anybody who pretends that the US hasn’t operated as an empire, there is even a book named “How To Hide An Empire” on it.

    That insight ( the link ) of Glubb’s was important.

    Please glance at the history backing it, in that table, on that page…


    I believe it is partly that the empire-rulers identity becomes sooo completely mis-matched from the actual composition of the empire, that it is an inevitable self-destruction, at that age of its evolution.