1060
Trying to build viable third parties by voting for them in presidential elections is like trying to build a third door in your house by repeatedly walking into the wall where you want the door to be. (lemmy.world)
submitted 4 months ago by AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world to c/showerthoughts@lemmy.world
361 comments fedilink hide all child comments
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] EnderMB@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago

That's the argument, no?

I don't give a fuck if America has more than "two" parties, but either one of two things is true:

  • Americans are more aligned with the two parties than people would like to believe.
  • Many people won't vote for a third candidate because they feel that their vote would be "wasted", because it wouldn't contribute to one of the "likely" parties to win.

If I had to guess, the former is probably more true than people on social media and the left would like to believe.

[-] Olgratin_Magmatoe@lemmy.world 3 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

but either one of two things is true:

It's worse. It's both, which is in part why third parties don't ever work.

And the solution is election reform, not yelling "just vote for what you believe". Because people just voting for what they believe causes spoiler candidates to spoil elections.

[-] EnderMB@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago

I don't disagree that reform is needed, but I do disagree that voting for a third candidate is useless, purely on the basis that they work elsewhere. My point is that America isn't special, and a party that won't necessarily win can affect policy without ever truly seeing power.

[-] Olgratin_Magmatoe@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

purely on the basis that they work elsewhere.

Do you mean working elsewhere, with elsewhere being other levels of government, or elsewhere being other countries?

Either way I disagree, but I want clarification first.

this post was submitted on 14 Sep 2024
1060 points (100.0% liked)

Showerthoughts

30269 readers
538 users here now

A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted, clever little truths, hidden in daily life.

Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts: 1

Rules

  1. All posts must be showerthoughts
  2. The entire showerthought must be in the title
  3. No politics
    • If your topic is in a grey area, please phrase it to emphasize the fascinating aspects, not the dramatic aspects. You can do this by avoiding overly politicized terms such as "capitalism" and "communism". If you must make comparisons, you can say something is different without saying something is better/worse.
    • A good place for politics is c/politicaldiscussion
    • If you feel strongly that you want politics back, please volunteer as a mod.
  4. Posts must be original/unique
  5. Adhere to Lemmy's Code of Conduct

If you made it this far, showerthoughts is accepting new mods. This community is generally tame so its not a lot of work, but having a few more mods would help reports get addressed a little sooner.

Whats it like to be a mod? Reports just show up as messages in your Lemmy inbox, and if a different mod has already addressed the report the message goes away and you never worry about it.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
vatlark@lemmy.world
forkball@lemmy.world
Thekingoflorda@lemmy.world