You’re usually a pretty smart person so I’m not going back and forth reiterating that lengthy explanation. Please consider my words in earnest before the next time you vote for someone who wants you to have this dilemma.
As I said, I’ve pushed for getting rid of first-past-the-post in my own country. We’re fortunate to have not entirely slid into two-party politics here yet, though of course there’s an endless “gravity” pulling things that way due to FPTP. I’m well aware of how this works, the game theory behind it is quite clear and obvious.
But wishing the dilemma would go away doesn’t mean you’re not faced with it anyway when you step into that ballot box. In the 2024 election Donald Trump got about the same number of votes he did the previous time he ran, but Harris got significantly fewer votes than Biden did. The election went to Trump because people decided to pick option three - they either abstained or threw their votes away. That’s the solid, real, actual, practical outcome that you get from that kind of view towards voting in an election like that. And so that’s why I’m so strident in recommending that you hold your nose and vote for the lesser evil. Kang and Kodos were right, you only have those two options at that point.
I’m involved in local politics where I live. I volunteer, I pamphlet, I survey. There’s stuff to do when there isn’t an election going on and that’s the stuff that contributes toward determining which two options are present. But it’s a lot more work than just going into a room once every two or four years to punch a card or however you do it, so most people don’t. That’s why you never seem to see any change in those two options. If you don’t like those options then that’s what you have to do.
You’re usually a pretty smart person so I’m not going back and forth reiterating that lengthy explanation. Please consider my words in earnest before the next time you vote for someone who wants you to have this dilemma.
As I said, I’ve pushed for getting rid of first-past-the-post in my own country. We’re fortunate to have not entirely slid into two-party politics here yet, though of course there’s an endless “gravity” pulling things that way due to FPTP. I’m well aware of how this works, the game theory behind it is quite clear and obvious.
But wishing the dilemma would go away doesn’t mean you’re not faced with it anyway when you step into that ballot box. In the 2024 election Donald Trump got about the same number of votes he did the previous time he ran, but Harris got significantly fewer votes than Biden did. The election went to Trump because people decided to pick option three - they either abstained or threw their votes away. That’s the solid, real, actual, practical outcome that you get from that kind of view towards voting in an election like that. And so that’s why I’m so strident in recommending that you hold your nose and vote for the lesser evil. Kang and Kodos were right, you only have those two options at that point.
I’m involved in local politics where I live. I volunteer, I pamphlet, I survey. There’s stuff to do when there isn’t an election going on and that’s the stuff that contributes toward determining which two options are present. But it’s a lot more work than just going into a room once every two or four years to punch a card or however you do it, so most people don’t. That’s why you never seem to see any change in those two options. If you don’t like those options then that’s what you have to do.