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In their moral justification, the argument of the lesser evil has played a prominent role. If you are confronted with two evils, the argument runs, it is your duty to opt for the lesser one, whereas it is irresponsible to refuse to choose altogether. Its weakness has always been that those who choose the lesser evil forget quickly that they chose evil.
-Hannah Arendt, German-American philosopher and political theorist, in fuckin 1964 lmao. some things never change!
So, explain how not voting assures us that we don't get Trump again.
Simple. If nobody votes, neither candidate will win.
I'm going to assume that you're being sarcastic.
For those who think this is an option, remember that the MAGoos vote in every election.
IMO the disconnect lies in the fact that many don’t see Biden as the “lesser evil.” They want to vote for Biden, because they’ve been influenced to think it is the only option.
Arendt is making an observation of a “no-win situation”.
Voters want a solution to that situation, so they make assumptions to come to a conclusion that fits the narrative they tell themselves.
Some, when faced with a no-win situation, choose to not play the game. Others, convince themselves that the lesser-evil is a desirable outcome. Many, myself included, want to "change the conditions of the test.".
There is no viable solution. All choices are valid and should be respected.
The only way to change the conditions of the test is to get out and support Left-leaning Dems in primaries.
And no, not all choices are valid. Voting doesn't just affect the voter, it affects the whole country.
You have no idea what I’m trying to communicate and it’s disconcerting to me. It’s a failure on my part to communicate effectively. I’m sorry.
Keep at it. You learn by doing something; making a mistake; then doing it again a little better.
I’m going to assume, from your replies, that you don’t think this election is a no-win situation?
But others do, which is illustrated in OP’s Arendt comment. Those concerns are material, whether true, or not. Dismissing vote abstainers, or third party voters, doesn’t address those concerns. Only Biden and the DNC can do that.
Or, people could look at the situation as it is.
Trump and his MAGoos are going to do everything they can to take as many rights away from people as they can.
In the real world of 2024, the only option is Joe Biden.
There's no magical super candidate that's going to pop up between now and November.
With the latest Supreme Court decision, re-elected President Trump could deputize 5 million of his followers on Inauguration Day.
You don't have to love Joe Biden, or even like him. Just realize that Trump is for full on fascist takeover of the US and Biden isn't.
Then Congress would appoint the President. If, somehow, a Congress was also not elected, then the states would likely send delegates to do the same thing, but not all of Congress is even up for election.
Yeah the Nazis would've never come to power if everyone just abstained from voting instead of coalescing under one lesser evil /s
It’s a frigging figure of speech. It doesn’t literally mean both options are “evil” anytime it is used. And you’re not “choosing evil” by voting for Biden — not for the people whose lives will be ruined if Trump wins. For many you are preventing evil.
If a few more people in a few states had chosen the “lesser evil” of Hillary over Trump, the Supreme Court wouldn’t be delivering supreme evil every few months for the foreseeable future.
(I don’t need to hear about how Hillary did a bad job in the election — it doesn’t change the fact that the consequences are what they are.)
This premise depends on the assumption that "everyone is stupid except for me!"
We can sum up the sentiment as "don't choose the lesser of two evils because you're fucking moron that forgets things easily!"
because you're fucking moron that forgets things easily!"
It’s more that the worst thing you’re willing to accept becomes the new normal.
And then something that was previously unthinkable becomes thinkable. And then if you accept that because it’s the lesser evil, it becomes the new “new normal”. Continue in a downward spiral.
Look at the state we’re in now, with Trump and Biden. That’s the result of decades of picking “the lesser evil”.
At some point you have to say “no more”.
Agreed, and by this argument it will only get worse. The next versions of biden and trump will both be worse if we keep going the same route.
You're ignoring the fact that people have been opting out of voting for decades.
People in 1968 couldn't bring themselves to vote for Humphrey, and we got Nixon.
They couldn't bear Jimmy Carter, and we got Reagan.
"Both sides are the same" is the Right's best pal.
Hannah Arendt was tankie?
NAFO profile pic
worst opinion I've ever seen
A tale as old as time
Tankie being triggered by reality... tale as old as... well not time... but as old as Stalin anyway.
Except that Biden is in no way evil. Being old is not evil, and his administration has done a lot of great things.
That's right, the man bypassing congress to ship weapons for Israel to bomb refugee tents with is actually a smol bean good guy, that's SO true