I get along well with my family, but I'm honestly considering voting Kamala just to fuck with them.

  • emizeko [they/them]
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    edit-2
    3 months ago

    would you feel comfortable face-to-face explaining to a Palestinian child why you voted for his extermination?

    • gueybana [any]
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      edit-2
      3 months ago

      do you feel comfortable explaining to a Palestinian child how you’re paying for their extermination?

      You think they’ll give a fuck if you said ‘but I didn’t vote for it’?

      • CommunistCuddlefish [she/her]
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        edit-2
        3 months ago

        Nobody should vote for these genocidal fucks. There is no excuse to vote for genocide.

        But when it comes to paying, serious question: Is there any way to avoid having the money I am forced to accrue and produce with my labor stolen from my paycheck and used to murder people? Other than the extremely obvious.

        This is not a joke, this is not a bit, this is not attempt to excuse people doing nothing, this is not an attempt to struggle-session with you. I've seriously wondered if I should quit my job and start robbing yuppies for rent money but down that path lies a quick death that achieves ... nothing? of useful strategy.

        And maybe the answer is that the most moral and only thing to do is do the obvious and die with our souls pure. But I have a family and I know what the state would do to them -- arrest, interrogate, and torture them to set an example to others. It's not moral but I can't do that to them, they've been put through so much horrible shit at the hands of the US Empire already.

        • AssortedBiscuits [they/them]
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          edit-2
          3 months ago

          You could always donate money to the Palestinian gofundmes that are floating around like these:

          • https://www.gofundme.com/f/urgent-relief-help-shadis-family-evacuate-gaza
          • https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-mahmouds-family-evacuate-for-urgent-medical-care

          There's so much more you could find at https://gazafunds.com/. And if you think every single one of those gofundmes are scams, there's always the Municipality of Gaza https://gaza-city.ensany.com/campaign/6737 that are trying to raise money for:

          • Water supply enhancement projects
          • Maintenance of water wells
          • Implementation of water desalination initiatives
          • Management of waste collection and disposal systems
          • Reconstruction of roads demolished during war
          • Implementation of sewage water pumping and treatment schemes
          • Execution of pest control and rodent eradication programs
          • Enhance water provisions for residents and maintain consistency.
          • Manage the collection and disposal of accumulated waste throughout the city.
          • Address sewage overflow and sanitation issues across various areas of the city.
          • Initiate the reopening of key thoroughfares to facilitate emergency vehicle access.
          • Clear debris from the cityscape to restore ease of movement for residents.
          • Provide aid to the personnel of the Gaza Municipality Emergency Committee.

          To say that our only choice as people living within the imperial core is to either do adventurism, fuck off into the woods, or do absolutely nothing is a ridiculous dichotomy.

          From each according to their abilities to each according to their needs.

          • CommunistCuddlefish [she/her]
            ·
            3 months ago

            To say that our only choice as people living within the imperial core is to either do adventurism, fuck off into the woods, or do absolutely nothing is a ridiculous dichotomy.

            That's not what I was saying. I was responding to the very narrow framing of american citizens being forced to pay for genocide and saying I don't see how to solve that specific problem.

            In any case and more importantly, thank you for linking ways people can actively help. I'd rather my money go toward saving lives than ending them.

        • gueybana [any]
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          edit-2
          3 months ago

          That’s fair but if I want to be annoying about this I could go on endless degrees of abstraction.

          You’re working an above board job to eat not to pay for the genocide of the Palestinians. Can’t someone vote for non-Gaza related and personal reason? What if they work a government job that depends on which administration is in power? The point is that almost all of us are supporting this genocide one way or another and few are voting Democrat to exterminate Palestinians.

          • Maturin [any]
            ·
            3 months ago

            if I want to be annoying about this

            mission-accomplished

          • buckykat [none/use name]
            ·
            3 months ago

            This is indistinguishable from vote blue no matter who "Palestine is a single issue" arguments.

          • lilypad [she/her, null/void]
            ·
            3 months ago

            Just my thoughts, maybe I'm real wrong, but:

            Every candidate will be at minimum slightly different than ones platonic ideal candidate, but a vote for them is still a blanket endorsement of their politics and policies. We cannot vote for someone and say "I only support this aspect of their policies", rather, we can only say "I believe that this aspect of their policies outweighs these other aspects." In this hypothetical case of a government worker, that statement becomes "I believe that my continued employment for the government under this future administration outweighs the continuation of the genocide being committed and inflicted upon Palestinians".

            It is important to recognize and grapple with the fact that by existing in the US and participating in the social systems of the US we are contributing to this genocide, some of us in small ways some in large; we must critically consider how we can minimize our contribution and how we can actively work against the states actions. However recognition of our being held hostage like this does not justify explicitly supporting genocide. A vote is an explicit act, and is an endorsement of the politics of the person and party being voted for.