Those anarchists, tankies, fascists and authoritarians who claim this are just trying to sabotage democracy.
I live in Illinois. If somehow the heavens and earth move such that Illinois turned red, then there would be absolutely zero chance it would be the tipping point in the presidential election. The vast majority of people in the US live in safe states.
And for the record, I do vote in down-ballot races, the ones that actually matter, but none of you care because it’s all about genuflecting before the leader of the blue tribe. Which, frankly, just gives me more reason to refuse to.
“Democracy” doesn’t need our help to be sabotaged, it’s falling apart on it’s own. Every time someone says that the voters have to change en masse to meet the policies of politicians rather than politicians having to respond to what their constituents want, they are the ones taking the axe to democracy. Why the hell would anyone care about upholding or defending a system that we have no say in? Somehow, insisting on popular demands and trying to turn the will of the people into policies that protect the rights of the vulnerable gets translated into “trying to sabotage democracy” equating Anarchists and Marxists alike with fascists.
anarchists, tankies, fascists and authoritarians
Spot the odd one out!
I’ve definitely seen anarchists describe frustration with electoral politics, especially when people limit their political engagement to simply voting once every so many years. However, I’ve never seen one advocate against voting.
Anarchists are generally aware that, despite elections not being the thing that will overthrow the bourgeoisie, some parties result in less suffering for oppressed peoples than others.
There’s a long history of anarchists who oppose voting
https://libcom.org/article/why-anarchists-dont-vote-elisee-reclus
https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/aotearoa-workers-solidarity-movement-why-we-don-t-vote
https://apps.lib.umich.edu/online-exhibits/exhibits/show/debatedemocracy/anarchism---anti-voting
The anarchist argument is that voting somehow endorses the state and is consent to being governed. It’s not a very good argument, but it is an argument nevertheless.
That’s not an actual argument I’ve ever heard and I’m an anarchist myself, it usually goes more like:
Voting is a waste of time especially the more disenfranchised you are, mutual aid lasts longer and does more for people around you in the short term, in the long term you can build community get organized, and bargain for more than what simply voting can get you.
Personally that’s not a bad argument, see I’m living in Israel and my town’s going through gentrification, and the state I’m living under is fascist and the fascism is so normalized, not because of people like me refusing to vote, but because of liberals who were never so different from the fascists, constantly giving them ground, always bargaining for the bare minimum.
The only people actually getting anything done that is remotely positive are activists, like the people protesting to stop the genocide, and getting involved physically with sabotaging fascist efforts to stop humanitarian aid from getting into gaza.
Or at least that’s how it was months ago, i haven’t found it in me to listen to the news on quite a while, so what do i know.
Congratulations on four more years of a milktoast centrist liberal, is he going to acturally fix the problems? Or is he going to be like Biden and make the big talk of peace and prosperity while sending weapons to fund genocide?
I have the feeling that you would be inclined to deny the distinction between the Biden presidency and the trump presidency that followed it.
Fundamentally Trump would not have gotten anywhere without decades of milqtoast ineffective liberals and corrupt milquetoast politicans, the Democrats are at direct fault for this. They built the conditions where people demanded something new and they gave them more of the same. They fought the left viciously while giving up the fight against fascism.
Unlike his Conservative opponent, Carney has a resume of fixing problems more than talking. He has done a lot of talking during the campaign, as one should to get elected, now Canadians have a part in holding him to account as PM.
What has he done? All I know about the Canadian Liberals is that like the American liberals they have a long history of promises and a short history of keeping them.
I’m a disabled dude with a family. I live on less than half of what is considered extreme poverty for a single person in my area per year not including my wife’s income. I have no extra healthcare, dental or vision care and pay out of pocket even though I worked for ~20 years before my disability and was a part of a union. I am not disabled enough according to my government but too disabled to work according to all medical professionals I have seen, so I get no more than basic CPP. I have chronic pain and neurological damage that affects Ballance and muscle control as well as my ability to walk somewhat and do basic tasks. But I can walk and drive and from the outside look “normal” to most people.
My wife works for the federal government in a public facing seasonal position. It is a contracted position now, that used to be permanent. This avoids unions, healthcare payments, full time employment, benefits and more. Again, she works for our federal government but there is not one politician suggesting that this is no better than what private industry does to people by treating them like wage slaves.
There is no politician in this country that cares about me and my family. I have three choices on my federal ballot. The politicians would all rather I be dead. I can MAID whenever I like but I am not permitted respect or a decent life and neither are my kids. My wife doesn’t deserve a full time job or benefits that would really help pull us out of poverty even though she is highly educated in her field and uses it for her work for our government. Even if I could try to work my way out of my hole I lose all support when I hit a very low income threshold ($6900/year) and should I somehow work past that threshold by convincing a public employee to allow me, on a case by case basis, I can be assured to be watched extremely closely as if I were commiting a crime and having to report regularly not just on my taxes on a yearly basis like every other citizen.
I have spoiled every single ballot I have cast for more than a decade in every single election at every single level of politics in Canada and I get derided for it. I voted against fascism this time and held my tongue but you better believe I’m on my MP already. I’m sure my email address will be banned internally and I highly doubt my calls and emails will ever get a response.
People could give a fuck though. They prove it time and time again. Tell me again who I should vote for? And why I should give a fuck about you and your politicians? People have a lot to say but it’s all bullshit. They care about themselves.
As of 2022 there are over 320,000 people on CPP disability in the country. It has risen significantly since then. That’s certainly not 22 million but we deserve as others do.
I vote in every election but it sure as hell never feels like my vote does anything at all or is even recorded.
TBH i don’t think there’s a way to vote our way out of a lot of our issues.
If voting changed anything, they’d make it illegal.
~ Emma Goldman
Incidentally, a lot of US districts have made voting increasingly difficult to the point of illegality.
But I rarely see Votey types grapple with that fact. They either dismiss the disenfranchised as lazy/stupid or ignore this cohort entirely.
If somebody tells you voting is pointless, they are voting for somebody you wouldn’t vote for.
I don’t really think that’s the case. If you live in an exceptionally partisan area then there’s little impact to voting.
Right, but this is a Canadian community about the recent Canadian election. The voting system is assumed.
In my riding, if you only had the option of liberal or conservative and a 100% turnout we would still have elected the same blue brick for the 4th time.
Usually this just means I get to vote for whatever party I like the platform enough of/like the leader.
I mean I voted but I live in Alberta and don’t live in Calgary or Edmonton. Tell me my vote mattered.
Here’s a link to the results https://globalnews.ca/news/11130642/canada-election-2025-results-leduc-wetaskiwin/
“Oh wow, a statistical golden goose! Welp, that fully justifies my beliefs surrounding this. Looks guys, this one time, voting mattered! That means it always matters! And anyone who tells you otherwise is a bad person! Shame!”
I didn’t vote for Harris or Trump
My county still went blue by thousands
My state still went red by tens of thousands
Me protest voting didn’t matter.
My vote didn’t matter.
Me protest voting didn’t matter.
It’s funny, because I’m deep in the beating heart of blood red Texas. But every time I fail to vote for a Bill White, Henry Cuellar, or Kamala Harris, I’m told it is my fault that Democrats can’t keep control of Congress, the Presidency, or the Courts.
When I ask for a candidate that isn’t shamelessly corrupt and favorable towards genocide, I’m told that I’m a purity troll who has been tricked by evil Chinese/Russian/Iranian bot farms into opposing The Most Progressive Ballot Since FDR.
After I campaign for candidates I like, I’m a do nothing heckler. After I march in rallies, I’m told I didn’t show up for minorities or women or immigrants. After I donate tens thousands of dollars to sympathetic campaigns, I’m told that there’s no place for broke loser dropouts in the party.
Can’t imagine why liberals keep losing, though. They’re such a progressive Big Tent party.
That vote increases funding to the area for progressive outreach and causes. You won’t change the entire province with a wole new order but you are part of showing that Alberta isn’t a lost cause to the left.
Seriously, this shows left wing lobbiests, charities, politicians, etc. That they can do something in the province. In the end all it may mean is easier access to insulin pumps or less cuts to medical services but that definitly matters.
It’s easy to look at the big picture and grow hostile but your vote does matter.
When will the liberal party pass the electoral reform they were elected to pass?
Pressure as it “voting for other people” and “nationwide general strike” or pressure as in “Thoughts and prayers” online?
Because the first isn’t going to happen, as evident by this election, and the second hasn’t achieved anything so far, and will continue to achive nothing because it isn’t actually pressure.
And that pressure comes from the citizens who never put pressure on. I live in a fascist government situation in Canada simply because I am disabled. But people like you would tell me to stop complaining that at least I have some support. I have chased my MP to no effect or response at all. I have done the same with my MLA. I have educated my fellow Canadians. I have ranted and raved for decades and protested about how we are treated as second class citizens and you all are not standing up for us. None of you. I’m purple in the face from screaming into the void.
You expect people to stand up for you? You’re delusional. My experiences at the bottom of Canadian society tell me otherwise.
Ahh, here’s the tankie…
You’re responsible for Donald Trump getting elected because you just focused on attacking democrats relentlessly then foolishly claimed that voting is “pointless”
Get out of here with your authoritarian tendencies.
