It's a situation that I have been expecting for a while, but I wasn't fully ready to accept it. Specifically it's one of my LGBTQ friends who honestly believes in the democrats will protect them and their partner. I have tried to make the point that both parties are eroding any sort of civility towards all marginalized groups, but fear seems to drive them more than logical observations. They make the excuse that change doesn't happen over night and that the left continues to grow and will have meaningful affects down the road. I fundamentally just don't agree with that idea and vocalize it regularly. More and more it is ending up in a circular argument where I am painted as unrealistic and my rhetoric (leftist rhetoric) is doing more harm than good because it promotes distrust in the only system we have to work with. I try to tell them it's kind of the whole point. We gotta start somewhere if we want to see a better, more representative system, but they are so hung up on the immediate future while simultaneously saying that my idealistic feelings are shortsighted and I cant expect change in the immediate future... The double-talk is wild, I know.
I am trying my hardest to stop from engaging at this point because on the most basic level we agree on a lot of stuff, but they are just way to wrapped up in the fear mongering of the democratic party. They know that the two party system is broken, they know that something drastic needs to change, but they also think that they are powerless to do anything except choose the lesser evil. It pains me because I am watching them do the same shit past generations have done, where they give up on their ideals for the sake of preserving the current status quo that they benefit from. I am legitimately watching them imply "fuck you, got mine" under the guise of civic duty and I hate it. I want nothing more than to be able to finally say "I told you so" without being a smug asshole about it and ruining our friendship.
Thanks for reading my rant. It's probably a bit disjointed, but the frustration is boiling over and I needed to vent to the only group of people that seems to understand the hopelessness of being a disenfranchised leftist.
Just point out the last time any progressive legislation was ever written at the federal level was gay marriage and bring them crashing down to earth. The party has zero interest in actually using the power it has to do good for everyone, they are content to fuck over everyone that isn't in a blue state, and everyone in blue states will be fucked over eventually. This isn't a case of IF, it's a case of WHEN, and that only by reckoning with this reality and committing to working for the change that is sorely needed can marginalised peoples truly get on the correct strategic path. The current strategic path being pushed is a dead end and the liberals are content to continue mis-selling it to you because you choose to be naive as a result of the very understandable fear that reckoning with this instills.
Their claims that we are shortsighted and idealist are projections of the naivity they know they are choosing because it's the only hope they have.
This is also a failure of the left though btw. The left is not offering hope, and until the left finds a way to offer hope people will continue to choose naivity if it feels like a possible hope to them.