Politics

The thing that upsets me so much about the both sides argument is that while it's an absolute nonsense, the dems have done a good job of working hard at doing nothing and allowing people to maintain this illusion.

Neoliberalism adopted during the clinton era and their pull right and unwillingness to stand for or fight for anything outside a few token causes is what lead us to where we are. Like think of all the blue collar voters that would probably still be voting blue if the dems didnt spend 2 decades being indifferent or anti-union and enacting policies that helped line the pockets of big businesses

Also vote in local elections

They matter a huge amount for how your state, county, and city function.

Oh yeah, this kind of language really chaps my caboose.

Which party is actively supporting trans rights, and which one is making it illegal to be trans? And if that doesn't resonate with you, replace trans with Black, Muslim, woman,... basically any minority you'd care to name.

If someone feel like both parties are the same, they live in a bubble of such overwhelming privilege that they must be totally disconnected from anyone unlike them.

Certainly Democrats are not perfect, but "not perfect" is a far cry from "trying to kill minorities." There's just no comparison.

I used to compare voting to a choice between a punch in the stomach vs a kick in the balls.

Nowadays it's a bit closer to a punch in the stomach vs repeatedly stabbed with a dirty needle by a guy hearing voices.

Like yeah, both sides are bad, but one is a LOT worse than the other.

I'm personally a pretty hardcore leftist, and from this position both liberalism and conservatism are too right leaning for me. Of course the democrats are closer to me, but I think it's important to keep in mind they are conservative lite, not truly left leaning. Establishment Dems in particular do not have the best interests in the people in mind, similar to Republicans. "Both sides" are acting to preserve capitalism and consolidate power, not distribute it.

With that in mind, the typical "both sides" argument that there's extremists on both sides is ludicrous to me. Extreme leftism doesn't mean forgiving student debt or implementing a UBI, it's banning corporations in lieu of co-ops, or replacing any company that provides things we need to survive with state-run monopolies (like single payer healthcare, for example). Neither side is left enough, and rhetoric that there's a happy medium between the two parties will end with us being incredibly right leaning.

Edit: should have mentioned Biden forcing the striking rail workers to go back to work. That is not leftism; democrats are not an extremist party.

It sucks that you can almost never say anything criticizing the Dems without a bunch of political white knights knee jerking "SO YOU WANT REPUBLICANS IN OFFICE??!!!"

No, just want Dems to be less like the Republicans I grew up with 40 years ago.

I'm going to throw in a defense of saying both sides for the sake of argument. Both sides can be guilty of similar behavior and pointing that out should not imply symmetry between them. I personally find it frustrating to discuss topics that aren't framed explicitly as right VS left because you immediately get piled of for "both sides aren't the same!!".

In my experience, there are two kinds of people that say both sides are the same.

Apathetic voters and libertarians (ie conservatives who figured out saying they're a conservative makes most of the country hate them).

Wait until you realize that both sides is true, but not because there isn't a difference between them. Both parties do suck. One just sucks worse, and so long as we accept the two party system, that's the way it'll be. We're stuck picking the lesser evil

The solution to the "both sides" argument is to develop a rigorous system of values based on purely logical reasoning with a definitive answer to what is ethical and what cannot be tolerated. As long as people follow emotional arguments and lines of reasoning based on higher-level concepts that fail to highlight the chain of proof that has led to their truth, then uncertainty will cause inaction and complacency.

The political system filters out the noncompliant, so the parties start to resemble one another.

No, they are not the same political parties, make sure you vote to keep the communists out. Also, vote in the primaries so we can get more conservative/freedom representatives as candidates. Voting is not the only answer to salvage the future but it's definitely a part of the answer.

Well, I'm not American, but it does look like politics are mainly driven by narrative and emotions and not... the other stuff.