as someone who's not only from the US but also from a red state, i'm pretty sure the OP of that post about trump wasn't talking about people who have trouble getting out to vote or are affected by things such as gerrymandering. recently on tumblr there have been a lot of people talking about deliberately not voting even though they could, or going on about how horrible it is to tell people they need to vote for biden, because they're (understandably, but still) mad at biden for funding israel and don't realize that letting trump win over him would only make things worse for people in palestine, as well as for people in the US and in many other places in the world. i've been seeing so many posts going around where people say they're going to purposely not vote for biden and encouraging others to also not vote for him, that it's been making me utterly terrified that we're about to face another trump presidency. i think that's what that post was addressing.
I agree another four years of Trump would be catastrophic. I am also terrified anon. Thank you for reaching out and being respectful,
How is tumblr a reflection of the american population as a whole? and like There is NO context on OP's post, just generalizations. MY FEEDS haven't had people saying shit like that. There's been outrage over palestine, over US involvement, I've seen posts Promoting voting especially in states that have been criminalizing queer citizens, I've seen posts begging people to register, providing links to help do that. If OP wanted to increase Voter Turnout they maybe would've looked into those organizations in the states and promoted it too, I guess they can be doing that too right now. That is IF it's so important to THEM, those who don't have to live in it. It's easy to criticize. I'm not over here making posts about England and Ireland's relationship for example, I dont create my own content to speak on shit I don't have enough info for. I share and promote those who do, well when I'm not shitposting cuz I can't be serious all the time. Respectfully, we curate our own internet experience based on how we interact. Maybe that's the algorithm providing content for OP and you to see more often?
Nothing about these comments' you have told me about surprises me though, it's happened Every Election, as far back as I can remember. Because of our two-party system its almost expected that we go to or talk in extremes. That's tied to values and identity since our political parties love to promote and link their parties to moral and values. and honestly IDK why everyone is so surprised and worked up because it happens every election. Since 2004 we've had about the same 60% turn out, with a small dip to 58.6% in 2012. Tough divisive topics seem to get more voters out and more people want their vote to be heard, generally because they can't stand the other candidate. Even if every eligable citizen did vote, Trump could still win. Then what? That's why it comes down to the context and all those extra things like finances, education, demographic, area of the US ect. those things set trends for voters. We influence that we influence voting.
I can see why you want to keep these topics kinda separate. Unfortunately, everything is political and also interconnected. I can understand Why people are frustrated and wanting to throw in the towel. I don't agree with it but I understand.
Do you know a lot of our citizens aren't even registered? I was providing insight to why that could be. Ya'll seem to think what? Based on social media you know what's up? News flash theres people who never vote. There always has been. It's why education is important, it's why being involved in your community and local government is important. It's why paying attention to what happens around a election is important, as well as looking at the past. It's why talking to each other and encouraging people to go be heard, instead of ripping them a new one. (If eventually we can push for voters to go to local elections we can start taking away the political base for people like Trump. Also if we stop reelecting people over and over, oh and no lifetime appointments to the SC but those are for another time.)
The last two presidential elections had more turnout than before. This is why it's important to have context.
"Voter turnout in the United States fluctuates in national elections. In recent decades, about 60% of the voting eligible population votes during presidential election years and about 40% votes during midterm elections, with 2020 and 2018 marking the highest presidential and midterm turnout in over a century." -FairVote
Voter Turnout - FairVote
"The elections of 2018, 2020 and 2022 were three of the highest-turnout U.S. elections of their respective types in decades. About two-thirds (66%) of the voting-eligible population turned out for the 2020 presidential election – the highest rate for any national election since 1900. The 2018 election (49% turnout) had the highest rate for a midterm since 1914. Even the 2022 election’s turnout, with a slightly lower rate of 46%, exceeded that of all midterm elections since 1970." - Pew Research Center
Voter turnout in US elections, 2018-2022 | Pew Research Center
This second Article goes into depth about how and why people vote, education is a top factor, wealth is a top factor. Americans aren't known to be consistent voters in general, or we decide to pick and chose at which level we vote. BUT that doesn't negate what I said on OP's post.
You know my anon red state friend, we had two major divisive elections in 2016 and 2020, yet we had record turnout, we hadn't seen anything like it since about 1900s. Based strictly on the numbers? I predict about the same for this year. Now I can be wrong, and I will be the first to recognize it if this is the case with this election. Stay with me for a second.
Now lets look at that 40%, no one can possibly believe 40% of Americans just don't care and won't vote or add in a candidate. That number is the total who didn't vote, there are MANY factors to why people don't or can't vote. so a percentage of that 40% of Americans just say fuck you, but not EVERYONE in the 40% THATS WHY I GAVE CONTEXT ON OP'S POST, let me be generous and say half of that 40% are people who do that BS, CONDEMNING ALL AMERICANS FOR SUCH AN ABYSMAL NUMBER IS WRONG. I stand by that Anon.
It took me two minutes to do some research to share with you all. Anyone can look it up.
We DONT have mandatory voting or a national holiday to free up citizens to vote. The government actively works to make it harder. Many of us are paycheck to paycheck and have been for generations. So taking off work is virtually impossible. Most voting centers are open for normal business hours or just a little more than that.
We all got blamed for Trump yet Hilary won the popular vote.
If the Electoral College can completely change the winner of the election and go against the popular vote of the people, how can OP or anyone else really point the finger at everyday citizens? I'm genuinely curious. Enlighten me. Because change in law and or government organization in this country is slow going. Getting politicians with modern nonreligious ideas and policies is hard. Politicians who won't be bought is even rarer. Good luck getting rid of the electoral college, it'll be a hellva fight. It's slow going but we are going. Hell we've never changed the bulk of our constitution only really amending it, when France has had 14 constitutions.
At the end of the day my point? Shit is complex and people painting it in ultimatums is shitty. Americans actually have very little control, less than we realize, has been happening since 9/11 at an alarming rate. If this election gets declared as fraudulent, they could put whomever they want in the WH anyways.
Picking and choosing what plays into American voting and politics gives the wrong impression. Context is everything and we all know it. It's like getting a text that says "We need to talk" without context that can be a paralyzing statement. "We need to talk about our schedule next month" is completely different with just 5 words.
Honestly anon I probably would've scrolled on OP's post but the absolute? Oh I hate those.
Again I don't mind discussing these topics, and anon if you see this and wanna send another one I'm open to continuing the dialog, with anyone else too!
