Option A — do something: If you pull the lever, the trolley will run over people.
Option B — do nothing: If you don’t pull the lever, it will still run them over, just more quickly because some of the passengers consider the victims a threat and anyway the conductor’s itinerary includes running over everyone else on the planet and barreling into the sea before the trolley runs out of steam.
BUT as everyone is run over you can show them your hands, and they will marvel at how clean they are, and you will say “it’s because I had the courage to not touch the lever,” and your unwavering sense of justice will inspire them so they may die happy knowing they once spoke to such a hero…
Obviously option B, doing nothing, is the most ethical solution, since clean hands should be one’s priority.
Independent. I still voted blue because they promised less genocide and I knew not doing so guaranteed as much of it as possible.
But now that I see how clean your hands are compared to mine, I am ashamed. I mean, yes a lot more people are now dying as a result, but can you really put a price on cleanliness?
Unfortunately, over decades they’ve learned who are reliable voting blocks. Not participating communicates that one sees both options as functionally the same. So if anything, it encourages then to move to the right, which is a reliable voting block.
I’m not at all gleeful about voting for them, and desperately want other options. I’m doing what I can to build parallel structures, engage in mutual aid, and in my day job I’m fighting climate change as an environmental research scientist. Unfortunately, we don’t live in the best of all possible worlds, and the tracks of the trolley don’t change overnight.
I’m sorry that you’ve misunderstood my point so deeply. Let me more explicit. The Cheneys should have been thrown into a volcano. Harris did a shit job. We all need to organize to get milquetoast liberals/moderates and fascists alike out of office.
No, my entire point is that they are the ones that showed up: hence why we have a more authoritarian president than perhaps ever before. Between the 2020 election and the 2024 election, the raw numbers of votes dropped for the Democrats, not the Republicans. This whole discussion has been about bleeding support from (some) of the Left.
And yes, this is because Harris and the rest of the DNC shit the bed. That they went too hard toward the right is certainly a factor: and again, to be clear,I’m not saying it’s a good idea to move right. What I’m trying to get across is that abstaining is often indistinguishable from wanting a more right-leaning candidate, because then that’s the candidate that wins.
If it was up to me, see my volcano comment. If we want revolutionary change in the USA, I know which party I’d rather fight in the streets against.
Option A — do something: If you pull the lever, the trolley will run over people.
Option B — do nothing: If you don’t pull the lever, it will still run them over, just more quickly because some of the passengers consider the victims a threat and anyway the conductor’s itinerary includes running over everyone else on the planet and barreling into the sea before the trolley runs out of steam.
BUT as everyone is run over you can show them your hands, and they will marvel at how clean they are, and you will say “it’s because I had the courage to not touch the lever,” and your unwavering sense of justice will inspire them so they may die happy knowing they once spoke to such a hero…
Obviously option B, doing nothing, is the most ethical solution, since clean hands should be one’s priority.
Tell your party to make a track without genocide next time.
Independent. I still voted blue because they promised less genocide and I knew not doing so guaranteed as much of it as possible.
But now that I see how clean your hands are compared to mine, I am ashamed. I mean, yes a lot more people are now dying as a result, but can you really put a price on cleanliness?
They did not promise less genocide. But you still voted for them.
Well yeah, that’s exactly the idea. Choose the best of bad options, and try to improve things so that the next time there’s better options.
Not choosing either usually leads to the worse option, which makes it harder to improve things.
There are no easy options.
This is how making demands works. Hope the Democratic party learned that they will not get votes like this next time.
Unfortunately, over decades they’ve learned who are reliable voting blocks. Not participating communicates that one sees both options as functionally the same. So if anything, it encourages then to move to the right, which is a reliable voting block.
I’m not at all gleeful about voting for them, and desperately want other options. I’m doing what I can to build parallel structures, engage in mutual aid, and in my day job I’m fighting climate change as an environmental research scientist. Unfortunately, we don’t live in the best of all possible worlds, and the tracks of the trolley don’t change overnight.
Yes Liz Cheney worked wonders. Very reliable. You are a political expert. Harris had the best campaign.
I’m sorry that you’ve misunderstood my point so deeply. Let me more explicit. The Cheneys should have been thrown into a volcano. Harris did a shit job. We all need to organize to get milquetoast liberals/moderates and fascists alike out of office.
You said right wingers are a reliable voting block. Looks like they did not show up.
No, my entire point is that they are the ones that showed up: hence why we have a more authoritarian president than perhaps ever before. Between the 2020 election and the 2024 election, the raw numbers of votes dropped for the Democrats, not the Republicans. This whole discussion has been about bleeding support from (some) of the Left.
And yes, this is because Harris and the rest of the DNC shit the bed. That they went too hard toward the right is certainly a factor: and again, to be clear,I’m not saying it’s a good idea to move right. What I’m trying to get across is that abstaining is often indistinguishable from wanting a more right-leaning candidate, because then that’s the candidate that wins.
If it was up to me, see my volcano comment. If we want revolutionary change in the USA, I know which party I’d rather fight in the streets against.