5 ms·

> * As (ostensibly) a representative Democracy America's fate is dictated by the majority of it's citizens. No, it's determined by the people who actually go o

• pstuart 10mo ago
  There were millions of voters who refused to vote for Harris because of the Gaza situation -- oh, the irony. https://www.imeupolicyproject.org/postelection-polling https://www.imeupolicyproject.org/postelection-polling
  • immibis 10mo ago
    That's half the problem. Democrats aren't offering much.
    • paulryanrogers 10mo ago
      What do you think would be "much"? Because even just the boring sanity of Biden Harris was leagues better than what we all saw coming in 2024. (Putting aside that whole constitutional amendment about insurrections.)
      • immibis 10mo ago
        Maybe they could promise to make the rent lower. Or to make abortion legal. Or to stop bombing 2 million brown children in the Middle East. Or literally anything people actually want, instead of running on the singular platform or "obviously they'll vote for us because we're not the Republicans". People are getting really tired of the latter. Notice every time a candidate comes out who actually promises things people want he wins by a landslide?
        • pstuart 10mo ago
          They actually have offered policies along this line but their messaging is weak at best. It also competes with an opponent (the GOP) that is more than willing to outright lie to sway voters. This isn't to say that the DNC is beyond reproach but we're way past "both sides" at this point.
    • UqWBcuFx6NV4r 10mo ago
      This is utterly delusional. I can’t comprehend of whatever mind virus made it so far into the American political discourse for this BS to still be parroted in 2026. I am blessed to be born in and to reside in a country with a comparatively much better-functioning government and voting system. You better believe that if I were American I’d be voting for the dems in a heartbeat. I’d be endlessly annoyed about it, especially compared to the vastly more palatable options where I live, but there’d be zero doubt about my decision. The culture of not voting is the biggest unforced self-own the American public has inflicted upon itself. You all get what you deserve with that one.
      • spencerflem 10mo ago
        I think it’s reasonable not to vote for a candidate that supports genocide. Maybe that’s not a line for you but surely you have a line that cannot be crossed somewhere
        • atmavatar 10mo ago
          Neither candidate was ever going to push back against Israel's genocide of Palestinians. While it was very disappointing the Democrats weren't exerting significant pressure against Israel, and Kamala gave no indication she'd act any different, it was delusional to believe Trump was going to be any different. He was very clear that he supported Israel as well, and he went as far as to claim he'd support Netanyahu even more strongly than Biden. Sure, he sabre-rattled a bit about wanting the war in Gaza to end before he took office, but he also indicated he'd support residual IDF actions (i.e., continued killings of Palestinians) within Gaza afterward. There was never a candidate who was going to push back against Israel, no matter how much you or I would have liked for there to have been one.
          • pstuart 10mo ago
            AIPAC has a terrifyingly strong grip on American politics. The only way to address this and other similar problems is through campaign finance reform, which the incumbents will never allow. It doesn't mean we shouldn't stop pushing the issue though.
• amazingman 10mo ago
  It was determined by voters. Pretty sure that's over now too.
  • bulbar 10mo ago
    It's not too late. But it will be too late as soon as too many people think it's too late.
• Youden 10mo ago
  In defence of young people, it's "determined" by the people who actually go out and vote the same way a child "determines" what's for dinner when asked "would you like broccoli or brussels sprouts?" American democracy is broken. Not in an abstract, hand-wavy feelings way but a hard, numerical, mathematical way. A two party system results in no real choice. First past the post results in a two party system. America uses first past the post. Therefore, Amercian democracy gives voters no real choice.
  • twixfel 10mo ago
    There was a real choice in 2016, 2020 and 2024. Trumps opponent was every single time very different to him.
    • ryandrake 10mo ago
      Democrats continue to offer up horrible candidates, and their idiotic primary system confirms those horrible candidates every 4 years. A slice of cheese could have beaten Trump, but somehow the DNC managed to offer up the most boring, milquetoast, unlikable, uncharismatic, centrist candidates they could find and beat him once out of three times. They're just kicking own-goals over and over, and they're not learning which direction to run down the field.
      • AuthAuth 10mo ago
        Biden was not centrist he was left. He was a good president I do not understand why Americans complain as if the choice between the two was so hard.
        • throwaway902984 10mo ago
          His policies were tempered, image-wise and often in substance, by his affinity for Joe Manchin alongside his disdain for Bernie Sanders. Balanced alongside the middle eastern foreign policy, he comes across as centrist despite the BBB.
      • 10mo ago
• malshe 10mo ago
  I remember watching a clip from Jimmy Kimmel on YouTube where they asked people on the street in LA whether they planned to vote in the 2024 presidential election. The twist was that they were doing this one day AFTER the election. It was so disappointing to see that many young people had no idea that the election was over and yet they said they planned to vote. One guy even asked who was running.
  • hvb2 10mo ago
    I would envy the person who can live in the US and be unaware a presidential election was yesterday... Like, they start running ads 18 months ahead of it... How do you miss all of those ads
    • malshe 10mo ago
      This is likely because for many young people the only source of news is social media. And they are unlikely to be targeted to see the political ads. Interestingly, occasionally I see political ads on Willow.tv which I use to watch Cricket. And most of these ads have Noem threatening to deport people ("if you are here illegally, we are coming after you..."). I am a US citizen.
      • johnnyanmac 10mo ago
        on top of that, you need to register as a voter in many places and that process ends months before the actual ballots come. These aren't things they teach in most schools (nor their parents, apparently).
        • malshe 10mo ago
          Yeah totally bonkers. In general, most people severely underestimate how long the government agencies take to process something.
    • throwworhtthrow 10mo ago
      Presidential ads run in swing states. Not in California, whose delegates are a foregone conclusion. Californians are hassled for political donations, not votes.
• cassepipe 10mo ago
  Hoping this might help you find a way to reach to the young people you have to work with: I remember my young self being primarily concerned with being right about the world rather while also believing nothing I could do at my level could matter. Maybe it's just me but something about small incremental betterment was uncredibly unsexy to me. I would rationalize voting as "participating in the system" that was rigged anyways. Somehow it changed after I watched CGP Greg's "rules for rulers" videos
• mrheosuper 10mo ago
  And those young people are manipulated by the older part of population.
• beepbooptheory 10mo ago
  Maybe ask the young people if they actually wanted to vote for the options they had, before jumping to them being apathetic or hypocritical. And yes, I know the adult-in-the-rooms will be quick to point out that its simply rational and responsible to hold your nose and vote for the lesser evil, and the kids should know that, etc etc. But while it may be a good prescription to people, it doesn't actually address the problem. Maybe we should, but still, if you just want to scold people into voting for you, then you probably don't have a good platform and you probably don't deserve the support you do get. The fact is, it would of been already incredibly hard for someone to be enthusiastic voting for Dems last presidential election; frankly even without even considering the utter and pointed moral failure with Gaza. You want young people to vote, you can try to tut-tut them to vote for literally whoever, or you can, you know, listen to what they are saying, what they feel passionate about, and try even just a little bit to address it or, heck, put it on the platform. Its supposed to be a political party, something that unites people under some shared vision. You want every single young person in the US to vote? Just say: free healthcare.
  • aisengard 10mo ago
    I mean, they tried that in the primaries and young people still stayed home. If they actually came out in force for Bernie like you said they would, he would have won every primary. Young people simply don't vote because of a lot of different reasons. Probably some of the reasons are immaturity and a lack of belief that they have agency, which is understandable given how society works in the US. You have basically zero rights until you turn 18, at which point you are magically able to vote! Do you believe you have the ability to affect the world at that point? Of course not. "Put up candidates that don't suck" in this context is basically "put up candidates who will cater to young voters at the expense of literally every other constituency", which is exactly the reason Bernie lost in 2016, and lost even harder in 2020. You can't focus only on one group of people, even if that's the only way to drive their turnout. It's just a losing game, clearly not one worth playing with a group of people who don't yet understand that other people exist, with other priorities.
    • beepbooptheory 10mo ago
• morgan814 10mo ago
  > Bizarrely, voter turnout among younger people remains low I understand why my age group has low turnout. It's a disgusting chore that I force myself to do. In part, it might be a chicken and egg situation. My age cohort doesn't vote because candidates suck. Candidates suck because they pander to those who do vote. Now to show my political biases: In 2016 Sanders had a huge amount of support from young people but the DNC did everything it could to tilt favor away from him. He ran a hugely successful grassroots campaign taking small donations from individuals. Where did it get him? On stage with Biden - the anointed candidates with SuperPAC money. That is no small feat. His campaign ended only after the DNC guilted him into quitting as to "not steal votes". That's my perception at least. I temporarily changed my registration from unaffiliated to Democrat to vote for him in the primaries. Young people put in effort and showed up. It bought them exactly one legally rigged primary. So every election I put on my clown makeup [0] and pretend like any of this is actually real democracy. [0] https://rimgo.privacyredirect.com/ZUiVLyz https://rimgo.privacyredirect.com/ZUiVLyz
  • warkdarrior 10mo ago
    > Young people put in effort showed up. It bought them exactly one legally rigged primary. It is certainly wise to give up after one failed effort. Never try again. /s
    • morgan814 10mo ago
      Oh I agree and I vote. More people need to vote. But I understand why people feel little motivation to.
• johnnyanmac 10mo ago
  >Bizarrely, voter turnout among younger people remains low. in the grand scheme of history, it's not odd. Voter turnout correlates decently with age. It's an anamoly when they do get out and vote, like in 2008. That's partially an effect of 1. not having compulsory voting 2. needing to actively register in order to be viable to vote, as opposed to simply being delivered a ballot like many other countries 3. the decades of "no politics at the table" policies to help expose the civic duties to the youth. And since it's not a flashy topic to talk about, they won't really bring it up themselves, or simply have non-informed views. 4. careful strategies to try and disenfranchise voters who may otherwise oppose a party. This is what "both sides are the same" does in a system without #1. Not to mention the proliferation of social targeted media ads changing the landscape and active loopholes used to try and de-register voters. These all hit youth the most to vote a certain way (or not at all).