• kescusay@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Let’s break this down. Seems like you’re saying that unless my candidate wins or places second, my vote doesn’t matter.

    YES. That’s exactly what I’m saying. In a FPTP election system, that’s literally how it works.

    I’m not a fan of it. I’d love for a vote that goes to a third party to actually count in some way. But in the current system we all live under, that’s not what happens. Instead, at best you get a Ross Perot - someone who pulls votes from both parties. He became a media darling for a while because of it. But you know what? All his voters may as well have stayed home, because he got neither first nor second place. We had Bill Clinton, we had Bush the Elder as a one-termer, and both Perot and his independent party faded into obscurity.

    That won’t change until we get rid of FPTP elections. That’s a prerequisite for third-party votes mattering.

    Until then, you have literally thrown every vote you’ve ever cast for a third-party candidate away. It didn’t matter. And it even helped the candidate you were most ideologically opposed to.

    If you dispute that, you dispute math.

    • Socialist Mormon Satanist@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      And by you being so adamant about it, and trying to pressure people not to vote for third party, you are actually contributing to the problem.

      You’re actually reinforcing the very system that we’re stuck with. Instead of allowing space for new voices and genuine alternatives, that pressure discourages change and keeps the duopoly alive.

      I’m voting third party. Proudly. I don’t care how many people try to pressure me or bully me. I’m sticking with the Socialist party. Thank you!

      • pooperNickel@lemm.ee
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        3 months ago

        What you really mean here is that you don’t care about facts and that you want other people to adopt that same attitude.

      • kescusay@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        I’m not being “adamant” about it, just realistic. Until we do away with FPTP voting, I will continue to encourage voters to pick the candidate that is furthest to the left and also has a good chance to win, because that’s the pragmatic solution and the only route to viable third-party candidates.

        • Socialist Mormon Satanist@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          Until we do away with FPTP voting

          Which neither the Democrats nor the Republicans want to change. I will continue to encourage voters to pick the candidate that best fits their values, regardless of political party.