| ▲ | Mistletoe 11 hours ago |
| Don’t say US. They don’t speak for us all. Only 49.8% of voters. Of which I hope a significant portion have seen the error of their ways come midterms and the next election. Every day is a new embarrassment law or action like this for America until then. I’ve never felt lower about America in my lifetime. The hope I had, the pride I felt in America, is gone, chunk by chunk, piece by piece, every day. |
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| ▲ | sheept 10 hours ago | parent | next [-] |
| Why? I don't see this pedantry for headlines for other countries like China did this, the UK does that. I think it's well understood that it's referring to the government, not a generalization of its people. |
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| ▲ | perching_aix 10 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | My experience is the exact opposite. It is one of the most common points of pedantry I see in controversial political threads, across nations. Not for no reason either. Turnout was 64.1%, so really it's the active decision of 31.9218% of voters (voting eligibles) culminating in this. Kind of a pattern with modern democracies if you check. Not that passively endorsing this by not voting when the opportunity was there would be much better though. | | |
| ▲ | Detrytus 10 hours ago | parent [-] | | I hate this line of reasoning. People who didn't vote are equally guilty, because they did not care enough to show up. Or, maybe, they just didn't make it to polling station on time for some reason (having to pick up kids from school, or working second shift or something). You should always assume that the result of the elections is representative of what society thinks. That's how elections (and opinion polls, for that matter) work. Unless you have a really good proof why some minority group was actively excluded from voting. | | |
| ▲ | perching_aix 10 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | There is actually extensive mathematical history to fair voting, the output of which is super not in use, and of which I do find plenty of the alternative systems more representative: https://youtu.be/qf7ws2DF-zk I do think regular variety elections are generally representative though. I just also see value in keeping these asterisks in mind. | |
| ▲ | bruce511 8 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | I'm not sure I'd use the word "guilty" - that suggests some wrong doing. However I agree with your premise - trying to remove abstaining voters from the math is incorrect. Abstainers are explicitly making their view known. That view is "I don't care, but are equally good or bad". (Which in turn demonstrates a profound ignorance of what's going on - and frankly folk that unconcerned should probably not pick a side.) I believe it's fair to say "America voted for this". America is a democracy and the voters spoke. Of course it's not unanimous but majority rules. And it's not like his campaign was disingenuous. The man was on display, and most of the things he's done were signaled clearly in the campaign. (He's long been against foreign wars, so the Iran debacle seems out of character, but then again it's in line with his dictator instincts, and he desperately needs a distraction from the Epstein files.) | |
| ▲ | tehjoker 8 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | Many people don’t vote because it is difficult for them, they don’t see a difference in their lives because they get screwed one way or the other no matter who is in power, and if you’ll recall the last administration was complicit in genocide which is why I voted third party. It’s true trump is bad but so is genocide. Really hard to make the case of the lesser evil when it’s just variations on top tier criminality. You have to offer something to voters. | | |
| ▲ | tablarasa 6 hours ago | parent [-] | | Yes many people don’t vote because of deliberately fettered access to polling and/or a generally correct understanding that the electoral college nullifies or makes redundant their vote in their jurisdiction. Your vote for a third party is a signal but essentially a qualified abstention. Your high horse however is so misguided and absurd- to suggest that you held a moral high ground because the Biden administration supported the Gaza genocide is flatly wrong. If you want to place blame for that administration’s actions, blame Citizen’s United, blame AIPAC, blame the DNC, etc. And write letters, protest, get mad. But facilitating the ascent of what is objectively, obviously, candidly worse to make that statement is insulting to the intelligence of anyone to whom you make the argument. Perhaps your vote was in a jurisdiction where you could assume the electoral votes would go to the Dems anyway, but that just makes it flat out virtue signaling. The left will continue to cut off its nose to spite its face to the peril of US democracy and world peace. You nailed em tho. |
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| ▲ | bediger4000 10 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | Trump's exceptional, isn't he? He explicitly only governs for his base, and he's explicitly against those outside his base. Sure, he won a slim majority, but it's understood that democratically elected rulers govern all their citizens, if only to prevent electoral violence. |
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| ▲ | foogazi 10 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| > Don’t say US. They don’t speak for us all. Only 49.8% of voters. E pluribus unum |
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| ▲ | 10 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
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| ▲ | waterTanuki 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| Everyone who sat out the 2016 and 2024 elections is responsible for this clown getting into office. *Democracy is not a spectator sport*. You don't get to complain about corrupt politicians and then go on to make excuses about why you can't vote. You're wasting your citizenship. Either go vote or move to a dictatorship where voting isn't a concern. |
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| ▲ | glitchc 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| People who didn't vote voted for the winning party. That's true in every election. |
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| ▲ | brendoelfrendo 10 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| I mean, I didn't vote for Trump, but I think it should be the US. This administration represents us on the global stage. You may not like it, and it may not feel fair, but we will all have to bear the consequences of their actions. Every day something like this happens--and is allowed to happen--is an embarrassment to all of us. |
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| ▲ | georgemcbay 9 hours ago | parent [-] | | Agreed. I voted against Trump 3 times. But people outside of the US should definitely act as if they cannot trust the US. Because they can't. I mean ffs we collectively elected him twice. | | |
| ▲ | bruce511 8 hours ago | parent [-] | | As someone outside the US I certainly feel this way. The underlying point is that the American public voted for this. They saw his first term, a million people dead from covid, and thought to themselves "I want more of that guy". And if they can elect this person, what might the next one look like? In one short year every country on earth has put the US in the "unreliable trade partner" box. (Even Canada. Canada!). That damage will last for decades. The big winner here? China. They're hoovering up goodwill all over the place. Killing USAid not only killed a major purchaser of US farm surplus, it woke up a lot of grass-roots agencies to the need to diversify funding. Lots of soft-influence lost overnight, and it's not easily coming back. |
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| ▲ | surgical_fire 10 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| > One species of Gulf whale is particularly vulnerable. Scientists estimate that only about 51 Rice's whales are left on Earth, all of them in waters of the Gulf of Mexico, which the Trump administration has termed the Gulf of America. I don't think the animals that may go extinct care about the distinction. |
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| ▲ | jrflowers 10 hours ago | parent | prev [-] |
| This is a good point. Instead of saying “The US” they should make up a number <50% and put that in the headline. That way it would be confusing and patently untrue |
