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If So Many Americans Care About Climate, Why Don’t They Vote Like It? 11.2 million. That’s the number of Americans who rank climate as a their top priority but didn’t vote in the 2024 US elections (coveringclimatenow.org)
submitted 2 weeks ago by to c/climate@slrpnk.net
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[–] -3 points 2 weeks ago* (5 children)

The median voter theorem suggests that the two candidates will both have policies which reflect the median voter, with one of the candidates slightly left of center, the other slightly right of center. This is a result of the candidates wanting the most votes. If the leftmost candidate were too far left, they would lose. It's a derivable law of behavior as natural as objects falling in parabolic arcs under the effect of gravity. I mention this because there seems to be a prevailing attitude that politics is all corrupt and if there's no candidate with radical policies to tackle climate change, then it must be because industry has their hands in politics, and nothing you do can change it, and voting merely endorses the system, etc. That's true in some ways, but I think it's also true that politicians reflect what the voters want, and it turns out most people are selfish and don't give a hoot about the health of the planet or future generations. It's not you versus the politicians. It's you versus the people electing the wrong politicians. Participation counts. It moves the median closer to where you want it to be. Voting counts. Participating in other ways counts. Vote and talk to people.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 weeks ago* (3 children)

    bullshit. there is no slightly left of center, that “center” line fucking slides forever and exclusively to the right. the only way to stop that is to not give establishment democrats ANY power. it’s more important to change the tempo of the democratic party then to pretend fight the republicans.

    The only way to actually win is to vote for a canidate that actually represents the closest to my actual wants. and the establishment democrats have exactly zero actual alignment on my wants. don’t give me their bullshit campaign promises, my memory is longer then three months.

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  • [–] -5 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

    Bold strategy. Let's see if it works out. I rather think that if you don't participate, then you're effectively not included in the set of people whose interests are considered by politicians when they form their campaign promises. When you do this, the median is likely to shift right, not left as you think, if you take a moment to recall the definition of median. Sometimes we are placed in tough positions with few good options but still having to select one.

    I would propose that a lot of the cases of Dems appearing to renege on campaign promises are the result of closed door deals with the other factions where they're forced to make compromises in order to get some of the things they (and you) desire. We're not privy to those deals because it would reveal to the voters that the politicians abandoned one wish for another and a competitor would use it against them in a primary, and then there would be no deals and Congress would grind to a halting stalemate.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 child)

    Bold strategy. Let’s see if it works out.

    People have been voting Blue No Matter Who for a long time. How has that worked out? All that has done is let the Dems move to the right.

    ...then you’re effectively not included in the set of people whose interests are considered by politicians when they form their campaign promises.

    Thats kinda true. Because the Dems never consider what Leftists think. They're pretty open that they'd rather let the Republicans win, then let a Leftist have a shot.

    I would propose that a lot of the cases of Dems appearing to renege on campaign promises are the result of closed door deals with the other factions...

    LoL, they aren't forced to, they choose to. They've had plenty of opportunities to freely move to the left, but keep chosing not to. Hell, they've given up elections rather than move to the left.

    We’re not privy to those deals because it would reveal to the voters that the politicians abandoned one wish for another and a competitor would use it against them in a primary, and then there would be no deals and Congress would grind to a halting stalemate.

    No, we're not privy to them, because they opnely don't care about what their voting base wants. They just pretend to during campaign season.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 weeks ago

    Thats kinda true. Because the Dems never consider what Leftists think. They're pretty open that they'd rather let the Republicans win, then let a Leftist have a shot.

    notably, they dont consider the interests of leftists whether they vote or not

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