I’m not sure if I understand what you’re asking (sincerely). Are you asking if there’s anything I (or any one individual) can do about the genocide other than participating in the voting system?
not much to be done just by voting down party lines as currently constituted. A more medium-long term idea is to build up labor power and therefore a more coherent, invested, and motivated class-based demographic will compel a more responsive political structure to address this group. One of the criticisms of the democrats is that they soak up the latent potential of this inchoate group of voters and dont do anything with it. Obama is a good example of this process: he had an enormous amount of enthusiastic support from the scattered working class that his campaign’s organizing capacity had effectively captured, and then did nothing to build on it once elected because, as he himself admitted, his political priorities were closer to richard nixon. One of the ideas behind supporting Bernie Sanders was that while expectations for him being able to accomplish most of his policy proposals were low due to all the structural and legislative barriers he’d be facing down, he would at least take positive steps toward supporting labor organizing, which is always fighting with both arms and legs tied behind their backs in the US legal framework
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Yes. I mean, ways in which to apply pressure against the genocide. I mean, I know what has happened lately to universities and such, but it seems that there’s not much way to organize and force democrats to rectify their ways.
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That’s what I suspected. It’s fucked up, then, that we all have such a grim picture about not having any agency to stop or at least modify this in any shape or form.
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Small but more than voting:
I wrote + called my representative and senator but only my representative responded. It was quite boilerplate… and she’s one of the better representatives on the issue of Palestine
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I don’t want to vote shame, and I hate Harris too, but I really think people are fooling themselves if they think there will be any opposition left after Trump wins to learn any lessons. I am entirely confident that I and most of the other Americans in this forum will not live to see another presidential election if Trump wins
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If anyone is hesitant to vote for Harris because of her stance on Gaza, I encourage you to watch this video that Bernie Sanders put out about it:
I think it sums up my feelings on the matter pretty well.
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Or if watching videos isn’t your thing:
A Harris administration would be possible to pressure into better policy. A Trump one would not. If what you care about is the well being of Palenstinians, put the person in charge who has a better chance of listening to you.
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I had a big long post about all the dark, depressed thoughts running through my head about this election and decided that I need not post it. Just trying to not have a mental breakdown.
A second Trump presidency is scary, and I really hope it doesn’t fucking happen.
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Ah, I’m afraid I don’t have a good answer for that. I like yeso’s, though. An organized working-class should absolutely be a long-term goal and will affect real change, but that’s proven to be something very difficult (and dangerous) to accomplish in the US. I don’t think anyone knows the path to that right now.
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My reasoning on Gaza is simply that the vice president does not have any authority or power over foreign policy or negotiations and serves entirely at the pleasure of the president. Peace negotiations are being actively sabotaged by Trump every day promising Netanyahu everything if he wins.
The only way any kind of ceasefire will ever happen is if he loses.
America should stop sending weapons. There is a low chance of that right now and as far as we know a low chance of that with Harris, but she could be persuadable. There is a 0% chance of that with Trump.
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just want to clarify here that this is not my answer, just one school of thought I am aware of. I happen to be a compassionate conservative and prefer market-based solutions
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I think this guy running for senate in Nebraska Chris Osborn kind of hints at this coalition you’re speaking to. I think it probably only gets more prevalent
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Sincere question: why don’t states just disobey the supreme court? What would be the consequences for just saying “nah”?
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i guess my question would be who is “the state” in that case? the governor, the police, the state legislature, the state courts? i don’t know if any of those entities have strong and cohesive enough institutional power to enact on any ideology.
that said, i could see it happening if it’s a matter of refusal/inaction, such as an all-red trying to to resist a ruling similar to what some did with obamacare. my guess is our decrepit institutions would kinda just let things happen until/if they got in the way of capital, whereupon feds would step in.
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Say Ron Desantis announces that Florida will now have an official poll tax. Who would be expected to enforce the supreme court decision? The Florida police?
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great question. ten years ago, i would have said that public pressure, outrage, and threat of lawsuits would have been enough to stop it before it got to that point or shortly after. now, i don’t have an answer. i’m not sure the fed does, either, especially if florida continued to flout orders.
again, my guess is that it would kinda just be allowed to happen until disney said “we’re pulling out if it goes on.” but maybe that’s wrong?
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thinking on it more, i guess i could see the federal government threatening to take away funding from state police until/if they enforce the order. but again, who is the federal government in that case?
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Is there a material difference between a Supreme Court decision and a regular ol’ federal government policy? Thinking about recreational marijuana for instance, still illegal to the feds but able to be legal on a per-state basis. If the Supreme Court were to say legal marijuana is unconstitutional or whatever would that just invalidate the laws the states have passed?
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we need a lawyer on this forum or else we’re in dangerous territory of paraphrasing the top 3 google search results back and forth to each other
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