I know there’s no shortage on political posts on Lemmy, especially in other communities, but I don’t really know where else I could post this.
I’ve always had the philosophy that anyone (referring to the working class here) could spend their money on whatever they want without feeling any shame. Especially when it concerns donations. Donate to the cause that speaks to you more, etc. etc.
But I honestly haven’t considered political donations into my already bare-bones philosophy. And I think that quite shook me when I saw the MastodonForHarris movement.
I understand that people want to support their favorite candidate and make sure they win so that they feel safer. But doesn’t giving 500k to someone who’s already rich, receives millions and, let’s be honest, still works for the interests of the rich feel a little off to anyone?
What hit me the most was seeing a post from someone in Gaza that needed 60k. That made me realize that 60k for someone could be life changing, while 500k for Harris could just mean nothing to her. (here’s the GoFund me for those who are interested: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-donate-family-gaza-palestine-gofundme)
I’m still very new to leftism, so I may be wrong. But nothing feels leftist about any of this. I know not everyone is a leftist on the Fediverse, but I felt like most of us here had anti-corporate and anti-billionaire views. And even if she is a leftist from a US politics point of view, I still can’t help but feel like those donations are misplaced due to her donation pool and policies.
I do not mind if you disagree, but please at least explain why.
But doesn’t giving 500k to someone who’s already rich, receives millions and, let’s be honest, still works for the interests of the rich feel a little off to anyone?
Agreed. I am conflicted. I think that donating will help someone win, but it seems so trivial compared to other causes that need it more.
I find that I’m constantly fighting off a feeling of utter hopelessness whenever I think about the current state of American politics. Harris’ comment yesterday, responding to all the protestors’ chants of “You can’t hide, we won’t vote for genocide,” saying in an abusive motherly tone “Keep saying that if you want Donald Trump elected” really hit hard. It just reminded me in a very raw way that Democrats are in no way on the side of humanity.
I don’t have a good response to what you said. Do I want Trump to be dictator? Of course not. Millions if not billions of lives will be ruined by that. Do I want Democrats to maintain the status quo and pretend a genocide isn’t being funded by my income? Not a fucking chance. Do I want a revolution of the working class? I don’t really know; would it save lives today, would it make lives today better, would it make lives in the near future better?
Fuck me; I want off this ride.
The way I see it a day might come when I have to explain to my kids what I did to try to make a better future for them. I could tell them I worked hard to put a roof over their head. I could tell them I changed my lifestyle to try to reduce my carbon footprint. If Trump wins I expect they’ll want to know what I did about that. I don’t have time to volunteer, but if $100 can help pay for an ad in a swing state and win Harris half a vote, that’s better than nothing. Then I can tell my kids I tried to protect their access to abortion, tried to slow down climate change, tried to depoliticize the Supreme Court, tried to strengthen our alliance with Europe, and tried to keep hate and bigotry from having a voice in our government.
It’s kind of like in the Airplane preflight safety demonstration. You always have to put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others. It doesn’t really help if you pass out in the process of helping your child put their mask on.
Combine that with the serious unaddressed campaign finance issues with American politics and that’s how you find yourself in this predicament.
Agreed. Harris is a despicable person that only gets a pass because of Trump. Fuck the Democrats almost as much as the GOP.
you’re so good at online politics. you really made the world better today. show those “fake leftists” whose blood really runs red! yeah! change that world bud. Great job, great opinions, no notes, keep doing what you are doing. it’s not a meaningless waste of time that just makes you feel better about yourself or anything, you are REALLY an activist!
You’re SO good at online trolling. You almost accomplished your goal of making one of the armies of politically voiceless people in the US lose even more hope and finally kill himself
but not today you stupid bitch.
You seem like the type of spineless, smug, perpetually-online centrist that would be terrified to voice your opinions to me face to face but spend your day telling fed up people like me to “touch grass” or something on-brand. I think you’ll be late to brunch if you continue this too long, wine Mom.
It takes HEAPS of privilege to opt out or vote 3rd party in this election.
We are all glad you that you are privileged enough to vote for your perfect candidate
I AM SO EMBARRASSED FOR YOU THAT YOU ARE NOT ONLY A SHEEP BUT THAT YOU WOULD RAISE YOUR HAND TO SHOW US THAT YOU ARE NOT ONLY EASILY MANIPULATED AND ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT VOTING FOR A FASCIST BECAUSE ANOTHER EVEN WORSE FASCIST IS RUNNING AGAINST HER BUT YOU ARE WILLING TO ATTACK SOMEONE WHO IS ACTUALLY SPEAKING THE TRUTH BECAUSE YOU ARE JUST THAT STUPID.
i gave you some badges of honor for your opinion, as if you had the choice to wear them lol
I’m still very new to leftism, so I may be wrong. But nothing feels leftist about any of this. I know not everyone is a leftist on the Fediverse, but I felt like most of us here had anti-corporate and anti-billionaire views.
it looks like you’re unaware that lemmy.world doesn’t tolerate leftist views very well to the extent that they wholesale de-federate from leftist instances and that nearly all of the rest of the lemmyverse embraces leftist views.
however people from the rest of the lemmyverse can post on lemmy.world because that’s how the fediverse was designed to work; so maybe that would explain why you’ve seeing anti-corporate and anti-billionaire views on lemmy.world?
lemmy ML is a joke. I know you’re bitter that you can’t spread RT propaganda to the biggest instance, but please don’t claim that anyone who defeds you is not leftist lol
This is a desperate attempt to prevent a trump presidency - anything goes, even supporting a corporate democrat. Which sucks.