Watching the count last night, I remarked to my friend that Democrats lost people in the middle—the undecided voters whose existence I struggled to understand a few months ago—because they don’t actually have any principles and convictions; if they did, they’d eventually have to address issues that neoliberal capitalists want people to ignore, so they remain ineffectual and uninspiring.
Thus, white middle-class centrists who don’t actually comprehend the threat to minority groups drifted back into their nostalgic dreams of ‘smaller government’ and ‘lower taxes’, regardless of being presented no evidence those things will be delivered. In their minds, those theoretical ideals are more exciting than another establishment Democrat with no values who does nothing to speak to their woes.
I was banned from r/LateStageCapitalism for politely supporting a post with this reasoning. I pointed out that Trump would make the conflict even worse for innocents, and voting third-party to make a statement against neoliberal Democrat rule (which is bad) is a position that, in this moment, only the least-vulnerable in America can take when there is a risk of outright christo-fascism threatening the least-enfranchised.
Banned. “This is a socialist sub.” Proceeded to see a post from a mod openly mocking anyone who entertained lesser-of-two-evils arguments; they sounded like a sneering teenager. Over there, it’s all theory and no parsing of theory with reality.
I was naive to think they’d try easing into this stuff, but — perhaps fortunately for public outrage and taking action — they are being loud and clear about it. Really just no subtlety whatsoever to the fascist horror.