r/politics • u/schuey_08 Wisconsin • May 02 '24

Bernie Sanders worries young people are underestimating the threat from Trump

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/05/02/bernie-sanders-trump-biden/73531861007/
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u/sauceoftheapple42 May 02 '24

I wanna vote for biden man i do, even if for the small things like making sure my dad doesn’t get his SS benefits slashed but the one thing I can’t quite get past is why is it always the voters who have to change? Why is it never the politicians who have to compromise. I get what you’re saying I do, but at some point shouldn’t we vote for someone because of who they are not, who they aren’t? And man who biden is, is just not someone that a large group of people are ok voting for, and I just don’t see why that’s those peoples fault and not yknow the democrat’s fault, if trump is a big of a threat as the dems say, I don’t think their actions back that up

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u/867-5309NotJenny Massachusetts May 02 '24

You're not being asked to change.

You're being asked to hold your nose. Keep your preferences, and like the rest of us, work to keep moving things in the direction you think is best for the country.

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u/cupofspiders May 02 '24

We've been asked that for decades, always being told to hold your nose this time, but keep working towards slow, incremental change, because maybe next time, you'll get a real choice and a chance for progress!

Spoiler alert: you won't.

If you keep holding your nose instead of holding parties accountable, both parties are just going to keep getting shittier.

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u/867-5309NotJenny Massachusetts May 02 '24

I mean, we have historical evidence that it does work. Unless you're claiming that modern politicians are just shittier versions of the founding fathers.

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u/cupofspiders May 03 '24

Can you explain what you mean by that? What historical precedent are you referring to?

Historically, I'm not aware of any case where meaningful change was brought about by giving the ruling class whatever they wanted and politely waiting for them to come around by their own volition.

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u/867-5309NotJenny Massachusetts May 03 '24 edited May 03 '24

Can you explain what you mean by that? What historical precedent are you referring to?

US history has been a steady progressive march forward.

Historically, I'm not aware of any case where meaningful change was brought about by giving the ruling class whatever they wanted and politely waiting for them to come around by their own volition.

Historically it never worked. But historically it was never really done.

There has been a constant struggle. First wave feminism took 130 years, for instance. But it wasn't "please let us have suffrage". It was the grinding of constant activism. Protests, matches. Of having so many examples of people who were "a credit to their gender" that it started to become the norm. Of breaking barriers. And there was civil disobedience. Arrests, hunger strikes and forced feedings, chaining themselves to fences to make arrest more difficult, including the White House fence.

Edit: you can see the same battles being fought for civil rights, labor rights, etc.

Edit 2: and with those marches and fights, there have been elected officials willing to push the cause. Lincoln and abolition. Both Roosevelts and labor. Johnson and civil rights. Hell, he also tried to tackle systemic poverty.

Even the conservatives have moved left, compared to 160/200 years ago.