Sometimes, As Much As I Love Internet Communities And Spaces, I Really Think A Lot Of People Have Spent

Sometimes, as much as I love internet communities and spaces, I really think a lot of people have spent so much time in sanitized, morally pure echo chambers that they lose sight of realism and life outside the internet.

I live in Alabama. My fiancée and I cannot hold hands down the street without fear of homophobic assholes. We have an abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest. We are one of the poorest states in the US with some of the lowest scores on metrics related to quality of life, including maternal mortality, healthcare, education, and violence. It’s not a coincidence that we are also one of the most red, one of the most Republican states in the Union. In 2017 the UN said the conditions in Alabama are similar to those in a third-world country.

Trump gave a voice to the most violently racist, sexist, xenophobic groups of people who, unfortunately for most of us in the Southern U.S., run our states and have only grown more powerful since his rise to power. The Deep South powers MAGA, and we all suffer for it.

We have no protections if they don’t come from the federal government.

I know people are suffering internationally and my heart is with them. However, this election is not just about foreign policy - we have millions of Americans right here at home living in danger, living in areas where they have been completely abandoned by their local leaders. We need this win.

No candidate is perfect, but for the first time in my voting lifetime I’m excited to vote. I’m excited for the Kamala Harris/Tim Walz ticket because they are addressing the issues close to home. They’re advocating for education as the ticket to a better life, but without the crippling student debt. They’re advocating for the right to love who you love without fear and with pride. Kamala has always been pro-LGBT+ and so has Tim. Again, if you’re queer in the South, we don’t have support unless it comes from the federal government, and we absolutely will not have support if the Republicans regain the White House.

Kamala speaks in length about re-entry programs to reduce recidivism and help people who have been arrested and imprisoned regain their lives. Tim Walz supported restoring voting rights to felons. In the South, you know who comprise the majority of felons? Members of minorities. It’s one of the major tools of systemic racism and mass disenfranchisement, and arguably the modern face of slavery (there are some fantastic documentaries and books that explain the connection between the post-Reconstruction South and the disproportionate rates of imprisonment for BIPOC). Having candidates who recognize this and want to restore the freedom and rights to people who have come into contact with the criminal justice system? And keep them from having to go to prison in the first place? That’s refreshing. That’s exciting.

I would *love* to live in a country where women’s rights are respected, where LGBT+ rights and protections are a given, where we treat former criminals and individuals experiencing mental health crises with respect and dignity. I would *love* to live in a country where education is free of religious interference and each and every citizen is entitled to a fair start and equal opportunities.

But I don’t live in that country. Millions and millions of Americans find their rights and freedoms up for debate and on the ballot.

Project 2025 poses the largest threat to the future of our democracy as we know it. We are being called to fight for the future of our country.

We have to put on our oxygen masks first before we can help others.

You don’t have moral purity when you wash your hands of the millions of us who are still fighting for own freedoms right here.

The reality is that a presidential candidate is a best fit, and not a perfect fit. But comparatively speaking? Kamala is pretty damn close.

If I have to see one more hand-wringing, guilt-tripping, “but what about genocide” post I’m gonna fucking lose it.

Not voting/voting third party is the absolute height of purity politics. It absolves you of nothing and proves that you care more about doing nothing wrong than doing one thing right.

Whenever I try to play ACNL I get this weird sadness for some odd reason.

Maybe it's because it's over. No more island, no more meeting friends, no more dreams, no more happy home network. It's just done.

Plus my island is pretty much complete (execpt for the fortune teller store)

It truly was 9 years ago.

chile the way they would have to hire indiana jones to find that bronze medal cause I wouldn't give that shit back

that all black women podium scared them BAD

All the Kamala haters out there still arent grasping that Trump exists. "Kamala supported Israel!" Yeah? So does the entire Republican party, including Trump. Who do you think is going to be more open to changing that- the one who supports a ceasefire and a two state solution or the one who says Israel should "finish the job"?

"Kamala is a cop!" Ok? Have you actually seen what she did as a prosecutor? How she protected LGBTQ rights even when the law told her to do otherwise? Have you forgotten that Republicans are ready to legislate LGBTQ people out of their rights as soon as they have the power to, including Trump?

"I want to vote for a better candidate!" The delegates have already been assigned. It is not possible with our currect election system for any other candidate to win the election. If you wanted a better candidate, you either should have voted for them during the primaries, or they weren't popular enough to win regardless if you did vote for them during the primaries.

With so much at state and so little time left in the election cycle, we need to focus on surviving this election, stacking Congress with Democrats, and then we might actually have success protecting the right to abortion and the rights of LGBTQ people, and possibly even doing something positive for Palestine. That isn't going to happen with Trump, that isn't going to happen if you vote third party, and that isn't going to happen if you don't vote. We are guaranteed to get some new, hopefully better candidates next election cycle.

Not voting isn't a boycott. It just guarantees that your voice goes unheard and makes it more likely that your rights and the rights of vulnerable people will be taken away.

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