site banner
TripleInterrobang  6d ago (youtu.be)   1180 thread views

Voting for the lesser of two evils

youtu.be

In the past I have made video essay content about SSC/ACX articles. My most popular remains my summary of the concept of Moloch.

Today I've made something a little different. It is a video summarizing the arguments surrounding voting for the "lesser evil". If this interests you, give it a watch and let me know if I missed anything or if you agree/disagree.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=46gi-ODAjF0

Note that I do not make any money off this or other videos. I also apologize if I have broken a rule I didn't see by posting this.

-13
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

If a party wants to listen and understand what their constituents want, they would be holding open forums across the country where people can get together and actively listen and respond to each other's ideas. I see very little of that going on.

Just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Many if not most all politicians do in fact hold open forums on a regular basis. You have a very high chance that even in a district that’s an easy pickup/single party, that there exists a chance for you to meet and ask approximately one question to the candidate directly per event. Multiple events, if you really keep your ear to the ground. The caveat is that you need to make at least some attempt to follow socials and/or sign up via email to hear about these.

Your vote probably doesn’t matter, but you know what does? Your “memetic vote”. If you are vocal about your opposition or reluctance to voting, you actually do have a measurable deterrent effect on the people around you voting. And vice versa!

Additionally, you’d be surprised at how many politicians, even national ones, tend to go off of vibe checks. That means they are actually fairly vulnerable to pressure campaigns, in the sense that if you get for example even a dozen people to phone them directly about an issue, they usually both pay at least a little attention as well as assume (rightly or wrongly) that the phone calls represent the tip of the iceberg. So yes, calling your representative’s office also has a small but real effect.

Finally, we live in a big country. Americans often forget how big. National voting trends dominate attention but the simple fact is there are millions and millions and millions of voters, so expecting to have a major personal impact simply isn’t realistic. Local, local, local! Your chances of having a direct conversation with candidates for a city level position approach 100% if you try.

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats