Thread by @tharkban

Listen up, I'm only going to say this once. I believe in Democracy. It seems a lot of us don't, so it's worth mentioning. I've so internalized this Democracy that when any decision needs to be made, my default.
#biden #thirdparty #compromise #progressive #vote
1/

after hearing all the arguments and debate has concluded is to look around the room and ask for a show of hands. I feel like that's normal, and maybe it is, but that's the core of Democracy: Leaders listening to the will of the people. 2/

We're at a cross roads right now politically. Our leaders are telegraphing that they won't listen to the people. First they'll do everything in their power to manipulate and rig an election. And then, if that doesn't work, they'll refuse to relinquish power anyway. 3/

Be ready for it. That's not Democracy. The question isn't whether Trump will attempt a coup, the question is whether the results of the election will be so overwhelming that it isn't possible to pretend he won. 4/

Not for the Senate, not for the Supreme Court, and if it comes to it, not for the military. Only if the result is so overwhelming that anyone supporting his claims of having won the election will be laughed at and ignored, will he be forced out of office. 5/

But, none of that is news, and it's not the reason I'm writing this. I believe in Democracy. I don't think it's the best system, and I don't think it's perfectly implemented in the United States of America anyway. 6/

But in general, I'd wager it's better than most alternatives and definitely better than any alternatives currently presented. So let's break things down, Trump doesn't believe in Democracy, he's actively trying to become a dictator. 7/

Biden, definitely believes in Democracy, I can't imagine a world in which he would attempt to cling to power against the will of the people. If the choice was only between them, I think the choice is pretty clear. 8/

If you believe in Democracy, then you need to vote (after all, what is a Democracy if people don't vote), and it's clear you must vote for Biden. Our political system literally depends on it. But I put a pretty big caveat in there "if the choice was only between them". 9/

Let's break that down a little. Of course there are other choices. You can sit this one out, refuse to vote. Ok, first of all I said I believed in Democracy, so that doesn't sound very appealing. 10/

Second of all, there are many other races, ballot measures, etc at all levels of government. It'd be pretty silly to fill out an entire ballot with tons of locally relevant decisions and then just skip the presidential item. 11/

So, hopefully you can get yourself motivated to vote. What other choices are there? Well you can vote for someone like Howie Hawkins. I'm not going to lie, I've strongly considered it. 12/

Particularly since I live in California and can reasonably expect the vote to go to Biden within the state. Maybe I should just vote with my morals. The Democratic Party played dirty and abandoned me, well I can return the favor. 13/

I certainly agree with the Green and Socialists Party USA platforms a great deal more than the Democratic Party platform. But let's not kid ourselves, he's not going to win. 14/

Partially because of how the two party system is constructed, but most importantly because he just doesn't have the popular support. Remember, I believe in Democracy. So, let's look around the room and see who's hands are up. 15/

First of all about 40% of the hands are out to lunch, for one reason or another those people won't be voting, they're not in the room. So be it, they'll be going with whatever the rest of us decide. About 20% of the hands are staunchly for Trump. 16/

These are people who won't bat an eye if police start rounding up "rioters" and throwing them in the same camps as we already have setup at our southern border. 17/

Frightening for sure, but luckily it's only about 20%, and you generally need at least 30% of popular support to maintain a dictatorship. So let's hope not too many of those people who stepped out of the room are with them when they come back. 18/

On the other end of the spectrum about 15% (or nearly half the Democrats according to the primary) are staunchly progressive. It's sad that we didn't have just a touch more support, I think Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren would make fantastic Presidents. 19/

But, that's Democracy, if you don't have the votes, you don't get the candidate. I wish we had better voting systems, where vote splitting wasn't such a huge issue, but if I'm honest, that probably means Biden would have won the primary even more handily. 20/

I still hope it happens, I want to see ranked choice voting across the board, because I believe in Democracy not just when it's convenient. So who else? Another 17% are centrist Democrats. 21/

They won the primary this round (as always), although it's pretty clear they're going to have to start making some major concessions to the progressives within their party. Luckily they also generally believe in Democracy and are listening. 22/

They're going to be compromising with progressives, just like they've been compromising with the worst elements of the Republican party for far too long. So who else? 23/

Something like 8% of Republicans who are torn about Trump, their Republican identity, their one issue voting, mixed in with an unhealthy dose of media propaganda, foreign election interference/propaganda, and straight up racism. (although let's not pretend that racism 24/

isn't pervasive across the entire population and all our institutions). Who should win? That's a hard question to answer, famously it's possible to prove that no voting system exists which fulfills all of a handful of desirable characteristics. 25/

And our system is nowhere near ideal. If you go by the largest coherent voting block, then this will be the last reasonably fair election in the USA's Democratic experiment. 20% of our population is ready for authoritarian rule. 26/

But, united together, 32% is just as vehemently opposed to that authoritarian rule, with a sizable percentage left that's torn or checked out. 27/

I'd like to think we have a system which is Democratic enough to see that 32% is greater than 20% and avoid slipping into authoritarianism. I guess that remains to be seen. 28/

So, what do you do, if like me you find yourself in that progressive 15% who hates Biden's guts with the passion of 1000 Crime bills. 29/

What do you do, when a barrage of Russian trolls rightly tells you everything that is wrong with Biden and Harris and you find yourself agreeing? Go back to the basics. Do you believe in Democracy? Do you believe Biden believes in Democracy? 30/

If there's one thing centrists are good at, it's listening and compromising. Too good at it, if you ask me. But that also means they hear us, they'll compromise with us. They'll make us a part of their process in a way an authoritarian dictator certainly wouldn't. 31/

Remember, the Democratic Party isn't just the party of Biden and Harris, but it's also the party of AOC. 32/

Sanders made a fantastic move when he ran within the Democratic party, forcing the Democratic establishment to listen to him, to listen to the progressives they'd been ignoring for so long. As long as he was outside of the party, they ignored him, as they ignore Hawkins. 33/

So here's what's going to happen. We're all going to unite to vote for Biden, not because we like him, but because it's necessary. It's necessary to pump up that number of people who voted for Democracy as high as possible. 34/

Because in this election, all the stops are out, all the dirty tricks are in play, the integrity of the election itself is being undermined. Vote like your Democracy depends on it, because it quite literally does, now more than ever. 35/

And remember, the Democratic party may have a bunch of people you disagree with in it, but it's also nearly half full of progressives, and in a Democracy, that matters. If we can maintain our Democracy through this election, so much is possible. 36/

If Democrats gain control of the Presidency, the House, and the Senate. Many things become possible which are currently unthinkable. That's literally what the 20% of the population which would prefer authoritarian rule is trying to avoid. 37/

Because if they lose power, they know all the dirty tricks they've put into place will be dismantled. Anti corruption laws, fixes to gerrymandering, removal of voter suppression laws, and hopefully even packing the courts and admitting DC and Puerto Rico as states. 38/

We're done playing and progressives will keep Democrats accountable, if we choose to remain in the party. And that requires voting for Biden. Is he the perfect candidate? Absolutely not, but he's the Democratic one (in both senses of the word). And he'll listen to the people. 39/

P.S. All numbers are made up, but in the right ballpark (we'll find out what the real numbers are soon). 40/end

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