Drip Bayless
Superstar
All over this board and in real life I'm constantly inundated by talk of how stupid and racist American voters are, "they voted for this", "
... "they get what they deserve," yadda yadda. As if the outcomes of our elections are purely the result of rational, independent choices made by an informed populace. The irony is this is the exact kind of take that highlights just how ignorant Americans are, that people actually believe for a second that we have free elections. Americans are ignorant for sure, they're ignorant of the massive structural forces that shape voting behavior: corporate media propaganda, billionaire-funded disinformation, gerrymandering, voter suppression, and the corporate backed duopoly system that all work together to make us think we have the illusion of choice.
Only the ignorant would assume voters have a magical love of billionaires or are all inherently too stupid to vote in their best interest. Because Americans have been systematically conditioned to accept a false reality, where class solidarity is buried under culture wars, and the most powerful forces in the world work overtime to convince them that their enemies are immigrants, minorities, and homosexuals instead corporations and the 1% hoarding their wealth. Every election cycle, the ruling class spends trillions to control the narrative and manufacture consent for policies that serve the elite.
Yet, when things go south, the blame never ever falls on the corporate donors, the politicians who sabotage progress, or the billionaire-owned media networks that push propaganda 24/7. Instead, it’s always, “the voters are just too stupid.” The real danger in this analysis isn't the laziness, but the fact that it’s exactly what the ruling class wants people to believe. If you convince people that change is impossible because "the masses are just too dumb," then you remove any accountability from the actual forces rigging the system and ensure that nothing ever changes. If Democrats geniuinely believe that a significant portion of this country is too racist or too ignorant to vote for a Black woman, then isn’t it an even bigger strategic failure that they didn’t account for that reality in their strategy? Either you believe in the voters’ ability to make rational choices and win them over, or you acknowledge their shortcomings and adjust your strategy accordingly. If the electorate is flawed, it’s not enough to just complain about it. A competent political party adjusts to reality and finds ways to win anyway. They don’t actually want to challenge the system in a way that would meaningfully redistribute power or wealth, because they are embedded in that system. That’s why they embrace symbolic progressivism like black faces in high places and identity politics, while refusing to push real economic populism or structural change.
Do American voters fall for racist, reactionary rhetoric? Absolutely. Do American voters vote based on culture war bullshyt rather than policy? Of course. But writing off the electorate as irredeemable ignores the fact that the vast majority of progressive policies are actually popular when they're not attached to individuals or parties. The problem isn’t that Americans are inherently stupid or racist, it’s that the Dems are an integral part of the ruling class itself, and they will crush any populist resistance before it can threaten elite control.
No the voters didn’t just choose this in some vacuum of perfect rationality. If you’re mad at the outcomes of our elections, don’t just blame the voters, blame the oligarchs who buy our politicians, the media that launders their narratives, and the politicians who sell out their own base for corporate money. Anything else is just playing into their hands.
... "they get what they deserve," yadda yadda. As if the outcomes of our elections are purely the result of rational, independent choices made by an informed populace. The irony is this is the exact kind of take that highlights just how ignorant Americans are, that people actually believe for a second that we have free elections. Americans are ignorant for sure, they're ignorant of the massive structural forces that shape voting behavior: corporate media propaganda, billionaire-funded disinformation, gerrymandering, voter suppression, and the corporate backed duopoly system that all work together to make us think we have the illusion of choice.
Only the ignorant would assume voters have a magical love of billionaires or are all inherently too stupid to vote in their best interest. Because Americans have been systematically conditioned to accept a false reality, where class solidarity is buried under culture wars, and the most powerful forces in the world work overtime to convince them that their enemies are immigrants, minorities, and homosexuals instead corporations and the 1% hoarding their wealth. Every election cycle, the ruling class spends trillions to control the narrative and manufacture consent for policies that serve the elite.
Yet, when things go south, the blame never ever falls on the corporate donors, the politicians who sabotage progress, or the billionaire-owned media networks that push propaganda 24/7. Instead, it’s always, “the voters are just too stupid.” The real danger in this analysis isn't the laziness, but the fact that it’s exactly what the ruling class wants people to believe. If you convince people that change is impossible because "the masses are just too dumb," then you remove any accountability from the actual forces rigging the system and ensure that nothing ever changes. If Democrats geniuinely believe that a significant portion of this country is too racist or too ignorant to vote for a Black woman, then isn’t it an even bigger strategic failure that they didn’t account for that reality in their strategy? Either you believe in the voters’ ability to make rational choices and win them over, or you acknowledge their shortcomings and adjust your strategy accordingly. If the electorate is flawed, it’s not enough to just complain about it. A competent political party adjusts to reality and finds ways to win anyway. They don’t actually want to challenge the system in a way that would meaningfully redistribute power or wealth, because they are embedded in that system. That’s why they embrace symbolic progressivism like black faces in high places and identity politics, while refusing to push real economic populism or structural change.
Do American voters fall for racist, reactionary rhetoric? Absolutely. Do American voters vote based on culture war bullshyt rather than policy? Of course. But writing off the electorate as irredeemable ignores the fact that the vast majority of progressive policies are actually popular when they're not attached to individuals or parties. The problem isn’t that Americans are inherently stupid or racist, it’s that the Dems are an integral part of the ruling class itself, and they will crush any populist resistance before it can threaten elite control.
No the voters didn’t just choose this in some vacuum of perfect rationality. If you’re mad at the outcomes of our elections, don’t just blame the voters, blame the oligarchs who buy our politicians, the media that launders their narratives, and the politicians who sell out their own base for corporate money. Anything else is just playing into their hands.
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