r/politics • u/slaysia • Dec 19 '17

Democrat wins Va. House seat in recount by single vote; creating 50-50 tie in legislature

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/democrat-wins-va-house-seat-in-recount-by-single-vote-creating-50-50-tie-in-legislature/2017/12/19/3ff227ae-e43e-11e7-ab50-621fe0588340_story.html?utm_term=.82f2b85b50fa
64.6k Upvotes

88% Upvoted

3.6k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

212

u/pheliam Dec 19 '17

I feel the exact same way about George Carlin's old standup bits, esp. his one about "the owners" of this country and that you have no choice.

I love Carlin's work but telling millions of fans "don't vote" and "fuck hope" and all that is damaging to citizen participation on the side who generally does not want war or misogyny.

His dystopic vision has almost come to be realized, however it's not here yet. We still have the vote. It is everything.

119

u/IMAVINCEMCMAHONGUY Dec 19 '17

I didn’t agree with Carlin either. Especially when he use to say that people who don’t vote have the right to bitch because they didn’t elect these politicians. One of the very few things I disagreed with him on.

14

u/Jeezylike2Smoke Dec 19 '17

True....his bit on republicans is spot on though

6

u/IMAVINCEMCMAHONGUY Dec 20 '17

Lol, yes it is.

https://youtu.be/_Y5-jhDBV2w

3

u/robodrew Arizona Dec 20 '17

Wow he could be talking in 2017.

11

u/Dubsland12 Dec 19 '17

He got pretty bitter after his wife lost a tough cancer battle.

4

u/clockwerkman Dec 20 '17

The whole train of logic is unsound. Anyone has the right to complain about politicians for two reasons.

  • First ammendment

  • Because governing policy affects them.

4

u/jojoman7 Dec 19 '17

Holy shit, it was just a bit poking fun at the logic of a phrase. Btw, in Last Words, Carlin says he'd voted liberal for decades.

Stop taking stage personas and conic routines so seriously.

29

u/MaximumEffort433 Maryland Dec 20 '17

The stage persona is all most of us see.

4

u/[deleted] Dec 20 '17

Carlin is technically correct but deliberately not voting is still a vote.

8

u/[deleted] Dec 20 '17

No, voting blank is a vote. Deliberately not voting is the same as giving your right to vote away.

4

u/[deleted] Dec 20 '17

Deliberately not voting is still a vote just like choosing not to make a decision is still a decision.

-4

u/TJ5897 Dec 20 '17

Lol. Voting achieves nothing. Direct action against the state is what won us keynesian reforms. It was either FDR and the bourgeoisie provided safety nets, social mobility, a living wage, and reasonable working conditions, or the anarcho-syndicalists and marxists were going to overthrow them.

The Taft-Hartley Act of 55 is pretty good proof of this. They forced radicals out of unions, and began dismantling everything previous generations had worked for.

2

u/[deleted] Dec 20 '17

As someone who values their life, I'd rather vote instead of risking my life if I have the choice.

-1

u/TJ5897 Dec 20 '17

If you ain't found something to die for you'll never live.

10

u/Oak_Redstart Dec 19 '17

Carlins line about the environment "the earth will be fine it's just a big rock" seems to come up a lot an annoys me. The following "its the people who are fucked" makes the apathy nihilistic.

4

u/Atomicbobb Dec 19 '17

Well it's true. It's not productive but it's objectively true.

1

u/vivianvixxxen Dec 20 '17

Can you elaborate a bit? I don't see why the line would annoy you, and I see even less why the second part makes it nihilistic. Just want to understand your perspective—and maybe have my mind changed—because I'm one of those people who'd say something like that (though not quoting Carlin directly).

1

u/Oak_Redstart Dec 20 '17

It just tends to derail conversations about environmental issues and turns it in a conversation about semantics - what constitutes "earth" the way it's being talked about. It is possible that we as a species and most higher forms of life are fucked from the damage are inflicting on the various systems that support life on this planet. But if we all cynically believe that we are doomed anyway it guarantees a bad outcome whereas if we hopefully work to solve problems it at least allows for the possibility of success. It bothers me species are going extinct and ecosystems are being degraded and so many other issues along those lines. To have these concerns be dismissed with flippant and haughty "this place is just a big rock and it will be fine" or something is annoying to say the least.

1

u/vivianvixxxen Dec 21 '17

So, when I say it I will admit it's a semantic thing, but it's semantics with a purpose. I want to bring people who don't care about environmental issues in a "hippy" way into the conversation. I'm acknowledging that, yeah, species evolve and go extinct all the time, global warming can and does happen naturally as well, the planet's eventually goign to be subsumed into the Sun, etc etc etc. BUT! Hey, here's how it affects you and your kids.

I mean, really, this is just a big rock with a bunch of semi-sentient matter crawling on it. And with or without humans here those lifeforms will go extinct and the rock will continue to orbit. That's just the reality, an that's where cynics and nihilists will go. But you can get people in on the environmentalism if you make it about them.

That's my reason for it.

11

u/[deleted] Dec 19 '17

People hate this because it is true. Everything he said has come to pass.

One of the quotes in that bit is "now they're coming for your social security money...and they'll get it, too."

They own you, and if you dont think so, tomorrow morning when you get up and go do exactly what you are told to do by some corporate stooge all day, ask yourself again what he meant by this and see if it doesn't take a different shine.

The vote has been compromised time and time again. Now it is to the point where deas people post online to the FCC and its taken as legitimate. How long do you think before dead people start voting?

3

u/[deleted] Dec 20 '17

He is right though. We are given the illusion of choice. We do not having a functional democracy. Chomksy has been saying that forever name.

2

u/nitori Australia Dec 20 '17

Chomsky is pretty adamant that if one lives in a swing state one should vote (for a democrat), though, because “small” differences between the parties have large consequences when reflected on a country as powerful as the US

1

u/[deleted] Dec 20 '17

I agree with that, but if you are not in a swing state, you are silenced. That is the broken part.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 20 '17

What about state and local elections?

1

u/headrush46n2 Dec 20 '17

Well, look at it this way. Say things really do start to change. Blue wave in 2018, new media laws, new campaign finance laws, hooray, maybe america is starting to see the light?

What do you think will happen? The rich and powerful will just shrug their shoulders and say, "meh, we gave it a shot."

Not a chance. When the republicans fail them, they'll just start buying democrats. or people calling themselves democrats. They'll conglomerate with Universal and turn MSNBC into fox. the names might change, but the game will stay the same. Meet the new boss, same as the fucking old boss.

The singular problem with this country (and planet) is that the rich have too much everything, including influence, and until they are forcefully separated from it, nothing will ever change.

1

u/koavf Indiana Dec 20 '17

We still have the vote. It is everything.

Direct political action is another thing.

1

u/pheliam Dec 20 '17 edited Dec 20 '17

"Direct political action" brings to mind things like attending town halls, making phone calls to Reps, attending rallies and so on.

It could also be construed as assassinations or bombings, too. What were you thinking of?

Edit: I am absolutely not advocating for violence. In a world open to healthy discussion, I believe there's no better way to undercut yourself than to get violent on behalf of your argument.

1

u/koavf Indiana Dec 20 '17

Strikes, rallies, forming parallel systems of mutual aid, organizing unions, etc. I am non-violent but yes, property destruction and violence are also types of direct political action which are generally immoral.