What did Elon Musk do this time.

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

I'm surprised to see anyone with a spine and morals is still working at NYT. Also hope everyone who decided not to vote because of their conscience is fucking happy.

[Madner Kami]

I'm surprised to see anyone with a spine and morals is still working at NYT. Also hope everyone who decided not to vote because of their conscience is fucking happy.

You really shouldn't blame non-voters, when they are facing a two-party system with two parties working against their (potential) interests, especially if there are so many barriers (both actively encouraged by the establishment, as well as passively through societal conventions) to actually dropping your vote. And don't go for the "lesser evil" BS. It doesn't matter to a sheep, which wolf is going to gut it.

[Riedquat]

I'm surprised to see anyone with a spine and morals is still working at NYT. Also hope everyone who decided not to vote because of their conscience is fucking happy.

You really shouldn't blame non-voters, when they are facing a two-party system with two parties working against their (potential) interests, especially if there are so many barriers (both actively encouraged by the establishment, as well as passively through societal conventions) to actually dropping your vote. And don't go for the "lesser evil" BS. It doesn't matter to a sheep, which wolf is going to gut it.

Blaming non-voters is simply playing in to Trump's hand. No-one has a right to demand your vote, and if you can't encourage people to vote for you then you're the one to blame. Insulting them is hardly likely to encourage them to vote that way next time, and it hints at one possibility of why they might not've voted this time. It's a Trump-like "blame everyone for the consequences of my actions other than myself" way of looking at things.

Not that I've been faced with exactly the same situation because I don't live in the USA, but there have been times where I've not voted because I cannot in any conscience vote for anyone on the ballot paper. They represent parties that all have a vision for the country that in too many ways I'm too fundamentally opposed to. To vote for anyone is to lend those policies my support. If someone terrible gets in I am not going to accept the tiniest shred of guilt about it for not voting for a load of things I really disagree with just to keep them out. You want my vote you need to earn it. You're not entitled for it because you don't like someone else, no matter how terrible they may be. If they're really that terrible and you still can't beat them then you're utterly unfit for purpose.

The only non-voters who do deserve some flack are the ones who simply can't be bothered, but there's no guarantee about the direction they'd vote.

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

If they'd voted for Harris, my food stamps wouldn't be on the line. If they'd voted for Harris, my partner's disability benefits wouldnt' be on the line. If they'd voted for Harris, we wouldn't be facing three million deaths thanks to Musk's illegal cuts.

I understand the Democratic party ultimately serves the capitalist class too, but at least they could be bothered to vote against Nazis. And that's most of what I see when I look at non-voters. I see people who "just aren't into politics" because they're too fucking stupid to see how it affects them and the people in their lives. I see people like my partner's friend Sam, who loves South Park, hates "negativity", and is probably going to be radicalized into an incel.

[clearspira]

If they'd voted for Harris, my food stamps wouldn't be on the line. If they'd voted for Harris, my partner's disability benefits wouldnt' be on the line. If they'd voted for Harris, we wouldn't be facing three million deaths thanks to Musk's illegal cuts.

I understand the Democratic party ultimately serves the capitalist class too, but at least they could be bothered to vote against Nazis. And that's most of what I see when I look at non-voters. I see people who "just aren't into politics" because they're too fucking stupid to see how it affects them and the people in their lives. I see people like my partner's friend Sam, who loves South Park, hates "negativity", and is probably going to be radicalized into an incel.

I have long held an interest in Ancient society - particularly their philosophers and their politicians for it is fun to see how little we have evolved over several thousand years. Our technology is superior but we are the same men now that we were 2,3,4,5 thousand years ago. To wit:

[McAvoy]

People not voting is an actual freedom and doesn't matter the reason except if they got blocked for whatever reason. The ability to vote for anyone you want or abstain from voting is a freedom. A freedom some countries don't give their citizens.

That being said, if someone abstained from voting because they didn't like Harris or Trump and only now realizing their mistake. That is on them. Those who don't vote because they don't care about it and figure nothing will change for them, well it's just a matter of time if that is true or not.

There are those who don't vote because they just do not like the US Government or America is general. Think black citizens or Native Americans. They would rather see the country burn.

[clearspira]

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/el ... 6c4b&ei=13

Elon Musk's own chatbot has labelled him the biggest spreader of misinformation on X.

Musk has repeatedly touted his own AI system, Grok, as the best source for information, at one point suggesting users should ‘Grok it’ rather than ‘Google it’.

Grok has quickly become one of the most used AI apps in the world, with Musk calling it ‘based’ and the world’s ‘smartest AI’.

In 2024, he wrote: ‘Perhaps it is now clear why Grok is so important. It is far from perfect right now but will improve rapidly… Rigorous pursuit of the truth, without regard to criticism, has never been more essential.’

But the world’s ‘smartest AI’ – which Musk helped create – has said that the Tesla boss is one of the biggest spreaders of misinformation on X, which he owns.

In a separate post on X, Grok reiterated that Musk was one of the ‘top misinformation spreaders on X’, putting Donald Trump in second place.

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

MidnightPals already did a great bit on how Musk's chatbot isn't saying what he wants it to say. It's almost funny how bad Musk is at the things he wants to be known for.

[CmdrKing]

I'm surprised to see anyone with a spine and morals is still working at NYT. Also hope everyone who decided not to vote because of their conscience is fucking happy.

Do those people actually exist in meaningful numbers? Like, I travel in circles as lefty as they come and of the... like, 100 people I can accurately assess the voting habits of, only one abstained out of conscience. Setting aside anecdotes, the numbers I've seen suggest that they only state where specifically contentious objectors were of sufficient numbers to sway the outcome was maaaayyybeee Michigan.

The bigger issue, based on the demographics of who did and didn't vote, seems more likely to have been moderates who were motivated by conditions in 2020 and couldn't be bothered in 2024.

I can't help but feel that blaming a nebulous group of people due to "conscience" is designed to generate compliance, a story the shittiest Dems are telling you so they aren't ousted by the rest of the party who told them that running on status quo was a death sentence.

[McAvoy]

I'm surprised to see anyone with a spine and morals is still working at NYT. Also hope everyone who decided not to vote because of their conscience is fucking happy.

Do those people actually exist in meaningful numbers? Like, I travel in circles as lefty as they come and of the... like, 100 people I can accurately assess the voting habits of, only one abstained out of conscience. Setting aside anecdotes, the numbers I've seen suggest that they only state where specifically contentious objectors were of sufficient numbers to sway the outcome was maaaayyybeee Michigan.

The bigger issue, based on the demographics of who did and didn't vote, seems more likely to have been moderates who were motivated by conditions in 2020 and couldn't be bothered in 2024.

I can't help but feel that blaming a nebulous group of people due to "conscience" is designed to generate compliance, a story the shittiest Dems are telling you so they aren't ousted by the rest of the party who told them that running on status quo was a death sentence.

Hard to tell. How would you know how someone would vote if they don't vote? Sure there are literal tens of millions of Americans who don't vote. We just can't automatically assume half of those would vote for one side or the other.

I know plenty who just view it as not mattering and do not care who is voted in. Lesser of two evils to them is foreign but more like both are evil. Or both are just neutral to them. Or that they are just puppets with various people, companies etc controlling what they do.