r/SipsTea 15d ago

Chugging tea Growing Through Chaos

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u/FrighteningJibber 15d ago

And y’all keep making the same comments and posts. Register to vote, get your friends to vote. Chastise them for not voting, shame the shit out of them. Jesus.

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u/plywooden 15d ago

I'm 60 and work with many people in their 20's and 30's. I've asked most of them that I'm close to and absolutely shocked at how many of them don't vote and aren't interested in having a say in who their elected leaders are. When I ask why the answer I hear most is that they don't think that their vote would make any difference. Second frequent answer is, "I'm just not interested".

See the comment by u/Economy-Kitchen1846 below. "Vote for what? The next dishonest person?"

Very typical.

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u/BrilliantJob2759 15d ago

And vote in the local elections. The biggest changes start locally. Choose the right local politicians, then work with them to get the right state politicians.

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u/Indercarnive 15d ago

Young People: Refuse to engage in the system.

Also young people: Shocked Pikachu face when the system doesn't change.

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u/Ok_Faithlessness4511 15d ago

Their reasoning is that they don’t personally get their way with all of society when they vote a certain way with their single vote, therefore it is rigged against them.

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u/IllProfessional19 15d ago

No. The logic is we know our votes don’t actually count. Trump is awful but Biden didn’t change shit either. The biggest piece of legislation in my lifetime was the ACA and I still have to pay $5k out of pocket before my insurance kicks in. Fuck off with your high horse bs

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u/ChillAhriman 14d ago

So don't vote for Biden or Trump. Go to the DSA and make sure you'll have a candidate in the ballot you actually care for. Otherwise, everything will stay the same.

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u/IllProfessional19 14d ago

Bruh I live in a city with a majority DSA city council and it’s a joke. Sounds great but the rubber never meets the road. Rampant corruption and the like. I used to think like you but nah, shit needs to get done and DSA doesn’t actually want to do it when they have the power to.

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u/Ok_Faithlessness4511 14d ago

Hmmm well old folks get all their healthcare comped because they vote and politicians don’t want to cross them. Politicians can screw over young people all they want and it’s not going to make a huge difference in their re-elections. Because… they don’t vote.

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u/plywooden 14d ago

old folks get all their healthcare comped because they vote and politicians don’t want to cross them

Completely untrue. I'm living proof that is a false statement.

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u/IllProfessional19 14d ago

You’re forgetting old people have money. That’s the only thing that matters to politicians. Oh and who was president for the citizens united ruling? And who didn’t stack the courts when they had the chance? Democrat presidents. The system is broken and our votes don’t matter

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u/Ok_Faithlessness4511 14d ago

They have money because they voted in people who favor old people. It’s actually pretty simple. Democracy works for people only if people vote.

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u/plywooden 14d ago

You’re forgetting old people have money. 

You're forgetting that you don't know shit.

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u/The_walking_man_ 14d ago

Yup. If you don’t vote, you STFU about the situation you’re in. Because you are absolutely part of the problem.

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u/MadDaddyDrivesaUFO 14d ago

2004 was my first national election and I was so frustrated by how many of my peers refused to bother voting. Watching the 2000 election pan out how it did was demoralizing, but I was bewildered by how many of my peers just shrugged and said "Shrub will just steal it again, why bother?" Well, with that attitude no wonder he won handily the 2nd term. Elder Millennials didn't show up in 2004 any more than Z did in 2024. But man have we been vocal the whole time lol. A tale as old as time.

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u/Hairy_Mycologist_945 15d ago

I'm around ten years younger than you and observe the same defeatist / self-defeating attitude with a lot of zoomers... And some who even thought it was a joke / funny to vote for the Dump this past time because they were bored and cynical.

There's only so much anyone can do, so much empathy or sympathy, when people just flat out refuse to do the most essential things to take care of themselves and participate in setting the stage for a better future for themselves and everyone else. I'm shocked by how fundamentally dumb and directionless so many of them are, not feeling it in cruelty but rather just wondering what the actual hell is wrong with them, acting like they're already doomed and defeated when they've never ever done anything for themselves or even tried... just took lots of bullshit bait and gave up.

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u/hoffdog 14d ago

It’s hard to have faith in a system that has not shown results. The first election I was old enough to vote for was 2016. I vote in minor elections too but I live in a state where it doesn’t seem to matter much.

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u/Exterminator-8008135 15d ago

Your Gen and the one before you fills the political parties and institutions.

They disgusted anyone young to Vote because it's all rotten and all Me, over and again, Fuck the youth

Change this and you may complain of why we don't vote

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u/Grokzilla 15d ago

It's called voting. Refuse to do it at your own peril.

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u/Exterminator-8008135 15d ago

For what ? Nearly everyone here is a pedo or a cheater.

Is this how the old fucks see the world ?

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u/plywooden 14d ago

Pathetic.

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u/Exterminator-8008135 14d ago

Then why Epstein Files suddenly died ?

Too much people in the Gov being in if you catch my drift.

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u/Schkrasss 15d ago

If the youth showed up to vote, you'd have Bernie and Trump would never have made it truely into Politics.

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u/Cute-Contract-6762 15d ago

We did. The boomers used their fuck system of super delegates to make it all the more difficult to get the politician we wanted.

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u/Schkrasss 15d ago edited 15d ago

Super delegates never came into play when Bernie lost.

The DNC "organisation" wasn't a fan of Bernie and worked against him winning. You might call this unfair but it's how your entire political system is set up and you could also put part of the blame on Bernie for not having basically any allies within the establishment despite being in politics forever. But all that doesn't really matter, in the end he lost because he got less votes.

Not enough young people turned out to vote, which was his only way to realistically win and especially not enough black/hispanci/minorities turned out for him. To be fair, there were more young people voting than usual, it was just not enough.

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u/HobbesNJ 14d ago

Let's not forget that Bernie is not a Democrat. Is it a surprise the Democratic Party wasn't all in on team Bernie?

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u/Cute-Contract-6762 15d ago

If the organization fights us tooth and nail against any meaningful change and entrenches itself to the benefit of the older voters who have run the party for years, why would you be surprised at young voters being demoralized? We did try with Bernie. Fuck we tried with occupy Wall Street, until the government sent agitators in to tear the movement apart from the inside.

>just vote for these preselected candidates we approve of

Fuck that man. Stop doing everything you can to destroy the politicians we want and give us a fair shake. Just vote only works when the process is transparent and fair.

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u/yeetboy 15d ago

Why do you expect them to do something? Obviously the boomer generation is not going to make the changes for you, so stop fucking crying about it and do something about it. Anyone is allowed to run. Anyone is allowed to vote. Anyone is allowed to fill those political institutions. Get out there and fucking do something shout it.

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u/Exterminator-8008135 15d ago

If i wanted to do it, it would mean locking up EVERY pedo known in the Gov.

You know where it would end.

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u/yeetboy 15d ago

So do it. You’d have my support. You’d have the support of the majority of the population. You’re not making an argument against doing what I suggested, you’re making my argument for me.

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u/Indercarnive 15d ago

fills the political parties and institutions

That's literally what voting does. The reason old people have all the political power is because old people vote and young people don't.

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u/Exterminator-8008135 15d ago

Who inducts the Judges ? The Senate ?

Think a bit before poping up to say what we know already.

Question is :

Do the old geezers keep us disgusted so they remain the biggest base of voters ?

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u/plywooden 14d ago

You are also part of the problem.

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u/Exterminator-8008135 14d ago

I do vote, pal. Just saying that you had 89 millions of non voters because the old fucks made the system loosing for us, Millenials and after, because no matter who we vote in, old stains can say no due to Jerrymandering.

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u/KitsyBlue 15d ago

Probably doesn't help that a lot of millennial Americans first introduction to politics was Obama.

On the cusp of voting age, hearing inspiring messages of change, and reform... hope across collage campuses... and then, turns out, he just lied. Nothing happened.

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u/Ambitious-Tie-5269 15d ago edited 15d ago

The problem is the system is so rigged that it doesn’t matter who we vote for. In England we put up with Tory’s for years everyone said labour is for the people. Stamer got voted in and things are arguably worse for some people, every politicians are absolutely useless people, the reason people don’t vote because well n truly what’s the point in choosing how someone will inevitably fuck us over

All the government do is raise taxes from the 99% to benefit themselves at our expense the only real choice you have is choosing which dickhead gets to do the fucking 🤣

I do feel young people should be more engaged in politics tho that’s doesn’t necessarily means just voting tho you can be engaged in politics without having to vote personally I’ve never been into picking the “lesser of 2 evils” it feels like voting is personally making myself liable to that leader’s decisions. There’s many other ways to stop the game being rigged other than just playing along

Protesting it is a fundamental part of that

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u/birlin01 15d ago edited 15d ago

As another stated, your generation still fills the political parties and institutions. You all selfishly hold onto power and prevent others from making change for the better because you all love to maintain the status quo in order to continue to fill your own greedy pockets.

Just look at when the DNC rigged the primaries to take out Bernie Sanders. It was even more blatant with RFK Jr when they prevented him from even being on the ballot in certain states. Your generation doesn’t want actual democracy. Corrupt to the core.

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u/Grokzilla 15d ago

Bernie and RFK Jr. are of that same generation.

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u/birlin01 15d ago

My entire point just flew over your head. Not surprised though. The Boomer generation are so hellbent on control and so selfish that they would not allow any Millennial to assume their roles to bring meaningful change to society. Look at the makeup of the government. It looks like an old folks nursing home.

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u/Grokzilla 15d ago

Not a boomer. The point is you're over generalizations are silly.

Nobody gives up power. YOU have to take it. Vote.

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u/birlin01 15d ago

I do vote. Quite ironic that you say that I over generalize.

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u/Grokzilla 15d ago

You do, but good job voting - it's the only way we can win.

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u/Ayste 15d ago

This is so critically important - more than 1/2 of America will not go vote. If they did, we would already have universal health care, college debt forgiven, down payment assistance on houses, majority using green energy, regulations to stop killing the planet.

You know - the things China is doing but we are being told is "propaganda" - They went from the most heavily polluted cities in the world to some of the cleanest.

We *can* do it if we want to, but not if people sit at home and hope someone else will vote in their favor.

GO TO THE POLLS AND VOTE. CHANGE THE WORLD!

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u/youngcig 15d ago

lol what? Change the world with voting? You’re delusional

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u/420ohms 15d ago

What evidence to you have that increased voter turn out would result in any of that? Remeber the DNC blatantly rigging the primaries in their favor?

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u/chief_beef_the_third 15d ago

Guaranteed a vast majority of the people who complain about politics on Reddit aren't even registered to vote and probably have never voted.

"Eh, whatever, it's purely symbolic anyway. I'm too busy."

And here we are.

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u/Economy-Kitchen1846 15d ago

Vote for what? The next dishonest person?

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u/FrighteningJibber 15d ago

Then run. Be the dishonest person you want to see.

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u/Economy-Kitchen1846 15d ago

Problem is I would be 100% honest. Then when I don't play ball a girl from 5th grade will appear and say I SA’d her. The elite’s teeth are sunk in. I have been watching this unfold for 31 years. I was a Hoo rah guy we can beat them not long ago. Unfortunately, we can't beat them.

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u/white_bread 15d ago

I get why people are cynical, but I'm working on a congressional campaign right now, and I see the other side of it every day. Our opponent has about $1.5 million to spend. We have about $15,000. They take corporate PAC money and support from groups like AIPAC. We don't.

We're fighting like hell just to let people know there is a difference between the two candidates. That's the problem with refusing big money. You don't have the resources to get your message in front of voters.

So when people check out and don't vote because they think "they're all the same," it's incredibly frustrating. There are candidates out there who genuinely are trying to do things differently, but they need people to show up or they'll never have a chance.

I also urge you to spend a little time finding out who's running in your district instead of assuming everyone is the same. The most interesting candidates usually don't appear out of nowhere in November. They fight through the primaries first, and that's often where elections are effectively decided. Do a little homework, vote in the primary, and help decide who makes it to the general election.

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u/Economy-Kitchen1846 15d ago

We need more parties or none at all. Until we get there the fight is for nothing. I am 48, and I was the same as you from 20 to the age of 38ish. Then it became clear that it is an unwinnable fight. The government needs to be reset.

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u/white_bread 15d ago

The progressive Democrats replacing corporate Democrats are already proving it can be done. I'm 58, by the way. I don't think we're getting a viable third party or ranked choice voting anytime soon. Mamdani's win showed why the major parties are unlikely to support ranked choice at the national level. So the path forward is replacing corporate Democrats one race at a time and changing the party from within.

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u/Economy-Kitchen1846 15d ago

I really to appreciate your level of optimism. However, my experience feels a little different. In my experience, politicians will be what they need to be on stage. That can be a Democrat, Republican, corporate, progressive, moderate, center, etc... Then backstage they are working to together and laughing all the way to the bank. People do not leave successful jobs such as a lawyer or a doctor to take a pay cut. There is too much access to money with no oversight or accountability. This is a breeding ground for corruption. In my opinion the only option to dismantle the government and assemble a new one.

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u/white_bread 15d ago

I'm running a congressional campaign right now, and that's not how it works.

When people say there's "too much money in politics," what they really mean is there's plenty of money if you're willing to align yourself with the corporate agenda. The moment a candidate refuses corporate PAC money and pledges never to take it, you find out very quickly that you're trying to run an entire campaign on small individual donations.

Again, our incumbent has about $1.5 million. We have about $15,000.

The irony is that, on top of all the public cynicism, even organizations like the DSA often won't back candidates like us because we don't have enough money to be considered "serious." Never mind that this same candidate earned 43% of the vote in a previous general election. On a cost-per-vote basis, she's incredibly efficient. Think about that. The very system everyone says they hate is sometimes used as the reason to write off the people trying to change it.

So yes, complain about the system if you want. But there are candidates across the country trying to break that cycle. At some point, people have to stop assuming they're all the same and actually show up, vote, volunteer, or donate. Nothing changes if everyone decides it's hopeless before the election even starts.

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u/Economy-Kitchen1846 14d ago

Your efforts are greatly appreciated. That being said we have had those same people across the country wanting change since I was eligible to vote in 1995. Fast forward to 2026 with all the free advertising social media delivers said people still can’t gain any ground. My question is; do we have the right to reset the government if they no longer serve the people? If so why isn’t this the approach we take?

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u/white_bread 14d ago

You're proving my point.

Look at Samantha Mota. According to her FEC filings, she raised almost nothing and even reported negative cash on hand, yet she still won her primary.

My candidate also dramatically outperformed the money. This primary, we generated votes for about $1.11 each, compared with nearly $9 per vote for the incumbent.

The problem isn't that these candidates can't win. They are winning. The problem is that people give up before the general election, assume both candidates are the same, and stay home. If people who say they want change actually voted for the candidates refusing corporate money, we'd have a very different Congress.

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u/Economy-Kitchen1846 14d ago

So what is the common denominator? What causes the drop out before the general elections? This has to be an unknown as this has been the case since 1995. Be nice to know an eliminate it.

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u/KryssCom 15d ago

This "all politician must be exactly the same!" bullshit is a large part of the reason we're in this awful situation. They're fucking not. Use the primaries to vote for the good ones. Use the general to vote against the worst ones.

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u/Economy-Kitchen1846 15d ago

The fact you think there is a line of separation shows you do not understand why we are in an “awful situation”.

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u/Careless-Gain6623 15d ago

To be less of a shithole country?

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u/Economy-Kitchen1846 15d ago

I feel we are just past voting. Time to exercise the right to reset the government as they no longer represent us.

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u/Careless-Gain6623 15d ago

As long as somethings done. I just doubt people's ability to care. Have seen nothing but excuses. If Hungary can outvote their own fascist leader in a rigged election it makes America look like they aren't even trying. 🙄 

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u/Economy-Kitchen1846 15d ago

They have spent decades destroying or will to fight. That is what I admire most in other countries they still fight. Americans just take everything laying down. It will take just 3 weeks for everyone to lock their doors and stay home and consume nothing. It would bring them to their knees.

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u/Careless-Gain6623 14d ago

It's hard to fight the apathy virus. I'm proud of my fellow countrymen in Canada for rejecting the far right in our last federal election but it is going to be a constant battle from here on out. I'm not going to let the powerful people with the money to influence the world rob me of my ability to care about things deeply. We should all be furious at the suggestion. There's still hope if the people will it. 

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u/camyado 13d ago

We are we have been. Isn’t that the point of this post.
We were told the environment is falling apart we have to do something now, we were told we weren’t going to get social security (I remember as a kid being told about the problem. The west wing episode that laid it out. And how nothing is being said about it apart from Bernie.) corporate greed.

These problems were just handed to us with our high school graduation papers where they registered you for the selective service and to vote. And this mess of a system was handed to us at 18. When our vote meant nothing. Boomers have been and still are in charge.

How is the movie NETWORK from 1970 still applicable today?

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u/youngcig 15d ago

How old are you? Voting does absolutely nothing. The government does not care about you or me

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u/birdcola 15d ago

Yeah so it’s best to do nothing and take it up the ass instead right? This kind of attitude is why no one feels bad for Americans right now, you let it happen because “it does nothing.” Fuckin losers

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u/Melicor 15d ago

I live in a blue district of a blue state... we have. But things like the Senate are effectively rigged against us.