I find the quality and variety of discussions on the fediverse to be lower than what I had on reddit. Lemmings have strong preconceived notions and little interest in changing viewpoints from new information. I think I’ll be switching back.
Edit: you’ll find that most of the comments deny any shortcomings of the culture and go directly to invalidating my opinions via character assassination. If lemmy was a community that actually stood for the ideals which it espouses it would take constructive criticism in the spirit in which it was intended. QED.
Slapping the rails like this is exactly the lack of nuance that lemmy has. You’re either with us or against us. That’s not how people look at issues. What matters is how people are treated. I’m not going to vote for someone who harms people. Being pragmatic to avoid a bad scenario? Don’t even bother.
You’re not being pragmatic. Being pragmatic is to take the lesser of two evils. You’re taking a different option entirely. Inaction. That is why you aren’t respected for your political opinions.
“Let not any one pacify his conscience by the delusion that he can do no harm if he takes no part, and forms no opinion. Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing. He is not a good man who, without a protest, allows wrong to be committed in his name, and with the means which he helps to supply, because he will not trouble himself to use his mind on the subject.” - John Stuart Mill (A quote butchered and falsely attributed to Edmund Burke)
How is contacting politicians and alerting people to key issues (that will cost the election) inaction? Inaction is plugging your ears and saying “nothing can be done to change the status quo”.
Contacting your elected officials and trying to get them to do something? Awesome! Allowing the entire country to fall into the hands of a fascist, dooming millions of people to starvation, debt and medical problems until they die, ruining a democracy, and fucking over one of the worlds largest economies because the president won’t simply say a thing you don’t like? Pathetic and also inaction.
You have exactly one bargaining chit with politicians each election. First you need to make it very clear what is required in exchange for it, then you need to follow through. If you fail to do either then you’ll just get more of the same or worse.