I feel like this summarizes my experience of life, that I'm for some reason constitutionally incapable of assuming a binary accurately captures the range of possibilities for a given situation, but I live in a world where this is a baseline assumption.
Even as a child, I couldn't process the questions correctly. My parents would ask, "Do you want Cheerios or Froot Loops for breakfast?" and I would reply, "No, I want waffles." I wasn't intending to be a smartass. It wasn't until my late teens that I finally realized why people got so annoyed with me when that happened.
Now I mostly notice it in the political context: "Are you voting for [donkey] or [elephant]?" "No, of course not. They both suck."
The reply I always get is, "Well not voting for [the one I think is less bad] is a vote for [the evils the other will promote]," but no! No it isn't.
If you assume the entire range of options is captured by the binary in front of you, you've already lost.
Voting in a two party system is pretty clearly binary if you’re really choosing to participate at all. The off-script big-brain move in this case isn’t abstaining from voting, it’s discussing changing the voting/election system to break the two party dominance.
Abstaining from voting bc you’re unhappy with the current options doesn’t make you super smart galaxy brain guy.
> The off-script big-brain move in this case isn’t abstaining from voting, it’s discussing changing the voting/election system to break the two party dominance.
You are not interpreting OP in the best possible light - or even remotely accurately.
OP didn't say not voting is big brain galaxy stuff, nor did they exclude the idea of changing the voting system.
To me, when the choice is between pro-war, pro-oil, pro-corporate theocratic fascism from wealthy old white guys, and pro-war, pro-oil, pro-corporate cynical neoliberalism, not voting for the lesser evil can be seen as simply not voting for evil.
After seeing what the Dems did to Bernie, I can't ever vote for them again; not even if Trump is the alternative. Nope. Not doing it. I have a line, and I won't be forced to vote in a system that's killing the planet. Will I work to change that voting system? Happily. Will the Democrats? Hell no.
Even as a child, I couldn't process the questions correctly. My parents would ask, "Do you want Cheerios or Froot Loops for breakfast?" and I would reply, "No, I want waffles." I wasn't intending to be a smartass. It wasn't until my late teens that I finally realized why people got so annoyed with me when that happened.
Now I mostly notice it in the political context: "Are you voting for [donkey] or [elephant]?" "No, of course not. They both suck."
The reply I always get is, "Well not voting for [the one I think is less bad] is a vote for [the evils the other will promote]," but no! No it isn't.
If you assume the entire range of options is captured by the binary in front of you, you've already lost.