system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
CMV: Not voting for X isnt the same as voting for Y

Both parties do this by the way, and have been for most elections but this talking point was especially ramped up in the 2016 election and it's starting to rear it's ugly head for the 2020 election. So let me just get this out of the way and tell you I'm not voting for either of the two fucks that representing the major American parties, and my lack of voting for your candidate is not a vote for your opposition.

An analogy: 

You present me with two dishes. On one dish is a heaping pile of shit. On the other dish chunky and rank smelling mound of vomit.

"You're not gonna choose to eat that plate of shit, right?" you ask.

"God no, I could never eat a plate of shit," I respond. You're relieved but that relief soon turns to shock as I continue, "but I'm not gonna eat that plate of vomit either."

You're shocked! Baffled! How could I?! "But, but," you say, "if you don't eat the plate of vomit that's the same as eating the plate of shit! I thought you didnt want to eat the shit? I realize that you're not actually physically consuming the shit, but if you dont eat this vomit it's THE SAME THING AS EATING SHIT!"

Fuck you and your partisan politics. Biden and trump both suck and I'm not gonna pretend one doesn't.

Change my view by convincing me that not voting for X actually IS the same as voting for Y

**EDIT:** I made an emotional post last night after having a small argument with someone after they discovered that I didn't think I was going to vote for Biden. It's a line I've heard before and for whatever reason it struck a particular chord with me this time, maybe because I have more disdain for Trump in the 2020 election than I had for him in the 2016 election, I don't know. I spent awhile last night reading through every comment on this post and really taking in what others were saying and trying to have meaningful discussions with people whether I agreed with their points or not. As the night grew a later some of my replies started shifting from meaningful discussion to emotional ranting and that's not productive to anyone so I just left it alone for the night and sincere apologies if one of my emotional rants were directed at anyone reading this now,

That said, I didn't anticipate waking up to this post being on top of the CMV sub and the flood of comments that have come with it, so there's no chance I'm going to reply to everyone who's commented on this like I had wanted to do,it would start getting redundant anyway if I did. Still, there are some things I want to make clear and answer broadly:

- I'm not a closet Trump supporter. Don't know why this has to be clarified, but I guess it's a pretty common belief that taking issue with our system or not voting for Biden makes me a closet Trumper. Not in my case at least.

- I believe in voting and that voting is important. My view is not a call to stop voting, to be apathetic to politics, or to stop seeking change. It was only a way of saying that the presidential election specifically has a general mindset behind it that I take issue with.

- I have voted on every single political ballot that I have ever qualified to take part in (age, location). I'm lucky to live in Oregon, where we register to vote online and are sent ballots by mail, it's ridiculously easy to vote in this state so I've never had a valid excuse not to vote. I go over every measure proposed in each ballot, not just the presidential cycles, and vote on what I believe is in my and my communities best interests at the state, county, and city levels. If I'm not confidently informed on specific issues, I will abstain from certain measures but I've always submitted at least a partial ballot.

- I don't think I'm going to vote for Biden. I know I'm not going to vote for Trump. Many of those engaging with this post I think would tell me that if I have this mindset, I need to just go ahead and vote for Biden. I don't think I can do that in good faith, but maybe I'll change my mind in the next couple of months. I honestly struggle a lot with the moral issue of supporting with a vote someone who I think serves as a detriment to my country, whatever bit of a country I have right now.

Thank you all for the discussion, and while I'm no longer going to actively reply to comments on this post I will continue to read and genuinely try to digest the conversations this post generates for however long that it does.
gpt
The problem with your analogy is that at the end, you have the option to eat neither plate. In reality, there will be a president, and it will be one of the two options presented.

Throw out the food analogy and try this one instead. You're riding in a car with two friends. The driver says "Hey, we should go hang out at the city dump." Your other friend goes "No way. We should go to the sewage treatment plant instead" and asks you to back them up on that. You think both options suck, so you refuse to give an opinion. The driver just keeps going to the dump like they wanted to in the first place.

You didn't really change anything, but you still ended up going to one of the destinations, and so did your friend who wanted to change course.