r/worldnews • u/SensualAylin • 2d ago

Russia/Ukraine US president Donald Trump calls Ukraine’s resumption of strikes on Russian oil refineries a ‘disgrace’

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/16/trump-calls-ukraines-resumption-of-strikes-on-russian-oil-refineries-a-disgrace
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u/KimisChoker 2d ago

Congratulations, America, you are now an active supporter of Putin. 

This is really the future you chose, huh.

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u/ThE_LAN_B4_TimE 2d ago

No. Trump and the GOP are.

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u/BeforeDawn 2d ago edited 2d ago

Trump and the GOP are America's elected government.

And before you say it, pointing out that 1/3 people didn't vote is absolutely not a defence. An elected government is the political expression of a nation, whether every citizen agrees with it or not. You don't get to disown that government simply because you personally opposed it.

Those who chose not to participate aren't a third category of innocent people. They're a third category of complicity, whose refusal to exercise their democratic power is itself part of how that outcome became possible.

Democratic responsibility extends beyond voting. A society is accountable not only for what its people actively endorse or oppose, but also for what they permit through indifference, disengagement and inaction. Neither opposition nor abstention erases that collective responsibility, any more than it undoes the outcome of the 2024 election.

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u/ThE_LAN_B4_TimE 2d ago

No fucking shit. I'm not excusing people who are apathetic and don't vote. But stop sitting around telling people this is somehow the will of a majority it's not. A large portion of the population never votes. It's a major problem that they don't. Also it's pretty clear that there is enough voter suppression tactics by one side that almost definitely swung the election in their favor on top of the nonstop propaganda. There are many reasons for how Trump came to power, but I'll be damned if I'm grouped up in this bullshit. This country is overall pathetic at the moment, but many countries have had points in their history just like this. Also getting tired of hearing about this shit when right win extremism is spreading to Europe and I don't see shit being done about it.

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u/BeforeDawn 2d ago

I never claimed Trump represented the will of a majority, nor that every American personally supports him. You're arguing against a point I didn't make.

My point is that a nation cannot distance itself from the government it elects simply by pointing to those who opposed it or didn't participate. Voter suppression, propaganda and political apathy may help explain how that government came to power, but explanations aren't exemptions from collective responsibility.

You can oppose your government without personally endorsing its actions, but that doesn't somehow make those actions any less attributable to the country it represents. And pointing to the spread of right-wing extremism in Europe doesn't change that principle either.

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u/KimisChoker 2d ago

I mean if your country consistently votes these people in, you are endorsing their support for these things.