By existing as a citizen in and paying taxes to the imperial core, we automatically hold complicity in imperialist oppression because we are literally footing the bill for it. That is just the basic nature of being born to privilege in systems of oppression in general. We can be disadvantaged and marginalized in every single other consideration and we still have to understand and cope with this, and ensure we leverage it as effectively as possible.
Voting abstinence/sabotage does not absolve us of our responsibility to do everything in our power to lessen harm, but it DOES show that when our personal morals aren’t satisfied, we retreat into (imperialist, this time) privilege to ‘wash our hands’ of the situation and declare it’s not our fault and it’s not our problem.
In other words “I know the trolley is gonna kill more people this way but the lever is icky and it’s more important that my hands don’t feel gross than it is that fewer people die. I’m a good person, watch me continue to shovel fuel into the trolley and preach against its trajectory while doing absolutely nothing about it”.
if the candidates hold the same views on issue 1, look at issue 2, and issue 3, and issue 4. you WILL find ways to differentiate them and find that one of them is more closely aligned with your views. it’s not rocket science.
