[marssaxman]

You don't always get to have a side at all. If you are a member of a minority population, or if your political orientation is just a little bit too far outside the mainstream, you may never get a chance to vote for any candidate who represents your needs. There's that old saw about two wolves and a lamb voting on dinner; just because a political system is democratic doesn't mean it is necessarily just, or that participation would actually produce meaningful results. Abandoning the system and working around it can be the rational choice.

[Kurimo]

If you live in a society that does not hear your voice, there are ways to make that voice heard as long as the society remains free. Eventually, over time, that voice might resonate with others. Black people were not a majority when integration happened (not saying it solved all problems, but it was a step). But their plea for fairer treatment resonated with the majority and progress was made.

As soon as you abandon democracy because the majority doesn't represent you, you are surrendering your ability to be heard. When you throw out democracy, the majority doesn't disappear and become magically replaced with someone who does represent you. In most cases, a strongman with the backing of extremists in the military will end up filling that vacuum. And that person won't care about anybody's voices except his or her own.

[sharemywin]

that's sounds like justification for criminality and violence. if you talking about trying to changes peoples minds via various forms of dialog that's still part of the system.