This discourse is fucking unbearable. Thinking that voting is “what everything comes down to” in politics and therefore harassing the far left for not wanting to vote for genocide joe is just wrong and cringe. At the same time insisting on not voting is predicated on that action mattering at all in the first place. Either that it’s somehow a way of moving the democrats to the left or that your mortal soul will be tarnished for the sin of voting for a lesser evil.
I know that’s very edgy aloof take but I’d rather not be wasting any bandwidth even thinking about national electoralism.
It’s not edgy at all, you are correct. Electoralism in the US takes the wind out of progressive movements. It replaces direct action with campaigning and “letting the system work” until any progressive momentum has dissipated.
Leftists should literally stop talking about elections as if they aren’t happening. Vote for whoever you want, it does not matter. I want to know what you (figurative “you”) are doing in real terms of organizing and direct action, not who you voted for to ostensibly do those things on your behalf. I don’t say this from a moral high ground btw, I really should do more myself, but I at least understand the reality of my laziness and I’m not going to be phone banking or whatever the fuck next November.
My point is insisting on not voting is still unproductive engagement in electoralism. You can do productive electoralism, but you don’t focus on the actual vote. You can take the pretense of canvassing for candidate to do a mass line and adjust your org’s strategy accordingly. Or use phonebanking to build a roster of sympathetic neighbors. Or you can discuss strategy with new naive political activist. Electoralism can be done correctly but it requires a certain balance of cynicism and optimism which is hard but can be very bountiful.
This discourse is fucking unbearable. Thinking that voting is “what everything comes down to” in politics and therefore harassing the far left for not wanting to vote for genocide joe is just wrong and cringe. At the same time insisting on not voting is predicated on that action mattering at all in the first place. Either that it’s somehow a way of moving the democrats to the left or that your mortal soul will be tarnished for the sin of voting for a lesser evil.
I know that’s very edgy aloof take but I’d rather not be wasting any bandwidth even thinking about national electoralism.
It’s not edgy at all, you are correct. Electoralism in the US takes the wind out of progressive movements. It replaces direct action with campaigning and “letting the system work” until any progressive momentum has dissipated.
Leftists should literally stop talking about elections as if they aren’t happening. Vote for whoever you want, it does not matter. I want to know what you (figurative “you”) are doing in real terms of organizing and direct action, not who you voted for to ostensibly do those things on your behalf. I don’t say this from a moral high ground btw, I really should do more myself, but I at least understand the reality of my laziness and I’m not going to be phone banking or whatever the fuck next November.
My point is insisting on not voting is still unproductive engagement in electoralism. You can do productive electoralism, but you don’t focus on the actual vote. You can take the pretense of canvassing for candidate to do a mass line and adjust your org’s strategy accordingly. Or use phonebanking to build a roster of sympathetic neighbors. Or you can discuss strategy with new naive political activist. Electoralism can be done correctly but it requires a certain balance of cynicism and optimism which is hard but can be very bountiful.