Some people out there seem to be confused, but I always vote in every local and every national election for every office and every ballot initiative since I was 18 years old. Some of my greatest civil rights heroes have fought and died so that we can all vote and I honor their memory in the ballot box every single time.
To some of us, especially those of us like myself who have been scheduling secretaries for US senators, it often seems like a morally reprehensible choice between compromised corporate Democrats and fascist-minded Republicans. Where I live in California, I have the luxury of voting my conscience for president for third-party candidates that better align with my ideas of justice and equality.
But in any and every contested race, as my mom Mary Morello always said, we have to fight the fascist every which way we can, recognizing that even if there’s but an inch of difference between two candidates, there are a lot of vulnerable people who could be greatly harmed in that inch. So vote your ass off, but don’t just exercise your right to vote. Exercise your right to fight for, organize for, struggle for, and manifest the kind of world you’d like to really see without compromise and without apologies before, during, and after election day. And let’s stop the fascists every which way we can. Power the people.
Are you talking about sacrificing vulnerable palestinians syrians and lebanese, or vulnerable groups in the US?
I’m pretty sure Repugnicans are worse for either group?
Most of the Palestinian holocaust happened on Bidens/Harris’s watch. Did you notice people were mad at the dems for that? So you cant really make a case that rethuglicans are worse. On war crimes, they are the same. Both parties are bought by rich zionists, and neither will willingly change. Ever. The only way to redeem the US system is to take it apart and reform it into something that honors basic human rights. Until we do that we are just wasting our time and continuing to support crimes against humanity by delaying the burning. We need to take a longer term view of where we are going.
Soo… even if I would accept that (and I don’t, but let’s say I would) that means in that one regard they are the same, but Republicans are still worse for many other groups.
So voting democrat, only when necessary to prevent a republican in office, is still preventing that more of harm a republican would do.
That is the main objective, I agree. And Tom Morello agrees. And I do not see how preventing worse outcomes as secondary objectives, while actively working for that goal is in conflict.
You can work towards dismantling the system while allowing more harm until that goal is reached by not using what little power you have within the system to prevent harm.
Or you can work towards dismantling the system while also using what little power you have in it to reduce harm until your main objective is reached.
There’s no contradiction in it. Because neither voting 3rd party, nor non-voting brings you closer to your main objective.
I think the fundamental disconnect between you and I is that I look down the road whereas you look for more immediate results. From what I see down the road, I despair and you do not. Our system is captured by people who will submit bribes to do … whatever they want. Genocide , pedophilia, oppression, theft, and war crimes for example-- but it really is whatever the hell they want from here on out. Our laws are a joke and our courts are a joke-- Biden didnt really follow them either. Both parties accept those bribes and act loyally on them. Neither party will change that-- they will just play games with you to keep you busy. As citizens we are accountable for the outcomes of our government commensurate with our ability to change that outcome. So when you have an option to destroy this government, its your moral duty to do it, if thats the lesser harm accumulation to humanity long term. To do otherwise would be to go along with the war-crimininality this country is perpetrating for those bribes. I dont want blood on my hands, and I imagine you dont either. I dont want people oppressed. I want civil rights and universal human rights for everyone-- not just Americans, and an actual rule of law, not this bullshit we have now.
I think we are in a structurally captured state and it cant be cured. So make your choice from there. I’m choosing accelerationism and hoping the system can change before it implodes, but we need to be on the path to implode it either way, until the Dems prove to us that they will get back on track.