- cross-posted to:
- libertyhub@lemmy.blahaj.zone
- cross-posted to:
- libertyhub@lemmy.blahaj.zone
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/15032962
Alt text: a screenshot of a microblog post with the text “you walking down an alleyway with a gram of weed in your pocket, who would you rather catch you?” Below are two pictures side by side. One of Kamala Harris and the other of Batman.
I don’t agree with you. Ward’s piece talks about how compromising on voting helped cost the CNT-FAI the Spanish Revolution.
Not voting ≠ sitting idly by. Quoting a different section of the same Anarchist FAQ:
But more importantly, I really wanted to demonstrate in my previous comment that we’re not fucking bots, which I’m so tired of seeing, and that we’re real fucking people and our perspectives are just as valid as yours. I don’t give a fuck whether or not you agree with me on going to the ballot box because I’m not interested in debating whether or not you or anyone else go to the ballot box. You do whatever makes you comfortable.
But I’m not going to do it myself because I’ve been there and done that. I’m not going to debate it because the possible good that can come out of it, almost zero, is not enough to justify the vigorous debate it attracts, sucking bandwidth away from actually important stuff. And I’m not going to lose any extra sleep over my nonparticipation in the election if Trump or Harris wins because ultimately, elections serve to ratify decisions already made by capital. And I refuse to be guilted over choosing not to participate in the ratification of our own oppression.
“Helped”. Maybe it played the pivotal role, maybe not. It’s hard to draw concrete analysis about what could have happened, even with cherry-picked examples.
It is in regards to utilization of this specific lever of praxis. Voting, and encouraging others to vote, is in no way incompatible with whatever other engagement activities you partake in. In fact it is a powerful tool to enable and empower all other actions. The only rational choice is to strategically vote to select the landscape more amenable to the organization and implementation of direct localized alternatives.
When an autocrat runs, you vote against the autocrat because they do more damage to the people and the cause than the alternative. This is obvious. The only reason you wouldn’t want marginally better is if you’re hoping for things to get worse, like an accelerationist. Accelerationists are sociopaths.
The links I have cited have addressed the rest of your response in sufficient depth IMO. What I really find irritating is this suggestion:
I fractally reject this statement:
This is abject paranoia, and observably false. Yes of course a lot of policy is captured by capital, but not all. There is a wide range of actual variance between candidates. If there wasn’t any difference and they were all on the same team, they wouldn’t spend so much money trying to get you to pick them.
I reject this opinion on both counts. It’s an extremely privileged worldview.
Like what, exactly?