Against Electoralism

Submitted by ajjohnstone on March 31, 2018

I'm sure my anti-parliamentarian comrades will appreciate this essay

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/43845-the-lure-of-elections-from-political-power-to-popular-power

You don't need the excuse of canvassing for a politician to knock on your neighbor's door; you don't need to cast a vote to influence an election; and we don't need a campaign rally to advance our vision for a better world.

ajjohnstone

6 years 7 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by ajjohnstone on March 31, 2018

A follow-up article to read

https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/03/30/big-american-money-not-russia-put-trump-in-the-white-house-reflections-on-a-recent-report/

Even if Sanders has been elected president, moreover, Noam Chomsky is certainly correct in his recent judgement that Sanders would have been able to achieve very little in the White House.

Maclane Horton

6 years 7 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Maclane Horton on April 6, 2018

What is the political distinction between capitalist Russia and the capitalist NATO states. Both exploit their own ordinary fellow citizens. Propaganda pours out endlessly and it is difficult to determine which, if either, is the more unjust.

Unfortunately we cannot sit idly by and watch their conflict develop. We are back in the era of 19th and 20th century power struggles and the enormous slaughter of two world wars.

And those were non-nuclear world wars. Political abstention is now too dangerous. We have to get our hands dirty. Avoiding nuclear war is more important than the purity of high principle. We have to collaborate with the capitalist political system, join their political parties and support moderate voices for the sake of survival.

Collaborate now!

jondwhite

6 years 7 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by jondwhite on April 6, 2018

Nobody is sitting idly by or abstaining. Collaborating is why the socialist movement at its strongest was unable to stop world war and has dwindled to what it is today, not "purity of high principle" whatever that is. It is the least principled and most collaborative who were willing to pick a side and get on with slaughtering the working class.

Spikymike

6 years 7 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Spikymike on April 7, 2018

I think maybe Mac missed the opportunity of adding to the April Fools day thread and just added their contribution here?