#like if you're gonna be so invested in electoral politics

[zanmor]

Based on current polling, aside from the yellow states that are competitive, a lot of people in the red, blue, and green states can and should vote third party. It will not impact the electoral college.

"Capitulation" is not using your vote strategically. Voting third party (specifically Green Party) can win that party federal matching funds in future elections, but more importantly it shows Democrats that a progressive platform has votes to win. "Blue no matter who" tells them they don't have to do a damned thing for you--by your own admission you're voting for them no matter who they run.

ok looks like we're gonna be doing the same thing, different verse, now that it's Kamala Harris on the Dem ticket instead of Joe Biden.

friendly reminder that one of these 2 people is getting elected. there's not a magical 3rd party person who's mystical and perfectly progressive who is gonna come out of the woodwork and save us. not voting or voting 3rd party isn't a "protest," it's capitulation. so let's do a comparison:

On Gaza:

I forgot to add to this that Trump also stated he will deport any non-citizen who protests the war in Gaza.

On LGBTQ+ rights:

On criminal justice:

On reproductive rights:

On the border:

In case you don't believe me re: the last Trump point.

On voting rights:

On climate change:

On the working class:

[baeddel]

you gonna vote in the upcoming stormont election? or is your anarchism of the fuck electoralism strain lol

i am certainly a 'fuck electoralism' anarchist (is there another kind?), but personally voting in an election isn't electoralism as such... electoralism would be: campaigning yourself, canvassing, encouraging others to vote, and so forth. this will be a bad use of resources, and it also encourages further participation and investment in civic life, which as an anarchist you're trying to discourage, because the function of democratic institutions is to introduce ambivalence into the antagonisms of production and consumption (see Johannes Agnoli, Theses on the Transformation of Democacy, for this argument). but the democratic institutions of Northern Ireland are curious ones. the parties competing for seats have armed divisions which openly contest the state's monopoly on violence. previously the electoral issue was unimportant and armed struggle was important. then it was felt that both the armed struggle and the election could be important (the 'Armalite and ballot box' era, the hunger strikes). now the armed struggle has been cooled, though not completely extinguished, by the ceasefire and decomission, and as a result, it is not such a centralizing feature of civil society. the common people are moved to violence over issues of democratic policy, as they were back in the 1960s; now over the border, Brexit, pandemic restrictions and so forth. this is a form of civic participation, as all liberals agree, yet those participating in popular unrest look to non-state actors for leadership (i'm referring to the loyalist rioters and loyalist paramilitaries, which i wrote about here). but those non-state actors have a political wing in Stormont... so, what does a big election mean in Northern Ireland? i think the upcoming election, with the chance of a Sinn Feinn majority, is the first actual 'strong event' in Northern Irish electoral politics for a very long time, so it's worth watching, not just for the likely historic outcome, but because of its implication for the transfomration of democracy in Ireland. but i shant give any answer any more personal than that for fear that candlejack will

[dominateeye]

Electoral politics are bad. Of course they are. I wouldn't be a communist if they weren't.

But I hope to be able to break into them, not because I want to use them for my own gain, but to help the most people I can under this system, and to be an ally in the system to people and to movements that are trying to replace it with something no one has to break into.

Does anyone reading this think that a violent revolution in the United States would actually work right now? I don't think it would. I think that liberal and conservative politicians both (as if there's any difference) would have no problem ordering drone strikes or artillery to be fired into a group of revolutionaries. Think about how much the US spends on its military. You can't fight that, no matter how many people you have, unless you have the same amount invested in your group. I, and people like me, are your best chance for evening those odds.

You get Greens and Socialists and Communists in federal office, you'll see the military budget drop. You'll see benefits the military relies on for recruitment disappear. You'll see subsidies for the companies they rely on for weapons and transportation stop. You get enough of us in, you'll get a fighting chance, if violence becomes necessary, and you'll have a much easier time convincing existing leaders to come around and step down so that it isn't.

We are your allies.

Many of us would join you for conflicts. But we might be able to make those conflicts unnecessary. All you have to do is help get us there. We don't need people to dedicate organizing time to our campaigns (though spare time would certainly be appreciated), we don't need any more than a dollar from you if you even want to give it. All we need is for you to spread the word about us: let people know that they could get comrades in Congress.

And, perhaps more importantly-- vote for us, if you can. If you're already on the rolls, if you already have IDs, if you wouldn't need to pay anything to walk into a polling place and cast a ballot, then do so, for a candidate you know is your ally (and no, no Democrats or Republicans are going to be your allies). It may be as little as five minutes, maybe an hour on a really busy day, or-- I'm not gonna lie-- possibly longer depending on accommodations you might need and whether the polling places will have them, but for the majority of you, it won't take long at all, and you can be back almost immediately doing what you do best-- organizing, serving your community, improving lives directly. Many of your allies on the ballot will be doing the same. All we need is your support, and you'll have a whole mess of people on the inside, ready to assist you.

This November, start that process.

This November, vote for a comrade.