#on electoral politics 2024

[imperialboomerang]

“From Algiers to Marcha: The Cuban Revolution Today” by Che Guevara. Published in 1965, sourced from the Che Reader 2005. You can read the archive in full here.

[destielmemenews]

[victusinveritas]

[sinister-yet-satisfying]

Join something.

Doesn’t matter what it is. Doesn’t need to be political, but it can be.

Just join something. Join a book club. Join a knitting group. Join a kickball league, or a gardening club, or a climate action group. Just join something.

Fascists want you isolated, disconnected and despondent. Your main goal in life for the next 4 years (and possibly beyond) is to do the opposite of what fascists want you to do.

They are better prepared than they were last time but so are we. We know who they are and what they want to do. We can prepare ourselves and our communities for it, but only if we actually have communities.

If you do want to get engaged in politics, do it at the local level.

If you live in a blue area, you need to fight to keep it that way. Talk to your local representatives and make sure they are doing everything in their power to enact protections against Project 2025.

If you live in a red area, fight to change that. Work on city council campaigns, and state congressional campaigns. Keep an eye on local legislation and bring attention to all the universally unpopular policies republicans are going to push through.

Fascism only wins if we do nothing. Fascism wins if we throw up our hands and throw in the towel. Fascism win if we make it easy for them to win.

Don’t make it easy.

[felixcloud6288]

Y'know, I was thinking how messed up the electoral college is. From its very inception, it was designed to be abused by the wealthy elites.

Back during the slave era, we had the 3/5 compromise which made slaves count as 3/5 of a person for census purposes. And since the population census decides how many representatives the state has and the number of electors it gets to send, states with high slave populations had higher political power despite having fewer people who could actually vote. And slaves were overwhelmingly owned by the rich. So the more slaves you owned, the more political power you had.

Today, prisoners are used in the same way. They don't have any voting power, but if you're incarcerated, you are counted as a resident of the location you're incarcerated in and are used to increase the political power of the state you're in. It creates the same situation where states with high prison populations have higher political power despite having fewer people who could actually vote. So once again, the more prisoners you have, the more political power you have. And since most prisons are privately owned, the people who benefit from this the most are the rich.

The main point I want to make is that not voting inherently does not do anything. You're voting whether you actually cast a ballot or not. If you don't directly vote, you're yielding your voting power to everyone else who chooses to vote and your body is going to be used to decide how many votes your state casts. Your state will cast the same number of electoral votes regardless of the number of people in it who actually vote because a state's electoral vote count is based on the state's total population.

You're going to be used to decide the election no matter what. You might as well try getting a more desired outcome.

[they-call-me-hippie]

"Those who choose the lesser evil forget very quickly that they chose evil"

Hanna Arendt, "Personal Responsibility Under Dictatorship"

[truth-has-a-liberal-bias]

Imagine an election night scenario in which a presidential candidate wins only 12 states but wins the election because those states delivered the requisite 270 Electoral College votes.

Just do the math:

California (54)

Texas (40)

Florida (30)

New York (28)

Pennsylvania (19)

Illinois (19)

Ohio (17)

Georgia (16)

Michigan (15)

North Carolina (16)

New Jersey (14)

Virginia (13)

That’s 281 electoral votes, enough to secure the presidency at the expense of the remaining 38 states. Worth noting: 38 is the minimum number of states required to ratify an amendment to the U.S. Constitution. But you need only those 12 to win the presidency.

Unlikely? Of course. But someday? Why not?

The scenario underscores one criticism of the Electoral College: It allows candidates to focus on a few key states rather than campaigning across the entire country. We do that now. They’re called swing states. [...]

[brick-van-dyke]

As the final votes are counted in the US election and the results draw near, I want to warn once again:

Don't blame other leftists for whatever happens.

Remember, it is the electoral college, propaganda and the system at fault here. Please do not use your energy blaming other leftists, rather, use that energy to hold the system accountable.

I know it's easy to fall into the line of thinking that "others must be privileged and so I should blame them first and foremost for any struggles I face under Trump" and to hate all those who didn't vote at all. I know that perspective may feel satisfying when you need to blame someone material, accessible and easy to hold accountable, but they are not the root cause of what is happening. And no, there is a way to fight back and to use the power of your voice, actions and resistance to harm this system and hold it accountable.

Please, please remember that it wasn't any other leftists not voting in 2016 who led Trump to get in and it wasn't them who designed the electoral college to be unfair, all when Hilary did get the majority of the individual votes in 2016 but the system appointed Trump anyway because of the electoral college and because the US system is inherently unfair.

I want to remind everyone that the same backwards laws were still passed under Biden after Trump was replaced in 2020. The same aggression towards democracy existed as evident from Trump's fanning of flames even away from the presidency, the appealing of protections under Biden's watch and racism still increasing after 2020 and to this day.

And I want to remind everyone that it is the system that allowed Trump to run again, that allowed a felon to run at all in 2024.

I don't say this to dismiss voting, bit to remind despite any result that we have to remember who the real enemy is, and it isn't each other; it is the system that pits us against one another so that we are too distracted to fight it.

Regardless of who we voted for or didn't, we must all work together to resist.

[akiizayoi4869]

Raise your hand if you think that the electoral college needs to go

[nando161mando]

‘We must push past the merry-go-round of leaders that say every four years “This is our time” then “We must wait more”.

We must pour that snake oil out onto the road. No more waiting on the messiah Democrat politician. None seeks to be our “retribution”.

Patience has only led us to the gate of lynch mob rule.’

https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/8/24/black-freedom-has-never-been-on-the-ballot

[imperialboomerang]

The Election Happened...Now What?

So it happened again: we, the people who voted, “decided” on who is best suited to control our bodies. Who do we want to dictate our futures, our livelihoods, our capacity for happiness and to be our truest selves? Who do we want dictating the laws that make up the culture we live in? I’m speaking about more than just the president, though the president’s power is often what is felt most readily and seen most apparently. It is not hidden within a body of people; the president’s decisions are reposted about on social media and dissected in every media publication, from SNL to the New York Times. With the other branches and levels of government: state vs. federal, Senate vs. House, you will find this is more difficult. For many of us, American politics is a nebulous thing, and voting every two to four years is our only intersection with it. However, at any level of government, the final analysis remains the same: your rights, your capacity to exist in this country at your current class position, etc. are all determined by this small collection of politicians that are elected via a process that makes very little sense. Nor does this process accurately represent the wants of all people, including those who didn’t or cannot vote, muchless the people who did. It is even less guaranteed that this process and this small group of people represent the needs of the people. 

These are the conditions, no matter what phase of the election cycle we are in and no matter how I might wish they were different. There are other conditions unique to this election cycle: Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, their campaigns, and what is currently happening in the country and across the globe. I could analyze how these unique conditions arose and how they inform our future work, but that is better suited to a later essay, one which more than likely builds off the following. Instead, this essay is about dealing with the conditions as they are.

Understand the necessity for community

First, admit to yourself that this need is not a new one. People have been organizing and supporting one another for the entirety of United States history, though they may have had an easier time or a clearer path towards community due to their unique conditions. We live in our own unique conditions: we have been isolated from each other via commuter cities, the Internet revolution, our crumbling economy, polarizing culture wars, etc. Our times feel so uncertain, and sometimes, it is all we can do to shuffle off to work, come home, eat some food, scratch our cat’s ears, and zone out in front of the many screens at our disposal. Going out isn’t a normal occurrence; when we leave our houses, it is for some purpose, and we often do not have many opportunities to interact with each other. Sometimes, we deliberately avoid these interactions, for whatever reasons we may have. In many ways and for many of us, our neighbors have become foreign to us. Perhaps this feeling extends to your family, your friends, and even your own body. 

Donald Trump winning the presidency may be your wakeup call to these facts. I doubt his winning isn’t the first time you’ve realize that community is something you are missing. You have no one to rely on except yourself, maybe a significant other, and maybe your family. You may have put off ingraining yourself in your community for fear of rejection, of not finding you fit in, out of laziness, etc.

I hope for many of you, you recognize that you were always headed here. The need to know your neighbor and to help each other in times of distress and joy is a natural inclination, and to deny yourself this is to deny your own humanity. Donald Trump winning has not changed this deeply human need.

Second, when saying we need to build community, understand that this task is difficult. It will require you to utilize activation energy in order to do things that make you uncomfortable, or that you may not want to do. Do not delude yourself into thinking this is an easy task, but nothing rewarding ever comes with ease, besides perhaps love. You will have to find local organizations that are already helping each other, you will have to go through many awkward interactions and admit to yourself (and probably others) that you have no idea what you’re doing, and you will have to keep doing this over and over again until it becomes second nature to work in community with others. You may find the experience lonely, at least at first. This was the case for me, and I still return to the feelings of loneliness and isolation when I put myself into a new context where I am uncomfortable. However, everytime you push yourself, you are planting the seeds of your own power. You will find, in community, that the autonomy and sense of self you thought you lost has existed within you. I often tag posts on this blog “your humanity is your own,” and that is because I made this an affirmation. Community is one of the biggest ways to truly learn this fact. 

Lastly, understand that community does not inherently mean you will make friends, and to help one another is not always a pleasant or fun task. It shouldn’t be. It is work to show up for one another, but this work allows you to accomplish much more than you would otherwise. In order to fully realize the people’s power, we must work to show each other what that power looks like. To serve each other is to provide for one another, and of the ways to show a people that revolution is possible, to accomplish this task is perhaps the most important. The other way you build up confidence in yourself and others, in your power, is by winning. You will find it is easier to win concessions and to have your demands met by the state when the people fighting are all provided for. If you would like an example of what this looks like, look at the Section 504 sit-in, which would not have been possible without the solidarity shown between the Black Panthers and Disabled in Action. There are other examples throughout history as well. You can look at the successes of the solidarity encampments put up across the country. Those were only sustainable because people — students, community members, faculty, etc. — rallied around each other and supported one another. Having gone to the encampments before and befriended students who led them, it is obvious how much work, collaboration, arguing, kindness, etc. went into keeping each other safe and provided for.  

Accept the election happened and move on.

I’m not saying bury your feelings or that you are not entitled to feel upset, betrayed, or otherwise disgruntled with this country and its heads of state. Do not pretend as though everything is fine. However, ground yourself. Stop blaming each other. Stop pointing fingers. Do not dwell in the doomerisms nor do you need to go out and buy that Handmaid’s Tale costume. Understand that the Democrats failed to keep Donald Trump out of office — they failed, not you. The Democrats are not your friends. They are politicians. They will be fine when Trump takes office. They will be likely better off when he leaves. They survived the first four years (look at Kamala’s own political career if you do not believe me), and they will survive the next. Instead, ask yourself: how are you surviving the next four years? The four after that? Are you always going to rely on the Democratic Party to tend to your needs, to be the people you can trust with your bodily autonomy, or are you tired? 

I’m exhausted. There are organizers and activists older than me that are even more exhausted. There are people living their lives, completely disenfranchised from any idea of activism or community, just trying to live, and they’re more tired than the rest of us. I’m sure if you’re reading this, you’re tired too. 

What I’m saying is this — move past voting and party politics. Accept that the election happened, we are faced more acutely with the threats against our bodies that were always there. For the entirety of United States history, it has been a story of a small group of people controlling the autonomy of the masses, either through our labor, through apartheid, through colonialism, etc. Read the first paragraph again if you need to know why voting is not the only option, why it should not be the only option. 

We have to take our autonomy back. They will not give it to us freely. We cannot play their games and expect them to win, and as we’ve seen with Joe Biden, even when they do win, they do not fight for us. Dream bigger than someone else’s control over your existence. You deserve better. The people around you deserve better. Even the people who voted for Trump. 

Invest yourself in the people around you because they are the ones you have the most in common with. If you want to get through the next four years and not feel like every moment is certain death in this country, then we will need each other. There is no way around it. Nothing has ever changed in this country because of the ballot box. Things have changed because the people demanded it, and the political elites were forced to listen. It takes a collective in order to build enough power to leverage it. It will take a people’s movement. 

Mourn your losses. Feel the anxiety, the panic, the despair. But ground yourself in the people and the community around you. It is through the work, through becoming part of a community, that you will find hope. 

Hope is a discipline. It’s less about ‘how you feel,’ and more about the practice of making a decision every day, that you’re still gonna put one foot in front of the other… It’s work to be hopeful. It’s not a fuzzy feeling. You have to actually put in energy, time, and you have to be clear-eyed, and you have to hold fast to having a vision. It’s a hard thing to maintain. But it matters to have it, to believe that it’s possible to change the world.”

— Mariame Kaba

Share space!

You know the importance of community. You may be starting to grasp why holding onto this election is distractionary and will not be fruitful. To connect the two pieces, though, you should understand that the same people you may be misdirecting your anger at are the ones you will eventually want to build community with. You need to acquire and realize your own power, but you will eventually realize that you need more than the power of a select few. 

Don’t twist my words, however — there are some people that will never be welcomed into community spaces. In the same breath, there are countless people who have been brainwashed by the same political hum-drum that everyone else has, myself included! These people are facing similar material conditions as you, sometimes worse in some cases, and their reliance on electoral politics to save them stems from the same lack of autonomy and feelings of powerlessness that you experienced this election. You may not be able to convince them that your path is the most fruitful. You may break up with your boyfriend or lose friends in the process of becoming politically engaged in a way that decenters the Democrats and Republicans. You are not responsible for convincing them to join you now, but you should understand that eventually, the movement you are trying to build may need their power and they may be inclined to give it. If you dedicate yourself fully to building a community that 1) provides for each other and 2) can win its demands, then a lot of the people who are apolitical, who may have even voted for Trump, those who sat at home this election, who didn’t vote for Kamala, or even those who did may be inclined to join us. They may not. However, your cruelty towards them should not be the reason why they are not invited into community spaces (unless, of course, they’re a fucking Proud Boy, then they are never welcome). When building community, you will need to embrace nuance, and in embracing nuance, you should recognize that this election was hellish and presented most people with an impossible choice. Do not waste any more breath making enemies out of people who could one day be your allies. Accept the conditions for what they are, and find out what your next steps should be. 

What are my next steps?

Finding community initiatives to join is simultaneously so difficult, but also quite easy if you know where to look. For me, I took to Instagram, and usually you can maneuver your way about by looking at organization’s Following, other accounts they co-Post with, tag, etc. Googling “mutual aid [City Name]” isn’t always a bad idea, either. If you’re absolutely stuck, you could try looking into if your city has any of these groups active (or if you could start your own chapter): 

Palestinian Youth Movement

USPCN

Food Not Bombs 

(if student) Students for a Democratic Society 

(if student) Students for Justice in Palestine 

Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression

Antiwar Action Network

Nodutdol 

Anakbayan

Additionally, Elliot Sang made a video that provides other next steps that I fully agree with, many of which I’ve taken in my own journey to joining the organizing community around me. He provides additional resources and readings that are super helpful, and in general, his content is refreshing and can be a light in the dark sometimes.

[jaybee2000]

I have had a premonition of 316 electoral college votes for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.

May it be.

O Steve Kornacki turn the map blue.

Reblog to charge. VOTE to cast.

[cosmiiqueer]

congrats to everyone who successfully voted for the "leopards eating peoples faces" party

in case you're wondering, the leopards will eventually eat your face

[buggbuzz]

also, the electoral college needs to be dismantled. that shit is the reason why gerrymandering works and swing states exist. we need to use the fucking popular vote to determine what the american people actually want. all this points system bullshit does is waste votes and silence voters.

[miss-snicket]

Just saying that trump would have ZERO SHOT AT WINNING if it weren't for the FUCKING ELECTORAL COLLEGE SYSTEM

[nemo-bros]

please for the love of god go sign this!!

I try not to get political on this blog, and I dont always have the same opportunity to participate in democracy in my country

but trump vs kamala is literally life vs death for individuals in my situation and thousands of others

this means more to me than anything ever