Tis the season for radicals to argue about elections again so here are some more thoughts that have emerged from conversations in the last couple of days.
I consider myself an anarchist (or at least one who aspires to anarchist ideals and practices, I have a long way to go from saying I live up to them). I usually vote, at least on referenda and such, less often on people, but I rarely make the question of whether i vote or not into a big deal (and I don’t vote as an anarchist per se). I agree that most of the time the choices that we are offered on a ballot are lousy at best and very rarely do they give us an option on something that will make a substantive difference, especially in the long term. Most of the time I find myself voting against some crazy ass proposal being pushed by some lunatics (i.e. Amendment 67 in Colorado this time around). So I don’t argue that we should not vote. But we also need to be very alert of how the ballot box is used to perpetrate an illusion of choice where there is no substantive difference in the choices that we are given. Most of the time we are offered our pick of A. spaghetti with tomato sauce or B. macaroni with cheese (those of you in San Francisco may also see a vegan gluten-free choice as well).
The few times when there is something on the ballot that is truly progressive (although rarely radical) it is almost always because of protracted social struggles and mobilizations. The ballot then becomes the last act in a (very) long history of actions. And in those cases voting becomes a critical component in “sealing” the action. For me, if we sincerely believe in “diversity of tactics” and “by any means necessary” as core principles which inform our strategies and our struggles then we must be willing to consider the ballot box as a potentially valid strategy, but always only as a part of a lot of other work. To outrightly reject the ballot box as a potential strategy under any and all circumstances seems as naive and shortsighted as the outright endorsement of voting as a means of bringing about true social change.
I would love then to see us engage in a deeper and more contextualized conversation as to if, when, and how the ballot box can be an effective tool in our social struggles, rather than this generic “VOTE” “DON’T VOTE” shouting match that we so often find ourselves in.
The few times when there is something on the ballot that is truly progressive (although rarely radical) it is almost always because of protracted social struggles and mobilizations. The ballot then becomes the last act in a (very) long history of actions. And in those cases voting becomes a critical component in “sealing” the action. For me, if we sincerely believe in “diversity of tactics” and “by any means necessary” as core principles which inform our strategies and our struggles then we must be willing to consider the ballot box as a potentially valid strategy, but always only as a part of a lot of other work. To outrightly reject the ballot box as a potential strategy under any and all circumstances seems as naive and shortsighted as the outright endorsement of voting as a means of bringing about true social change.
I would love then to see us engage in a deeper and more contextualized conversation as to if, when, and how the ballot box can be an effective tool in our social struggles, rather than this generic “VOTE” “DON’T VOTE” shouting match that we so often find ourselves in.
Sorry, comments are closed for this post.