Voting is a tool the capitalists have provided to you because they know that either option will give them a win. I vote because local positions are important, but federal positions have been pre-approved by our abusers. If the ruling class has convinced you that voting is the most important action you can take to stop fascism, you’ve fallen for the exact propaganda they wanted you to believe. You don’t stop a house fire through politics- you throw water on the immediate problem. Direct action is responsible for nearly all of our civil rights gains we have made in this country.
I never said voting is the most important thing to do. Voting is the bare ass minimum. It’s (usually) easy and zero risk.
Actual progress nearly always requires direct action. Women’s suffrage involved firebombs. Abolition took a whole ass war in the US and the new deal happened after strikes and outright war all over the continent.
Voting is not sufficient it’s just the easiest possible way to give leadership information.
Focusing on voting over direct action where one has a <1% impact on things over the far more impactful thing kind of implies you think it is the most important thing. My apologies if that wasn’t your meaning. It just comes across like “of course we have global warming when Jerry down the road didn’t recycle that one time”, ignoring the blatant destruction of our planet by oligarchs. Yes, Harris would’ve likely been better for me as well, but I’m done thinking that sacrificing others for my own comfort is justifiable because of my gender identity.
That’s the thing. There was no sacrifice. There was no pro Palestine candidate. There was a quiet genocide supporter and a loud genocide supporter. You can’t punish the quiet candidate by abstaining or voting for the loud genocide supporter.
The message they take from that is voters don’t give a shit about Palestine or genocide except that some voters want it to happen faster with more death and suffering.
You are correct that we cannot vote our way to peace, prosperity, justice, or any other desireable goal. Voting is not the end, it’s the first step on a long road to building those things. Do unionize your workplace. Volunteer for your local aid agency. Build dual power. It’s just so easy (nearly always) that there is no excuse to not vote.
Voting is a tool the capitalists have provided to you because they know that either option will give them a win. I vote because local positions are important, but federal positions have been pre-approved by our abusers. If the ruling class has convinced you that voting is the most important action you can take to stop fascism, you’ve fallen for the exact propaganda they wanted you to believe. You don’t stop a house fire through politics- you throw water on the immediate problem. Direct action is responsible for nearly all of our civil rights gains we have made in this country.
I never said voting is the most important thing to do. Voting is the bare ass minimum. It’s (usually) easy and zero risk.
Actual progress nearly always requires direct action. Women’s suffrage involved firebombs. Abolition took a whole ass war in the US and the new deal happened after strikes and outright war all over the continent.
Voting is not sufficient it’s just the easiest possible way to give leadership information.
Focusing on voting over direct action where one has a <1% impact on things over the far more impactful thing kind of implies you think it is the most important thing. My apologies if that wasn’t your meaning. It just comes across like “of course we have global warming when Jerry down the road didn’t recycle that one time”, ignoring the blatant destruction of our planet by oligarchs. Yes, Harris would’ve likely been better for me as well, but I’m done thinking that sacrificing others for my own comfort is justifiable because of my gender identity.
That’s the thing. There was no sacrifice. There was no pro Palestine candidate. There was a quiet genocide supporter and a loud genocide supporter. You can’t punish the quiet candidate by abstaining or voting for the loud genocide supporter.
The message they take from that is voters don’t give a shit about Palestine or genocide except that some voters want it to happen faster with more death and suffering.
You are correct that we cannot vote our way to peace, prosperity, justice, or any other desireable goal. Voting is not the end, it’s the first step on a long road to building those things. Do unionize your workplace. Volunteer for your local aid agency. Build dual power. It’s just so easy (nearly always) that there is no excuse to not vote.