I try not to use generalizations in my writing, but I do not mince words when I type: Voting for Joe Biden is the most important thing any citizen of the United States can do right now. With this sentence, I already anticipate the critiques that will be made by my leftist peers in their radicalized bubbles on Twitter, but I implore you to put down your phone, take a deep breath and read the rest of this before typing that I am some bourgeois Karen.
I have seen so many leftists post on their social media feeds that they are so disillusioned with the system that they intend not to vote in this election. I understand, as I first thought Biden was not even worth voting for when he announced his campaign run. However, I have since reflected that throwing away this vote would be an improvident mistake as in this election a vote for Biden is ultimately a vote against Trump. I have voted for Biden not because of hero-worship, but rather, as a utilitarian calculation.
Now some might say that “Biden is no better than Trump,” as the Democratic party has a ceremonial façade of meaningless liberal civility, to which I respond: Yes, that veneer within the Democratic party that is used to hide their own complicity is deplorable, but it is simply not true that they are the same. This same argument was made back in 2016, and I can unequivocally say that Hillary would not have filled the Supreme Court with anti-abortion fanatics, withdrawn from the Paris Agreement, trivialized a deadly pandemic and dozens of other abysmal acts that the current administration has enacted. I fully anticipate that if Joe Biden wins the race that I will protest the administration that I voted for because I want more than rainbow capitalism and symbolic gestures. The fact of the matter is that Biden is much more likely to listen to the demands of protesters in comparison to Trump. Biden has changed his policies concerning climate change and racial inequities within the criminal justice system due to criticism he has received while Trump has promised to double down on “law and order.” Biden has proved that, despite his problematic history, he can and will evolve his stances if it means that he is in power and Trump isn’t. What Biden is promising is in no way good enough, but it is a start, especially in comparison to Trump.
A problem that I frequently see in leftist circles is that perfect becomes the enemy of the good or in this case the “better than a fascist.” Of course, you need to participate in protests, mutual aid and unionization in addition to voting because ultimately, it matters who is sitting on the Supreme Court or organizing national responses to a pandemic. I am not telling you to vote and then simply go to brunch while ignoring the lamentable actions that are occurring in the world, and yes, there is so much wrong with our elections such as gerrymandering, the electoral college, big campaign donors, voter suppression and much more, but this form of “protest” is completely inefficacious to making any sort of change. Yes, voting is boring and it’s for “normies” as it is inherently incrementalist. All of these leftist nonvoters are posturing as they are trying to prove that they are edgier than their parents and their liberal normie peers. They feel the need to prove that they know all about the corrupt system while they just sit there and shitpost about people trying to accomplish the little that can actually be accomplished.
I know voting is a part of a problematic colonial capitalist system, but this economic system is an epochal world order that came into place over a couple of hundred years ago and will not change because you refused to participate. So much is at stake on the ballot during this election, including but not limited to funding for the WHO, Palestinian self-governance, climate change legislation, bodily autonomy and access to reproductive healthcare, confirmed support of NATO, penalization of China’s genocide against Uighur Muslims and banning chokeholds and no-knock warrants. Too much is on the line for stubborn leftists to advocate for or condone people refusing to vote due to self-righteous purity tests within politics.
Voting is not a cure-all to the problems in the world; rather, it is the first step in enacting change. Protests, mutual aid, unionization and leftist buzz words are not able to promote lasting change if we do not support local political campaigns and politicians, if we continue to have no accountability for cops, if we have a Congress that refuses to listen to their constituents, if we have an unrepresentative judicial branch and if we have a fascist in the white house. In conclusion, do not try to be edgy by not voting.
Yes!! • Nov 2, 2020 at 3:34 pm
‘All of these leftist nonvoters are posturing as they are trying to prove that they are edgier than their parents and their liberal normie peers. They feel the need to prove that they know all about the corrupt system while they just sit there and shitpost about people trying to accomplish the little that can actually be accomplished’
Queen, thank God someone said it. If Trump gets in, leftist nonvoters are directly at fault. And I don’t mean those who are experiencing voter suppression, for whatever of the myriad of reasons Josh A. identified above. Clearly there are many reasons why people are unable to vote. But it’s the anti-voters who go to Trinity that really get me. How can you attend this school and claim to be a communist, jokingly or not? F*ck outta here w that sh*t.
Josh A. • Nov 1, 2020 at 5:50 pm
Before I begin (& just like you began), I don’t want to create harmful generalizations nor do I want this to be seen as an attack. I am offering *my* perspective on this issue and want to raise other viewpoints on what this election really has at stake for people. These are also my opinions on the status of individuals and the *presidential* election—there are local elections within San Antonio and our other neighboring cities that require attention and action, and I do not discredit such.
Among the people who say they aren’t voting for Biden to be president, at least from what I’ve personally seen, have largely done so as a response to inaccessible past elections and widespread voter suppression. Or, and more prominently, many non-voters are discouraged by the past actions that were allowed under Joe Biden’s role as vice president and in other high political positions (see: mass deportations, the 1994 crime bill, repeated drone strikes by the US against the Middle East, etc). There are material struggles that, and I think you’d agree, will not be ad/redressed in the wake of a new democrat-led presidency.
We as potential voters shouldn’t be in a position where voter suppression (largely, at the hands *of* the US and American corporate postal services) and extraordinary biological conditions that keep many from being able to safely go outside are stopping people from achieving any representation. Even apart from the conditions forged by the pandemic, there are countless numbers of people plagued by poverty, undocumented status, or just the risk of facing abuse at the hands of racist vigilantes who are armed at polling stations and on the streets waiting for vulnerable communities to victimize. There are a myriad of forces against American voters that should be examined more heavily than the small population of people not doing so to look “edgy.”
While I can recognize the reality that even the smallest degree of harm can create life or death situations for people, it’s dangerous to see a Biden presidency as a reduction of harm when it comes to lives outside of the U.S. Since its inception, the United States has established itself as one of the world’s greatest military powers and has done so in a way that displaces, murders, and exploits the lives of working-class, colonized peoples. The American presidency is a position that was built to uphold this exact violence on a global scale. From an article titled Voting is Not Harm Reduction: “The idea of a ballot being capable of reducing the harm in a system rooted in colonial domination and exploitation, white supremacy, hetero-patriarchy, and capitalism is an extraordinary exaggeration. There is no person whose lives aren’t impacted everyday by these systems of oppression, but instead of coded reformism and coercive “get out the vote” campaigns towards a “safer” form of settler colonialism, we’re asking “what is the real and tragic harm and danger associated with perpetuating colonial power and what can be done to end it?”
I do agree that there are layers to the privilege and power exhibited by some leftists—particularly, those of White, wealthy, and other socially-dominant class backgrounds—when examining the decision not to vote. But, much of the thought and theory associated with “leftism” was born out of class struggle and decolonial movements spearheaded by the liberationist work of Black, Indigenous, and other revolutionaries of color that have fought against the oppressive U.S. empire for centuries. Being a “leftist” does not absolve anyone of any harm they may perpetrate, but the ideology itself was molded by the radical love, anger, and struggle of those who have suffered at the hands of this country and the many presidents we’ve put into power.
You state that “Protests, mutual aid, unionization and leftist buzz words are not able to promote lasting change if we do not support local political campaigns and politicians…” while I would argue the opposite. If one votes in this election, they should couple their activities with direct action that will materially impact those within the communities that they say they care so deeply about. Regardless of who wins this election, there will still be people facing poverty, anti-Blackness, and other components of racial capitalism all while sitting on land that has yet to be returned to Indigenous people. There are communal actions that we can all take together to forge the realities that this country seeks to depress.
From the aforementioned article: “If voting is the democratic participation in our own oppression, voting as harm reduction is a politics that keeps us at the mercy of our oppressors.” I hope you take all of this into account as merely an extension of your writing. I appreciate your words and your commitment to hearing the voices of those suffering at the hands of fascism, but want to clear the air on how Biden will imminently perpetuate it as well.
team work makes the dream work • Oct 30, 2020 at 12:23 pm
god THANK YOU!!! someone finally said it and said it so well