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.