2016 Postmortem
Showing Original Post only (View all)Party loyalty is a means of control. I vote for those who will represent me, period. [View all]
I firmly believe that continuing down this path will make our situation that much harder to fix. If we have not made significant progress in engaging our citizens (and non-citizens) within the next 5-15 years, we may not be able to return.
I genuinely do not think this country will last another 20 years without a revolution. I'd prefer not to go down that road; in a country this large, it is entirely unlikely to succeed. Though pockets of resistance may emerge, I think it likely that a fascist state will be what remains.
There is only one nominee who might change this path though to be honest I don't think it will happen. Sanders has the possibility of engaging the American population in a movement broader than simple elections. He does not advocate for radical change, no, and many of my comrades on the left refuse to support him for that reason.
I disagree that he will be ineffectual, however; he is a catalyst for a return to the idea of humanity, even if we are able to change little in the political situation. The engagement of currently disconnected people in a movement centered around human decency, anticapitalism (even if in word only), and communal support leaves wide room for leftists such as I to have our ideas heard on a larger scale than has been possible for many years.
Voting for Clinton does none of that, and perpetuates capitalist ideology. She is the embodiment of everything I do not like about liberalism (which is a lot).
I accept the risks of not voting for her. I am well aware of the possible consequences. But I fear more the possibility that we will stumble blindly along for another 8 years without change, our situation worsening as it has under Obama. When it comes time to truly change our world, it may be too far gone. It may be already. I will not be a part of perpetuating that blindness, and, in fact, a vocal opponent.
Before you inform me of my privileges and whine about how I am simply another white male who couldn't give a shit about the rest, let me tell you something.
This will be the second month I cannot make rent in a row. There may be a third, or a fourth. I work at a tiny coffee shop that is dependent on a good economic situation to survive. I am on the edge. I cannot take more of the same.
My roommate is trans and gender non-conforming. I am bisexual, and have been nearly assaulted for it before. Ze and I would be profoundly affected by the hate-filled rhetoric of the Republican party if they gained even more power than they already have.
My neighbor is black, and poor. She barely manages to make it through each month. She too, will not vote for Clinton. She is a lifelong advocate and worked with many of the big names in the social justice movement, particularly in the local Seattle scene. One of our good friends is an ex-addict. We know what would happen to him and others if the jail systems and mental health institutions were demolished. We know what would happen were social security to be dismantled. We know what will happen if the racist war on drugs is expanded.
I have a friend who recently needed an abortion. I know what would happen to her if that option was taken from her.
You do not get to tell me that I don't care about people that are different. I know the risks, and I am willing to accept them.
To me, the bigger risk is that we have a Democrat in control who will not represent us. One that will perpetuate the modern police state and expand it without notice, hiding our massive prison system and the war in the streets against the poor and PoC. One that will bail out the companies and not the people. On that will continue to support our massive war machine, committing heinous war crimes in the process. One that will continue to put in place massive neo-liberal trade agreements, destroying any pretense at a recovery. One that will attack our public education system, turning into a private profit machine.
One that will make things much worse while pretending the opposite.
We already have one. I refuse another.
Voting for a candidate in the hopes that--despite all evidence to the contrary--a neoliberal will happily advocate for working class and minority interests while not underhandedly giving more wealth and power to those who already have it is, to me, a far greater risk.