People
want an anti-capitalist party, an anti-war party, a party for the
environment and humankind. Socialists must start now to build a party
that will speak for the workers. We cannot wait for ‘ideal’
conditions which never come.
There
is a recognisable political cycle. We have been through it before,
over and over again. It is the cycle of lesser evil. Politicians
knowingly market themselves to lesser evil voters by constructing
phony sales pitches, making themselves look more progressive than
they really are. For instance, for the sake of argument, there is a
campaign to get Joe Biden into office so to ward off a greater evil
of Trump. But once in office, Biden comes under irresistible pressure
from his capitalist masters to break his “populist” promises, to
disappoint, disillusion and betray the working people who placed
their trust and hope in him. Some supporters sink back into apathy
and despair, while others fall prey to the populist-type backlash.
These reactions give the Republicans their chance to return to
political power. Those who support the lesser evil play an essential
role in constantly reproducing the cycle. They share the
responsibility for its persistence. Support for the lesser evil also
entails support – indirect and delayed, but support nonetheless –
for the greater evil. Whichever party assumes office, it has but one
remit once in office – to further the interests of the corporate
elite. It’s just not a feasible option for any newly elected
president to entertain any idea other than guaranteeing a safe
playing field for the domestic profit-machine. The lesser evil
invariably paves the way and makes inevitable the greater evil
because people cease to vote when they have been betrayed by the
lesser evil. What lesser evilism is about is supping with the devil,
but with a longer spoon. No matter what the outcome of the 2020
election, no matter who wins, the continued existence of capitalism
is guaranteed. The problems of capitalist society have been described
by journalists, novelists, historians, economists, sociologists, and
even many politicians. But only socialists recognise that these
problems cannot be solved until capitalism is replaced by a social
system in which people throughout the world will work harmoniously
together to produce and distribute wealth to satisfy society’s
needs.
Workers'
cannot be defended by an adoption of the 'lesser evil', that is, a
policy of concessions to and compromise with elements of capitalism.
We do not unite with non-socialist organisations which claim to be
defending our fellow-workers. A worker that has been robbed is like a
cow that has been milked. The poor dumb animal is incapable of
worrying about what becomes of the milk, but the so-called
“intelligent” worker takes sides, as they often do, with one
gang of robbers that has plundered him as against the bunch of
thieves. We should realise that voting for one crooked politician to
stop another, backfires on the working class. Your vote does count in
elections. It counts for capitalism. It becomes the mandate for all
the actions of government over the next four years. sides in the
quarrel which goes on over that which has been taken from him. When
sections of the capitalists, who exploit the working-class milch-cow
squabble over their share of the surplus value, workers who line up
and take sides in this quarrel are in the same position as the worker
who has been robbed by thieves who then later fight over the division
of the booty. It would be funny if it were not so sad and tragic to
see the workers t
Of
two evils, choose neither. Abstention from voting, but more
importantly spoiling your ballot, is a valid legitimate expression of
a person’s political position. Voting is presented as a sacred cow.
Popular slogans such as “if you don’t vote, you have no right to
complain”, or “it is your duty to vote” are repeated ad
nauseum. It is almost impossible to watch the news without the
classic platitude from celebrities to public intellectuals: “Whatever
you do, just make sure you get out there and vote”. They ask “How
do we bring the non-voters into our political process?” or “How
can we engage voters?” but rarely do they question “Why are these
voters not engaged” and never “Is their disengagement correct?”
and “Should we join them in solidarity?”
In
the conflict between Tweedledum and Tweedledumber, the advice is to
spoil the ballot paper and abstain from voting for either evil. The
only way we can prevail is by offering an alternative – don’t
play the game, don’t be forced into a false and hypocritical
“choice”. The only way to save democracy is to expose the falsity
of the choice at hand. Reformists are Judas goats, helping to lead
the working class into the slaughterhouse. Well-meaning,
good-intentioned reformers have nearly obliterated one of the
fundamental principles of socialism, that the independent working
class must create its own revolutionary party and put an end to class
collaboration. A genuine working-class party would tell the truth
about the system. By not voting working people will register their
rejection of pro-capitalist candidates. The enormous success of the
lesser-evil political system is in getting about half the people
simply not to vote and forcing those who do to vote, in favour
of what they oppose. The solution to the lesser evil/greater evil is
to build the independent activity and consciousness of the working
class. The working class must make use of democratic rights under
capitalism to build their own organisations of struggle and in doing
so we shall acquire the ability to bring down this wretched system of
exploitation, oppression, and sham democracy. The working class needs
a political alternative.
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