“if voting changed anything, it would be illegal”
this is probably the #1 issue i have with other anarchists and “radicals” in general, and it’s almost always coming from white dudes who are relatively class-stable* (meaning they have families to fall back on if things become difficult, no children, no health care needs, and they basically choose to live in poverty and can do so comfortably).
and it’s bullshit. it’s not even true.
like i get that voting is not going to bring about any systemic changes and that we are “voting for the lesser evil” and all that shit. i myself was opposed to voting until fairly recently when i wisened up. but i simply cannot support the viewpoint that we should vote for the worst candidate with the hopes that the entire system will fall apart. i find that logic to be completely asinine. similarly, abstaining from voting because one believes the candidates are too similar to matter is an incredibly privileged decision.
because while the left and right wing in the US are both corporately controlled, pro capitalist, pro privatization, etc. the fact remains that, if the GOP was in power, a lot more people would literally die due to being denied resources. you cannot convince someone at the bottom of the social hierarchy that there are no differences between the parties. they are the groups that are MOST affected by the differences that anarchists either deny the existence of entirely, or consider to be too small to matter. i’m talking about the extremely poor, mostly consisting of POC, people with disabilities, & trans people.
too many people think these populations are disposable and are ‘necessary sacrifices’ which is just disgusting and i want no part in any movement that encourages such thinking.
*(and yes i know that quote is usually attributed to emma goldman, but that’s irrelevant.)
