I don’t expect elections to fix things, but it’s the tool I have to contribute to positive change. Even if that change is slow, meandering, messy, and two steps forward and one step back.
The most boring sentence you’ll read today: my hope is that you’ll be able to foster good ideas in social networks and then be able to make positive change by putting those ideas on the ballot in elections that work ;)
J.2.2: Why do anarchists reject voting as a means for change? Simply because electioneering does not work. History is littered with examples of radicals being voted into office only to become as, or even more, conservative than the politicians they replaced.
J.2.5: At its most basic, anarchists support abstentionism because “participation in elections means the transfer of one’s will and decisions to another, which is contrary to the fundamental principles of anarchism.” [Emma Goldman, Vision on Fire, p. 89]
J.2.8: As Emma Goldman pointed out, "if the Anarchists were strong enough to swing the elections to the Left, they must also have been strong enough to rally the workers to a general strike, or even a series of strikes […]
But I’m fine with people ignoring these considering the circumstances of the american election. It could be said that the looming threat is great enough that stopping it should be a concern.
But still I don’t think america will change FPTP. It would rather collapse. The parties in power have too much to lose. It would only work if you managed to get the currently non-voting population to back election change in a big block. Maybe a petition signed by most who don’t vote will get their attention but it seems unlikely to make something like that.
It is at this point I should probably mention that I’m European and so am just looking at this as a spectator.
Then how do anarchists get their ideas implemented? Strikes and similar measures?
Yeah, changing FPTP seems like a pretty tall order. But I believe that several US states have changed their election system, so it might happen from the bottom through the states. But that will take time, and the US situation seems to be getting increasingly precarious.
Anarchists should get their ideas implemented outside of the state. Build collective structures that exists separately from the state. Start from the ground up. Collectivize some farms. Then get some logistic collectives. Then start up collective food courts in a couple of cities. All functioning in a federation. Create a completely collective food distribution chain. Then start expanding it. No state needed.
I don’t expect elections to fix things, but it’s the tool I have to contribute to positive change. Even if that change is slow, meandering, messy, and two steps forward and one step back.
The most boring sentence you’ll read today: my hope is that you’ll be able to foster good ideas in social networks and then be able to make positive change by putting those ideas on the ballot in elections that work ;)
found the AFAQ questions starting from https://anarchistfaq.org/afaq/sectionJ.html#secj22. They are quite long but they do make a lot of good points.
But I’m fine with people ignoring these considering the circumstances of the american election. It could be said that the looming threat is great enough that stopping it should be a concern.
But still I don’t think america will change FPTP. It would rather collapse. The parties in power have too much to lose. It would only work if you managed to get the currently non-voting population to back election change in a big block. Maybe a petition signed by most who don’t vote will get their attention but it seems unlikely to make something like that.
It is at this point I should probably mention that I’m European and so am just looking at this as a spectator.
Then how do anarchists get their ideas implemented? Strikes and similar measures?
Yeah, changing FPTP seems like a pretty tall order. But I believe that several US states have changed their election system, so it might happen from the bottom through the states. But that will take time, and the US situation seems to be getting increasingly precarious.
The US demands too much attention…
Anarchists should get their ideas implemented outside of the state. Build collective structures that exists separately from the state. Start from the ground up. Collectivize some farms. Then get some logistic collectives. Then start up collective food courts in a couple of cities. All functioning in a federation. Create a completely collective food distribution chain. Then start expanding it. No state needed.