Posted by LDF on October 25, 2008 at 11:23:24:
In Reply to: need for strong third party posted by NJD on September 19, 2008 at 10:15:12:
Of course we need Third Parties! We cannot pretend to have even a pseudo-democracy without that! But we also need to build our own, and the task is just beginning. Altho not calling for Real Economic & Civic Democracy as such, Nadar & The Green Party are helping that effort, but let's not get our energy diverted.
The Concept of the 'Cancellation or Leverage Vote' while not a bad thing seems, as far as I can tell, to complicate the basic idea of voting, which is based on choice and principal. Its like IRV or Instant Runoff Voting. Both seem to me to drain attention from the fundamental problem of our total lack of economic & civic democracy! We need to just clarify always, that every vote counts and every voice is needed. Self- dillusion and self-censorship (vote Obama tho you may not really like what he calls for) is not choice based on principal but do we need to expend energy seemingly rationalizing ourselves or explaining complex voting ploys we might better spend talking about the actual issues? Maybe both can happen, but too often the conversation descends quickly into arguing about the insignificant. So, I'm for keeping things simple.
About "independent voters", and much as 'I Like Ralph' personally, his candidacy represents another level of 'lesser than' and to me, he is only 'a step'. He likes Capitalism, he just wants us to "make it better'. Been there, hasn't worked! And so altho I will vote for him, I do so in support of the IDEA of raising at least 'people-oriented' Third Party voices. But, while a valiant warrior like many reformers before him, Nadar & others still believe a '24/7 Vigiliance Society' is an answer to the tremendously complicated issues & entanglements that Capitalism
keeps us chained to.
I want a healthy society that is structured to help me & my family, not be a 'soldier in the resistance, FOREVER". Like Sisyphus and the Rock,Ralph would have us all enroll in the depressing & eternal quest of 'taming the beast of capitalism' even though history has shown that this struggle between two opposing interests, two classes: We The People vs. The Owning Corporate Global Class--And that this struggle
has gotten us exactly where we are! And with Ralph's solution-- even with his techno-sounding but basically pretty unrealistic 'cancellation vote' maneuver-- he still wants us to keep the system that brings us these problems! That's MY problem with Ralph and other reformers, not their IRV's, etc. Its their basic assumption that we keep Capitalism, just make it nice. Its been tried, it doesn't work.
Yet I'll vote for Ralph because of a rational choice between all the 'lessers'..... not by 'bartering' or consulting with neighbors I seldom see or citizens I have no 'leverage' with anyway...But because he speaks alot of sense & speaks well about iniquities. But not because he's explaining how we can end them, nor offering a vision of the kind of healthy, satisfying & joyous society I want to create for my family & future
The time & energy spent on reforms--any of them--we'd put to better use engaged in a really coherent dialogue about fundamental CHANGE-- not another clever magic trick--all perhaps well-meaning, but ultimately diversionary of already scant energy & focus.
Here's my take on the 'two real lesser choices': Ralph's candidacy, heartwarming thou it is, is based on Ralph. There is no "Ralph Nader Independent Party" with RALPH NADER and without any organizational platform, his 'independent party' is an incoherent concept. Ron Paul is an Independent, so is Joe Liberman and Lou Dobbs. So 'Independent Voting" is far from where we need to be, EXCEPT as we continue to use it to advocate for Third Parties&greater political access for alternative voices.
Rather than arguing about IRV or Vote Cancellation or 'leverage', we need to focus our energy on building a large, clear movement based on REAL DEMOCRACY. For those of us fed up with the "Duopoloy' and Corporate Control, that's our real job! So,can Ralph's 'Sisyphus Approach' get us there? No, but it at least raises expectations about a 'better society'.
Then there's the 'other choice' The Green Party. While its platform is spongy and its political organization still lacks unity & clarity about fundamental aims
(some call for environmental moralism & reform while a smaller 'wing' calls for institutional, fundamental transmation from capitalism to cooperative ownership and real democracy) It does offer a potential: an organized, grassroots approach to political action that Ralph's 'personality-driven approach' (ala Tito or Castro?) does not. The Green's Cynthia McKinney (other PFAN members will be voting for her)adds another voice & push from the 'left' to open windows and doors to our future. The Greens offer potential.
Our OWN BEST movement is still very young & inchoate. But I believe a strong, unified and class-conscious day is coming. If Nader's idea, or others, help get more to vote for neither Corporate Class Spokesman- Dem and Republican, Obama and McCain- then we are moving small but important steps ahead. But getting the bigger message out- a vision of a real & balanced Democracy and real ownership of our society- is the larger task I believe we all must put effort into.
Actually, there are so many of us! Deprived of political access, what we lack is organization, unity & opportunity but building that is our job and we are just beginning.
LDF, Editorial Committee