One day Mao, Lenin, Stalin, Trotsky, and Rosa, arose from the grave and decided to all go out drinking.
The more they drank the more they decided to debate about theory.
Lenin and Rosa got into an argument about democratic centralism.
Stalin punched Trotsky when they started arguing about state capitalism.
And Mao just left the bar without paying his tab.
It’s election day, so VOTE while you remember that voting is not a panacea. Our problems will not all be fixed at the ballot box, but the ballot box is a front on the class war and only a terrible general forsakes any front.
So vote, vote, vote! In the spirit of the day I though it might be a good idea to list my endorsements for the propositions in the California elections.
Before we proceed please note these are MY PERSONAL ENDORSEMENTS, they are not the official endorsements of any group I am affiliated with.
Nor will I be taking an official stance or endorsement on every proposition, I am focusing my energy on the races that will most likely effect the most marginalized people where I live.
VOTE NO ON PROP 6
The Gas Tax is regressive, this is true, however their is no language in the proposition about what will be the replacement revenue source for California’s ongoing and already underfunded infrastructure repair.
VOTE YES ON PROP 8
The fact that for-profit dialysis clinics even exist is disgusting to me. If these things are going to operate in the state then a cap on their profits must be implemented. Such profit caps mean that these companies will have to refund some of their profits to their employees and customers, which means an increased movement of money which can only benefit the economy.
VOTE YES ON PROP 10
Costa-Hawkins is one of the most uneconomical and undemocratic laws to exist in California. To rob localities of their own ability to regulate their own markets is the epitome of that blatant lack of democracy. Where I live, Sacramento, has the fastest climbing rent rates in the nation, which is causing displacement and homelessness that is disproportionally effecting people of color. My city needs meaningful rent control, something that is hindered by the existence of Costa-Hawkins. Prop 10 is one of the most important things to vote on in this election.
VOTE NO ON PROP 11
This is blatantly anti worker and just plain dangerous. To keep EMT’s on call during their break time will rob them of energy and cause them to perform poorly. I was in a car wreck in March and if my EMT’s had not been well rested I might not have gotten out of that destroyed car so easily. Give workers their breaks, especially the people whose job is to save lives.
It’s all well and good to say, “Smash the system!” I support and agree with that statement whole heartedly.
However if we are not offering a genuine alternative to the status quo and the systems we are attacking then Leftists are screwing over ourselves by weakening our argument and, more importantly, we are screwing over the people we are trying to organize and liberate.
It is the staple of conservatives and reactionaries try to argue with us. I have lost count of how many times I have heard, “Well if you hate capitalism so much, what are you saying should replace it?” In all honesty Leftists are not obligated respond to this. Leftists are not obligated appease this sense of entitlement. We do not need to explain every point about every thing they believe, especially any Leftist of a marginalized group.
However when organizing if we are not offering the masses the clear alternative to the systems we rail against then we are doing a disservice to the capabilities of building momentum and we are weakening our foundation for our movement.
To put it bluntly, it is an insult to the victims of racism, patriarchy, and capitalism to say “smash the system” and not make it clear that there is an alternative to organize for.
It is the calling card of the “lifestyle anarchist” to say smash the system for the sake of saying smash the system. Do not mistake me, this is not an attack on anarchism nor any other form of Leftist theory. What I am saying is that when we say “smash the system” the alternatives we are offering must be made clear so that the unengaged will want to become engaged.
It is all well and good to say “smash the system” but if you are not making it clear that you are offering an alternative, whether that alternative is anarchism, Marxism, or social democracy, you are insulting the very people you are trying to liberate. You are not giving the victims of the system what they need. You are simply validating your own need to decry the status quo when you offer revolution for the sake of revolution. Which is all fine and dandy until the system is actually smashed and then there is nothing in place to help lift and protect the disabled or the otherwise marginalized. The current system does not do that at all, yet if we do not make it clear we are offering a structure that does protect the unprotected then we have lost.
It’s all well and good to say “smash the system” It is not all well and good to ignore the implications of what comes after the fact. It is not all well and good to put your own need to feel validated as a revolutionary ahead of the actual needs that go into a revolution.
Smash the system, and make it clear that when it is smashed there is something to organize, and hope, for.
I have noticed a trend of behavior in activists, organizers and mobilizers where I live. Before I proceed though I want to make it abundantly clear that this is not a call out, nor is it directed at any specific person or organization. It is simply an observation that I have made after losing count of how many committee meetings and protests I have attended.
Now first of all, when it comes to organizing it is important to remember that not every analysis or motivation for organizing will be the same. Disagreements about which marginalized voices deserve the bigger platform, or disagreements about what a post capitalist society will look like are bound to happen.
However, a disturbing trend I have noticed within organizing is that certain voices and groups will actively sabotage mass mobilization because of these disagreements. The sabotage is not always an intentional thing but it is genuinely damaging and a hinderance towards building a mass movement. This sabotage manifests when political organizations act as clicks rather than as a service to the masses.
Specificity in the fight is important, the causes we care about the most should always be our guiding light, but if that specificity causes us to be at the mercy of one individual or one group’s whims then the movement will never grow beyond just a few activist circles. Also, organizing means working with people you do not necessarily like. If you only work with people you like as opposed to people who are right for whatever tasks are at hand you have abandoned organizing and you have decided to create a clique.
This is the folly I have noticed, creating clicks within the movement instead focusing on engaging the unengaged. Yes, it is important to feel comfortable with who we work and organize with but if that comfort means never expanding our organizational circle outside of people we are chummy with, nothing will ever happen and no change will ever manifest. No one will be liberated, resources and wealth will never be redistributed, and no one will stop the climate change that is threatening our existence.
This does not mean we all have to get along or that we shouldn’t make friends out of the people we organize with, what it does mean is that if we only organize within our comfort zones we will never build the momentum we need to liberate the marginalized and save the world from the racist, patriarchal, capitalist masters.
It also does not mean that you should not call out frauds or sexual predation. I recognize that this rhetoric about “comfort” could be misinterpreted in a way that can be endangering to some people. Truth and safety should be as much of our guiding light as anything else. If there is someone who makes you uncomfortable for racist, ablest, or sexist behaviors then that needs to be called out so that such behaviors can be eradicated. What I am saying is that if we are only comfortable with organizing with a few select people because we are the most chummy with them, any mass mobilization we build will die with us because the foundation for making the organizing expansive is never laid down.
So again, this is not a call out of any specific group or person. I myself have been guilty of this cliquish behavior in the past. This is simply an observation about what I think holds back strong grass roots organizing for a mass movement on the local level.
We are in a class war, founded in racist ablism and patriarchy. We are not in high school where the stoners get one corner of the yard and the preppy kids the other. We are here to liberate the entirety of the working class, to liberate all marginalized people, to save the world.
Commodity
Everything from the human spirit
to dignity
has become a commodity.
Oceans boil,
Flowers wilt,
And blood is spilled everywhere.
We hold the wrong people
to the worst scrutiny,
and we continue to masterbate ourselves
with patriotism.
Commodities,
Our time,
Our minds and training,
Just means to our bosses ends,
only because they have our consent.
We are more than commodities,
we are people.
Earth is not a commodity,
it is our home.
We are not commodities,
not a means to profit ends.
We are not commodities,
we are minds, we are souls and we have dignity.
We are not commodities,
we are creatures, living, breathing, and thinking.
We are not commodities,
we are human beings.
The largest demographic of voters in the U.S. are registered independents. The most popular politician with independents is not Joe Biden nor any other democrat, it’s Bernie Sanders.
Biden, Warren, and Harris are weak. Bernie is the only politician who can win over independent voters in 2020. Harris is too much of a cop to be trusted by people of color. Warren has shown she is just a flat out racist with that ridiculous DNA test and Biden is both creepy and way too close to the previous administration, much like Hillary was, which drives independents to not vote in the first place. If the democrats sabotage Bernie they will never win the white house back again. If you think Biden is the best bet for Dems I remind you of a little bugger named Walter Mondale if you think previous Dem VPs win elections.
I know that several of my comrades do not take electoral politics seriously. Some of them encourage either not voting or voting for Greens or Peace and Freedom party candidates. This is a mistake on their part. Aside from the blatant lack of ethics in both organizations (I will remind you all the PFP ran Roseanne Barr for president in 2012) and their candidates blatant lack of policy knowledge (see any time Jill Stein speaks) the best option we have for a left leaning presidency is Bernie. Also, as I stated above, the way to win voters over is not through party organizing, it is through promotion of policies that will actually effect them, actually benefiting their lives.
Bernie is not by any means perfect, in fact the perfect candidate does not exist and I am sympathetic to those who are disillusioned by the corporate neoliberalism of the “Democratic” party. However no socialist, even the ones who focus on electoral matters, thinks that elections are a panacea. Bernie is not going to fix it all and he has some problematic stances that need correcting, somethings that come to mind are his stance on abolishing ICE or his votes on bills effecting sex workers.
Yet people need to understand, that while no politician will save us, we need to get the most amount of resources to the working class that we can and executive policy greatly effects that. Bernie may not be perfect, but he is pro choice, in favor of persecuting and firing violent police officers, has an active history of organizing for anti racism, is more of an anti imperialist than anyone else serving in Congress, and has staunchly stated that he “is no capitalist.”
Considering our options, the reality of our political system, the blatant lack of strength in other parties, and the current political landscape, Bernie 2020 is our best hope for ousting Donald Trump, which we must remember will not be a panacea to the woes of racism, sexism, or environmental disaster. However, the effects of executive policy cannot be underestimated and socialists who underestimate it could doom us to a two term Trump presidency.
I will not be one of those socialists. I will vote for Bernie Sanders in 2020.
#Bernie2020
The Internationale
Arise you workers from your slumber,
Arise you prisoners of starvation,
Arise you wretched of the Earth,
Arise you prisoners of Want,
For Reason and Revolt now thunders,
For Justice Thunders condemnation,
For at last ends the age of can’t,
For a better world is in birth.
No traditions chain shall bind us,
We’ll change henceforth the old traditions,
We’ll spurn the dust to win the prize.
Comrades, come rally,
Tis the final conflict,
And the last fight let us face,
For the internationale
unites the human race,
For the interntationale
shall be the human race.
