109 lines
6.3 KiB
Plaintext
109 lines
6.3 KiB
Plaintext
Voting Anarchists: An Oxymoron or What?
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BAD Broadside #8
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While historically anarchists assiduously avoided any involvement
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with electoral politics, in more recent times, at least in the united
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states, some anarchists have advocated voting. The arguments these
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voting anarchists put forward are generally the same as those put
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forward by other leftists who are unable or unwilling to completely
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sever their connection to the political process. They argue that voting
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for their candidate, usually described as a lesser evil and usually
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(if not always) a Democrat, is necessary to prevent united states
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aggression against some favored revolutionary state (like sandinista
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nicaragua), is some sort of self-defense against the more conservative
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candidate, or is merely better than "apathy," as some describe
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abstention from voting. While one could argue against voting simply
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because it rarely, if ever, accomplishes any of the goals its
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advocates claim it can, there is a more fundamental reason for
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anarchists to oppose voting: voting in government elections is an
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inherently authoritarian activity, and authoritarian means never yield
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libertarian results.
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The primary reason why anti-statists should not vote, and in fact
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should oppose voting, is that the very act of voting is an attempt on
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the part of voters to delegate to another a power that they could not
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justly possess themselves. Government is based on coercion. While
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states of various sorts provide some services and benefits to
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residents of their jurisdictions, the institution of government also
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utilizes cops, courts, the military, the IRS, etc, to coercively
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interfere in the lives of its subjects. Anarchists argue that no one,
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whether in or out of government should have such power. If this is
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true, anarchists, who oppose political power and coercion of any
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sort, cannot consistently advocate voting. Individuals should not have
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the authority to coerce others, and therefore they should not put
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themselves in a position to delegate such authority to third parties,
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which is the essence of voting. While some argue that they vote only
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in self-defense, the consequence of their voting is that their
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candidate coerces others who choose not to participate in the process,
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and therefore this method of self-defense should be unacceptable to
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anarchists.
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Besides being unethical for an anti-authoritarian in and of
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itself, participation in electoral politics serves to legitimize the
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whole political process and the existence of government. If people did
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not vote, the democratic theory of government would lose its
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legitimacy and politicians would have to justify their rule on the
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basis of something other than the alleged consent of the governed.
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This, hopefully, would make the true nature of the state more obvious
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to the governed. And such a revelation would have the potential to
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motivate people to challenge, evade, or ignore government interference
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and coercion.
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Even if anarchists could ethically participate in voting, there is
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one major reason to boycott the process: any candidate anarchists help
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elect will implement interventionist policies and initiate coercive
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actions, the results of which will be incompatible with anarchist
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goals. While voting for a Democrat may arguably make intervention in
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cuba or nicaragua less likely, it could make matters worse in
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israel/palestine or south africa. (Neither the ANC nor the PLO will
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take a position on the united states presidential election, basically
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because they support Bush, but are embarrassed to admit this
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publicly.) Voters claim that a Republican will make things worse
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economically for working and/or poor people in the united states;
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however increased taxes, which will certainly be enacted by a
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Democratic president, will further impoverish the working people from
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whom they are extorted. Additionally, while people fear a supreme
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court with a Republican-appointed majority, individual justices are
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unpredictable (like Sandra Day O'Connor), and Democratic judges are as
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willing to coercively interfere in our lives as are Republicans.
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Besides not yielding the desired results, voting by anarchists
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entails another weakness. Even if every anarchist in the united states
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voted in the presidential election, it would not influence the
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outcome. There are few enough anarchists about that their individual
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votes are meaningless, since elections are decided by millions of
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votes. If voting anarchists seriously believe that voting can
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ethically be done, even by anarchists, then they should consider
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entering the political process fully and campaigning for presidential
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candidates. If it's acceptable for them to vote, it's acceptable for
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their candidates to hold power in a coercive government, and it's
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acceptable for them to encourage others to vote. I have not seen any
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anarchists argue for active involvement in the Democratic party, but
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this is a logical outcome of anarchist arguments for voting. If these
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people aren't comfortable urging others to vote for their candidates,
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they should rethink the justifications for their own voting.
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Non-voting on the part of anarchists is not a sign of apathy. On
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the contrary, it is a sign of rejection of the political, i.e.,
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coercive, means of dealing with problems and living our lives. If, as
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anarchists, we are serious about finding new ways of living and
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interacting, it would behoove us to stay out of the swamp of electoral
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politics and maintain our traditional opposition to involvement with
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electoral politics in any form.
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NO COPYRIGHT
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Please send two copies of any review or reprint
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of all or part of this to:
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Boston Anarchist Drinking Brigade
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(BAD Brigade)
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PO Box 1323
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Cambridge, MA 02238
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Internet: bbrigade@world.std.com
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September, 1992
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