Politics Co-Editor and Writer: Chaouqui Darouiche
No matter who is elected today, America will witness another four years of racism, corporate greed, and rampant inequality. The question is, what do we do next?
The past few weeks, I’ve had my fair share of arguments with people voting, people not voting, people voting one way, and people voting the other. And to be honest, I’ve always been a bit torn on the question of voting as a whole. One one hand, I see voting as ineffective, bound to contingency, and rendered lifeless by the long tendrils of capitalism. On the other hand, it only takes a few minutes, and overall, it’s not too cumbersome to my daily routine.
My voting friends (typically Liberal) tell me that although Joe’s not the best, he’ll certainly be better than another four years of Trump. I’m not sure how much I believe that, but either way, it hints at the prospect of this perfection that Liberals keep pointing to. Joe’s not the best— so who is?
When I push them on this, this Liberal ideal often looks quite a bit to what I want to see in the world. An end to corporate greed, a belief in universal healthcare, the banning of fracking, racial justice, etc. Their vote for Biden, admittedly, isn’t an ethical vote, it’s a practical vote— it’s what’s left, their “last fighting chance”.
I’ll be a little bit happier when more people realize that in the test of time, Biden won’t be too different than Trump. Biden won’t get us closer to an end to corporate greed, he is corporate greed. Biden won’t bring about racial justice, him and his running-mate are why we need it in the first place. Even if marginally better, he’s a long way off of what we want, what we deserve.
So, it doesn’t really matter who’s elected President today. Even if Biden’s elected, we still won’t have achieved the Liberal ideal. And yet, we still need to do something on November 4th.
I guess for me it comes down to this: it’s fine, really, if you decide to vote for Biden today. Do it begrudgingly, do it pragmatically, heck, even do it regrettably.
But then do something else on November 4th. Don’t pretend you didn’t just cast a vote for a racist, for a corporatist, for a segregationist, and for an imperialist. Even if he wins— join a protest, organize a mutual aid network, donate to your local PSL chapter, engage in revolutionary love, and fight to achieve the ideal you know Biden isn’t going to bring. As a country, we have to be honest with ourselves when we say that on November 3rd, 2020, we elected a white supremacist. It’s on each and every one of us to take the next step.