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something for you libs who still believe in electoralism
I think the issue with "harm reduction" rhetoric is that it starts with the conceit that the argument they're having with leftists is "Biden is no different", and thus they want to convince you that he will reduce harm somehow. But actually, no, I don't think there's no difference if he'd win, that's actually not true.
I think things would be worse, way way worse.
From a materialist perspective, a Biden presidency would strangle any revolutionary energy in its womb by using the overwhelming power of the State to co-opt and neuter the leftist struggle, all the while prosecuting the most radical actors to the fullest extent. His administration will reverse any gains socialism has made in the public eye, take us back to a time when the struggle was hidden behind an esoteric veil. Whereas Trump prevents any avenue from being pursued other than open warfare. His presence gets everyone out of the woodworks, it makes things clear to the average disaffected proletarian that there are only two options, socialism or barbarism, and the liberals struggle to make themselves relevant in the paradigm.
Liberals time and time again keep pressuring the left wing of America into voting, they think of you as complete fucking suckers, they have zero incentive to do anything for you if you keep going along with it. They have to suffer consequences, people are unable to learn unless they actually have consequences. And no I don't think that will make them turn around and start offering socialist policy, I think they're stuck repeating this cycle until we sink into the ocean, but each time it happens they lose more and more relevancy and the State loses more and more legitimacy. It's the natural course of things, it is something we have to confront, and I'm tired of pretending it's not going to come to a head.
Americans arent part of the International proletariat by maoist standards, so most times they really need a outside force to push them to radicalization
I agree, I myself am not an American, and that's part of why this discourse is so frustrating because I can see a picture much larger than America, and I hate how much mental energy both online and in the global media is dedicated to whether the blue man or the red man should be in the white building during the period of time that the stupid fucking country collapses. Any material difference should be put towards answering the question of which man allows this to come to a head quicker because the country needs to stop existing as soon as possible for the betterment of the world, and honestly, Biden will just delay that.
yeah, ever since i been into international politics, back when i was a centrist i was worry The USA would cause a war in latin america just like they did in the middle east and watch as decades of progress banish away and the region destabilizes because some man in washington didnt like that countries leader
This take is electoralism masquerading as materialist analysis: it tries to game out which President winning will be better for the left, with the logical conclusion that you should vote for Trump.
The reality is that the left is already powerless, As it was under Obama, Bush, Clinton, etc. The only thing that has changed is that left-wing ideas have become much more mainstream. This is a consistent trend regardless of which party is in power. Another consistent trend is that material conditions have gotten worse regardless.
The left quite literally has nothing to lose with a Biden administration that it hasn't already lost under Trump. But that doesn't matter for the socialist project either way, since our path to power remains largely outside electoral politics.
To further argue that you shouldn't vote for dems because they don't care about you and they will suffer consequences by the left not voting for them is just pure electoralism. It doesn't take seriously that the Dems quite literally do not care: their material success is not dependent on the left voting for them at all. They are making more money under Trump than ever before and they don't even have to do anything.
Far from making the choice between socialism and barbarism clear, Trump has in
a counterintuitive fashion further mystified material relations by personifying the horrors of the system. I'm willing to bet a large part of the American public thinks things will get better if Trump is out of office.
A materialist analyses would reject electoralism because it recognises that power lies with the capitalist class, that liberal democracy is bourgeoisie dictatorship. Not because the Dems aren't nice to the left so we should not vote for them to teach them a lesson about consequences and expedite the collapse of capitalism. That still assumes that voting matters to the left, but only when you don't vote or vote third party.
I think the issue with "harm reduction" rhetoric is that it starts with the conceit that the argument they're having with leftists is "Biden is no different", and thus they want to convince you that he will reduce harm somehow. But actually, no, I don't think there's no difference if he'd win, that's actually not true.
I think things would be worse, way way worse.
From a materialist perspective, a Biden presidency would strangle any revolutionary energy in its womb by using the overwhelming power of the State to co-opt and neuter the leftist struggle, all the while prosecuting the most radical actors to the fullest extent. His administration will reverse any gains socialism has made in the public eye, take us back to a time when the struggle was hidden behind an esoteric veil. Whereas Trump prevents any avenue from being pursued other than open warfare. His presence gets everyone out of the woodworks, it makes things clear to the average disaffected proletarian that there are only two options, socialism or barbarism, and the liberals struggle to make themselves relevant in the paradigm.
Liberals time and time again keep pressuring the left wing of America into voting, they think of you as complete fucking suckers, they have zero incentive to do anything for you if you keep going along with it. They have to suffer consequences, people are unable to learn unless they actually have consequences. And no I don't think that will make them turn around and start offering socialist policy, I think they're stuck repeating this cycle until we sink into the ocean, but each time it happens they lose more and more relevancy and the State loses more and more legitimacy. It's the natural course of things, it is something we have to confront, and I'm tired of pretending it's not going to come to a head.
Americans arent part of the International proletariat by maoist standards, so most times they really need a outside force to push them to radicalization
I agree, I myself am not an American, and that's part of why this discourse is so frustrating because I can see a picture much larger than America, and I hate how much mental energy both online and in the global media is dedicated to whether the blue man or the red man should be in the white building during the period of time that the stupid fucking country collapses. Any material difference should be put towards answering the question of which man allows this to come to a head quicker because the country needs to stop existing as soon as possible for the betterment of the world, and honestly, Biden will just delay that.
yeah, ever since i been into international politics, back when i was a centrist i was worry The USA would cause a war in latin america just like they did in the middle east and watch as decades of progress banish away and the region destabilizes because some man in washington didnt like that countries leader
This take is electoralism masquerading as materialist analysis: it tries to game out which President winning will be better for the left, with the logical conclusion that you should vote for Trump.
The reality is that the left is already powerless, As it was under Obama, Bush, Clinton, etc. The only thing that has changed is that left-wing ideas have become much more mainstream. This is a consistent trend regardless of which party is in power. Another consistent trend is that material conditions have gotten worse regardless.
The left quite literally has nothing to lose with a Biden administration that it hasn't already lost under Trump. But that doesn't matter for the socialist project either way, since our path to power remains largely outside electoral politics.
To further argue that you shouldn't vote for dems because they don't care about you and they will suffer consequences by the left not voting for them is just pure electoralism. It doesn't take seriously that the Dems quite literally do not care: their material success is not dependent on the left voting for them at all. They are making more money under Trump than ever before and they don't even have to do anything.
Far from making the choice between socialism and barbarism clear, Trump has in a counterintuitive fashion further mystified material relations by personifying the horrors of the system. I'm willing to bet a large part of the American public thinks things will get better if Trump is out of office.
A materialist analyses would reject electoralism because it recognises that power lies with the capitalist class, that liberal democracy is bourgeoisie dictatorship. Not because the Dems aren't nice to the left so we should not vote for them to teach them a lesson about consequences and expedite the collapse of capitalism. That still assumes that voting matters to the left, but only when you don't vote or vote third party.