We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

How Voting Perpetuates Evil

by Joel S. Hirschhorn from Dissident Voice.
The only logical conclusion is that lesser-evil voting perpetuates all the cancerous evil plaguing the political system.  This should not surprise anyone.  Regardless of party affiliation, major party candidates convincingly lie to voters and the tons of money poured into politics create a mass propaganda machine from both parties that deceives voters.
I agree completely with the author about not voting in this election. However, I take issue with his recommendation to follow a constitutional process in order to reform the US Constitution.

I believe that pursuing legal changes through the Constitution is an exercise in futility which will only divert and waste political energy. The US Constitution was written by the emerging capitalist class in the US in 1789 which added a veneer of legitimacy to their assumption of power by creating the illusion that the US society would be based on the rule of law. This provided excellent cover for this class of people who had a voracious appetite to own land by any means at their disposal, and their government provided an excellent means. Any wording in the Constitution that got in the way of their pursuit of wealth was simply re-interpreted by their appointees to the Supreme Court. So the Constitution does not give us any real rights that can’t be thwarted by the ruling class.

Before this document was written and before the capitalist class took control of the US, the Declaration of Independence was written which represented the best thinking of that time by Euro-Americans who were challenging the yoke of monarchic/aristocratic ruling classes. This document said some really astonishing things that rallied all Americans to the cause of separation from England. Most important of all is this statement:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.
Of course, once the US managed to separate from England, the capitalist class quickly took over and they have been consolidating their wealth and power ever since.

We must not be suckered into playing by their rules because they will beat us every time. I don’t know yet where to start except to stop participating in their election games.