"WHAT IS TO BE DONE?"
A few days ago, as I sat at my desk leaning back on my chair, I thought to myself:"you know... those two guys, Bush and Kerry--they're almost identical." If the democrats want to win this election, they will. The problem is that they want to win without having to deal with the real issues(i.e., the military-industrial-complex, IMF and World Bank conditionalities etc...). They seem to be afraid to confront the Republican party in anything like a defiant way; a notion confirmed from the start in the 2000 elections, by Al Gore's decision to leave the ballots uncounted (and unaccounted for) and to ignore the overwhelming evidence of fraud that was turning up at the time. Even now, the Democratic party still has not, to my knowledge, made any real contribution to the investigations surrounding the 2000 elections scandal in Florida, not to mention their complete silence around the issue of impeaching Bush for what can easily be considered high treason--the Iraq quagmire.
Still, I must confess, "almost identical" is not the same as "identical". Most importantly, in a world that is rapidly turning ripe for Nuclear War, this slight disjoint between the two parties can mean the difference between conventional "mass murder" and "Nuclear Annihilation". As much as I feel that we are a depressing race, I would rather try to preserve at least a small part of the human species (by supporting Kerry) than to ensure its extinction (by helping Bush).
Yet, we cannot allow the democratic party to think that it can take for granted its political base. I support affirmative action, Roe v. Wade, social security, and environmental protection programs, but as the income gap continues to grow unabated and the media is more and more privatized (all without serious opposition from the democrats), even these modest social programs seem doomed to become political impossibilities. Our government is becoming ever more reactionary, as its hegemony continues to be threatened by global resistance. On one level , the invasion of Iraq was a show of force designed to send a message to the world: "the U.S. is prepared to use force where ever and whenever, without permission or approval from anyone (especially the U.N.), should its interests be in any way threatened." Sooner or later this lack of respect for international law and for human rights will rear its ugly head in the homeland. Actually, it has already been creeping up on us, in the form of the Patriot Act, secret detentions, etc... Blatant expressions of elite contempt for democracy and political pluralism.
Actually, this has been going on for a while now (remember McCarthy?), but thats the subject for another entry. The issue at hand is "what is to be done?", and the answer is that anyone who is serious about changing the government knows that elections, especially presidential ones, make little or no difference where it ultimately counts--IMF conditionalilities, military-industrial-complex, the death penalty, etc. So, the answer is the same as it has always been, but with a slight addendum: vote your conscience (Nader) when you can (in non-swing states), or vote for Kerry when you have to (in swing states). The addendum: make sure that you vote. Whatever promises are made when Kerry wins (and I DO mean WHEN), are to be dismissed--to be put aside as we resume the work of the revolution.
