America’s Political Cannibalism
Oct 13, 2008 philosophy, politics
Today’s Nader Newsletter gave prominence to a column by Chris Hedges entitled “America’s Political Cannibalism,” mostly because of this paragraph:
This is a defining moment in American history. The next few weeks and months will see us stabilize and weather this crisis or descend into a terrifying dystopia. I place no hope in Obama or the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party is a pathetic example of liberal, bourgeois impotence, hypocrisy and complacency. It has been bought off. I will vote, if only as a form of protest against our corporate state and an homage to [Karl] Polanyi’s brilliance, for Ralph Nader.
The whole thing is worth reading, including the comments. One “Eric J-D” seems to nail it:
My concern about Hedges is that his so-called “radicalization”–if that is what he is currently experiencing–looks a whole lot more like dystopian, nihilistic despair than a truly radical diagnosis of and engagement with the situation obtaining in the present. The former tends to greatly overestimate a number of things: 1) the present “weakness” of the capitalist system, even in moments of systemic crisis; 2) the extent to which the mass-imposition of a neo-fascist order is possible; and 3) the revolutionary possibilities of the present moment.
As someone occasionally guilty of doing all three, I concur. Also, several commenters rightly point out that the greater Karl (Marx) anticipated Polanyi’s comments by nearly a century (dehumanization, man-as-commodity, etc).ÂÂ
Mostly though, I think Hedges is right. Voting for Nader is probably the right thing to do. But look at it this way: voting for Nader and deliberately not voting are both symbolic gestures, whereas voting for Obama is an effectual gesture. Both symbolic gestures are largely ignored (in the case of conscientious non-voting, ignored simply because it’s indistinguishable from apathetic non-voting). I’m voting for Obama based on this principle: an effectual gesture, even one less than ideal, ought to be preferred over a purely symbolic gesture.
October 15th, 2008 at 11:23 am
[...] and a shift that may be occurring in a few weeks on November 4th. Some of this is a response to an article by my friend and fellow blogger, the oft-quoted Kevin [...]
October 19th, 2008 at 5:04 am
I started the third-party/abstain route mostly because I felt voting for the lesser of two evils was putting faith in a broken version of democracy. The anarchy came later.
It’s important to recognize how little Obama is likely to solve. My only hope is that, if elected, he’ll screw up less things than any other potential presidents.
October 19th, 2008 at 5:12 am
Oh, and I don’t like double posting, but I thought it would be fair to mention that, depending on your state, voting at all could be a symbolic gesture. That is the case here in California.
People tell me I should at least vote on the ballot initiatives. I could sympathize with that, but at this point nonparticipation in government is a principle for me.