As a 50+ year activist in social justice & class struggles, I respect BOTH Liberation Road's and DSA's position on the upcoming elections. First of all, I agree with Marx & Lenin on leftist participation in 'bourgeois' elections. Afaik, Marx generally advocated leftist participation in those elections EVEN WHEN THERE WAS NO CHANCE OF WINNING. According to him, the most important thing was using the forum to promote our program. Lenin - writing at another space & time - often advocated boycotting elections and the entire electoral process. The key question for them, then, and ourselves now is: how does it ADVANCE the Movement.
It's still the key question.
At this juncture ( 2024 USA) while electoral participation, still has some utility & validity until elections are banned altogether, NEITHER wing of the political ruling class bird of prey should be supported ON THE PRESIDENTIAL LEVEL.As Cornel West & others have pointed out, if the choice is between voting for the 'figurehead' of the party promoting a fascist (Project 2024) domestic program and one promoting AND MASSIVELY FUNDING GENOCIDE - that's.no.choice.at.all.
Moreover, there is a CREDIBLE case to be made that the MOST urgent task in the world today is ENDING the genocide of the Palestinian people; so much so that if I had to choose, right now, between, say, Reparations for the Holocaust of Enslavement & Its Aftermath, and a ceasefire in Gaza & the West Bank AND an arms embargo of Israel, I'd UNEQUIVOCALLY support the latter.
Of course, we recognize the differences, both strategically and tactically, between the political positions we must take on the federal and local levels. Depending on the specific race at hand it might be necessary to vote for a Republican or a Democratic, Libertarian, or other, in local and state races , if there are no PROGRESSIVE 3rd party alternative.s
However, for some of us on the left, the MOST important thing right now - outside of Palestine/Israel, MAGA fascism, Catastrophic Climate Change - is taking the long view: BUILDING THE MASS PROGRESSIVE PARTY, which, inspite of the Green Party, has yet to be done. Even though many of us are supporting the WEST/ABDULLAH ticket, we recognize that that ticket is no substitute for a political party. As much as PSL's presidential candidates are worthy of our support, it, too is no substitute, at this time, for the kind of mass progressive, locally-rooted political party which could challenge, let alone dethrone, the duopoly.
As a 50+ year activist in social justice & class struggles, I respect BOTH Liberation Road's and DSA's position on the upcoming elections. First of all, I agree with Marx & Lenin on leftist participation in 'bourgeois' elections. Afaik, Marx generally advocated leftist participation in those elections EVEN WHEN THERE WAS NO CHANCE OF WINNING. According to him, the most important thing was using the forum to promote our program. Lenin - writing at another space & time - often advocated boycotting elections and the entire electoral process. The key question for them, then, and ourselves now is: how does it ADVANCE the Movement.
It's still the key question.
At this juncture ( 2024 USA) while electoral participation, still has some utility & validity until elections are banned altogether, NEITHER wing of the political ruling class bird of prey should be supported ON THE PRESIDENTIAL LEVEL.As Cornel West & others have pointed out, if the choice is between voting for the 'figurehead' of the party promoting a fascist (Project 2024) domestic program and one promoting AND MASSIVELY FUNDING GENOCIDE - that's.no.choice.at.all.
Moreover, there is a CREDIBLE case to be made that the MOST urgent task in the world today is ENDING the genocide of the Palestinian people; so much so that if I had to choose, right now, between, say, Reparations for the Holocaust of Enslavement & Its Aftermath, and a ceasefire in Gaza & the West Bank AND an arms embargo of Israel, I'd UNEQUIVOCALLY support the latter.
Of course, we recognize the differences, both strategically and tactically, between the political positions we must take on the federal and local levels. Depending on the specific race at hand it might be necessary to vote for a Republican or a Democratic, Libertarian, or other, in local and state races , if there are no PROGRESSIVE 3rd party alternative.s
However, for some of us on the left, the MOST important thing right now - outside of Palestine/Israel, MAGA fascism, Catastrophic Climate Change - is taking the long view: BUILDING THE MASS PROGRESSIVE PARTY, which, inspite of the Green Party, has yet to be done. Even though many of us are supporting the WEST/ABDULLAH ticket, we recognize that that ticket is no substitute for a political party. As much as PSL's presidential candidates are worthy of our support, it, too is no substitute, at this time, for the kind of mass progressive, locally-rooted political party which could challenge, let alone dethrone, the duopoly.