From: Richard Singer <ricinger-AT-inch.com>
Subject: Re: AUT: A Reply to Noam Chomsky
Date: Thu, 1 Apr 2004 01:27:26 -0500


Chris says:

IMO, anyone who thinks Kerry and Bush are the same is
delusional.  That does not mean I am voting, since I don't tailor my
politics to the bourgeois event of the moment.  Better to show the real
problems with both parties, with the state and with capital.  It may seem
abstract, but no trap is nastier than the trap of defining one's politic on
their terrain.

I say:

As I've said, I agree with the people who think that making a big deal 
about abstaining from the polls is, itself, kind of a waste of time and 
energy and also probably somewhat delusional.  If I/we were to say we're 
pulling the lever in the voting booth and that's all we're going to do or 
say about politics, then we would be defining our politic on their terrain 
(although absolutely no one would notice that we're making that definition, 
but never mind).  But, I don' t think any of us are doing that.  Those of 
us who feel like voting are simply choosing to make a statement in a forum 
that's open to us.  Those who choose to consciously stay home from the 
polls and broadcast this decision are also making a statement in the same 
forum (or at least connected to it).  I agree, it doesn't matter a whole 
lot one way or the other.  So why act as though pulling the stupid lever in 
the voting booth is somehow caving in to the demands of the bourgeoisie, 
selling one's soul to them, etc.?  It all strikes me as rather silly.

Chris, if you really do believe there is a big difference between Bush and 
Kerry, you should go to the polls and vote for Kerry.  Surely, if you 
believe there is a big difference, you would rather have Kerry in power 
than Bush.  What would be the practical reason for staying home from the 
polls?  Do you think  you're making an important statement by doing so? 
 Trust me :), no one's listening to that statement.  Seems as though, to 
use an old cliche, you are biting off your nose to spite your face.  (And 
yes, it seems abstract, awfully abstract.)

Personally, if I've got the time, I'm going to cast my little vote for 
Nader or some other third party person.  I don't think that by doing so, 
I'll be selling my soul to the bourgeoisie.  I think, probably, there is 
some difference between Kerry and Bush, but since Kerry is going to easily 
carry New York (where I live), I don't even have to worry about that.  I 
don't think anybody's going to "hear" me if I stay home from the polls in 
rebellion against the system.  If I want to state my opposition to the 
system, I write stuff, and I join others in various other forms of 
resistance and protest.  I'm not so sure that the little part I do is going 
to make any difference, but at least I'm doing something active, rather 
than thinking I'm doing something by sitting at home on election day, just 
like a whole bunch of other people who, as some people have pointed out, 
may have all sorts of reasons for doing so, some of which many of us 
wouldn't find particularly attractive.


Richard S.



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