5 REASONS WHY WE SHOULD VOTE CORNEL WEST FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES ON THE GREEN PARTY TICKET
By Collectivist Action
#1
The U.S. duopoly must be BROKEN.
By this I mean the longstanding monopoly of the electoral political process by just two parties, Democrats and Republicans, must be ended. This monopoly occurred at the end of the 19th century, after the Republicans gained control of the political economy as the party which had emerged victorious in the catastrophic Civil War. The defeated Democrats, as the former party of chattel slavery, resigned to being junior partners in the ruling class alliance, having been the ‘top dog’ for most of the existence of the nation state. . Although there continued to be formidable 3rd party challenges to this alliance, the Republicans and Democrats colluded successfully to prevent any sustainable political competition.
It was not until Ross Perot’s presidential campaign in the 1990s, in which he garnered about 20% of the vote on the Reform Party, did a 3rd party gain enough traction to cause concern to the powers-that-be. (Actually, before Perot discontinued his campaign, temporarily, during the race, he was polling well over 20%). Since then no political party has been able to garner more than 5% of the vote. This cannot be merely attributed to the U.S. electorate’s preferences; rather an overt and covert intentional design by both Republicans and Democrats to maintain their undemocratic control of the process.
Despite the duopoly, no more than 60%, or less, of eligible
voters even bother to vote.
Why?
Apathy is the usual answer given for this lack of interest in the electoral process.
However, I maintain that as as much as apathy might explain this, there is another reason that the ruling class generally refuses to recognize: at least 40% or more of those eligible to vote have totally lost faith in the system. Millions of people think that their vote is meaningless, i.e., it has no fundamental bearing on the political and economic systems. “The ones who control the system are gonna do what they want, anyway!’
For the most part, we can’t deny that.
Yes, there have been more than a few occasions when the citizens’ votes have mattered and impacted policies and legislation. Nevertheless, a highly credible case can be made that, at the end of the day, our votes don’t matter enough to make any fundamental changes in the system. The latter has remained essentially the way it was from the beginning of the country: under the undeniable rule of a relative handful of rich white people who, not coincidentally, own the vital means of production, goods and services.
While the Green Party has arguably not had any success in winning national elections it has managed to win hundreds of state and local races.
The party is on the ballot in over 30 states and has, since its founding 40 years ago, gained some recognition as a legitimate 3rd party, esp. after consumer advocate and activist Ralph Nader’s 2 presidential runs on the ticket.
Although Cornel West may not have the name recognition and bonafides of a Nader, as a public intellectual and activist, based in the academy over the last 40 years, he has gained the respect of perhaps tens of thousands of people who identify as people of color and leftists, along with other progressives and liberals. It’s not as consolidated a base as Trump’s MAGA cult-of-personality following but it’s enough to build upon with a concerted and coordinated national grassroots organizing effort.
Despite the Green Party’s heretofore inability, or unwillingness, to build its base beyond white middle strata (the sector which won’t support Trump or Biden) imo, West’s pedagogy and most importantly, working class activist ‘creds’ might just be the critical elements which finally gives the party the mass appeal it would fail to get otherwise.
(It probably would help significantly, also, if he ran on a ticket with a woman)
The Green Party platform, and West’s political views, are objectively radical enough, imo, to represent a real alternative to the capitalist-dominated duopoly .
Some on the left may justifiably see both as not radical enough; on the not-so-left they may be seen as too radical.. If , however, both are addressing critical issues like catastrophic climate change, a living wage, reproductive rights, white supremacy and imperialist wars, etc., it is my contention that there is a powerful potential base to be built.
Moreover, neither the Democrats nor the Republicans are doing anymore than giving lip service to these issues, if they address them at all. Election after election, we are told to vote for the lesser of two evils (or the evil of two lessers?), and, after all is said and done, we discover, as Stevie Wonder ‘saw’, and sang: “You haven’t done NOTHIN”.
Since the Democrats disingenuously took up the mantle as the ‘party of the working class’, about 50 years ago, they have taken for granted the most exploited and oppressed sectors of the working class: African Americans, indigenous and poor white people. Most conscious and conscientious people realize that, in spite of some important reforms on their part, the Democratic Party, not unlike the Republican Party, continues to uphold, first and foremost, the same rich, white men - and now a few others of color and different sex orientations - as they have always done. Biden said it all, to his prospective benefactors at the beginning of his first campaign: “Nothing fundamentally changes under my administration”
He’s kept his promise.
Trump promises nothing but more fascism.
A radical change is long overdue.
If charisma matters at all, West’s is much more positive than Trump’s toxic, narcissistic appeal, on the one hand, and Biden’s near-catatonic lackluster public persona, on the other hand. Besides, Trump and Biden are scandal-addled, with enough histories of personal and public corruption to land both of them in prison, or, at the very least, permanently discredited and barred from seeking political office..
Finally, whether West wins or loses the presidency in 2024, his candidacy has the potential to push the ongoing, perennial struggle for social justice and real democracy forward long after the election is over; locally, nationally and globally, no matter if Republicans or Democrats win.
The political landscape will never be the same again.
https://youtube.com/shorts/
CORNEL WEST FOR PRESIDENT
On the GREEN PARTY!
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