[RSF] Fw: Limits of Electoral Politics

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----- Original Message -----=20
From: CyberBrook=20
To: SOCIAL-MOVEMENTS@???=20
Sent: Thursday, October 24, 2002 5:30 AM
Subject: Limits of Electoral Politics

From: "Bureau of Public Secrets" <knabb@???>

THE LIMITS OF ELECTORAL POLITICS

Roughly speaking we can distinguish five degrees of "government":

          (1) Unrestricted freedom
          (2) Direct democracy
          (3) Delegate democracy
          (4) Representative democracy
          (5) Overt minority dictatorship

The present society oscillates between (4) and (5), i.e. between overt
minority rule and covert minority rule camouflaged by a facade of =
token
democracy. A liberated society would eliminate (4) and (5) and would
progressively reduce the need for (2) and (3). . . .

In representative democracy people abdicate their power to elected
officials. The candidates' stated policies are limited to a few vague
generalities, and once they are elected there is little control over =
their
actual decisions on hundreds of issues -- apart from the feeble threat =
of
changing one's vote, a few years later, to some equally uncontrollable =
rival
politician. Representatives are dependent on the wealthy for bribes =
and
campaign contributions; they are subordinate to the owners of the mass
media, who decide which issues get the publicity; and they are almost =
as
ignorant and powerless as the general public regarding many important
matters that are determined by unelected bureaucrats and independent =
secret
agencies. Overt dictators may sometimes be overthrown, but the real =
rulers
in "democratic" regimes, the tiny minority who own or control =
virtually
everything, are never voted in and never voted out. Most people don't =
even
know who they are. . . .

In itself, voting is of no great significance one way or the other =
(those
who make a big deal about refusing to vote are only revealing their =
own
fetishism). The problem is that it tends to lull people into relying =
on
others to act for them, distracting them from more significant
possibilities. A few people who take some creative initiative (think =
of the
first civil rights sit-ins) may ultimately have a far greater effect =
than if
they had put their energy into campaigning for lesser-evil =
politicians. At
best, legislators rarely do more than what they have been forced to do =
by
popular movements. A conservative regime under pressure from =
independent
radical movements often concedes more than a liberal regime that knows =
it
can count on radical support. If people invariably rally to lesser =
evils,
all the rulers have to do in any situation that threatens their power =
is to
conjure up a threat of some greater evil.

Even in the rare case when a "radical" politician has a realistic =
chance of
winning an election, all the tedious campaign efforts of thousands of =
people
may go down the drain in one day because of some trivial scandal =
discovered
in his personal life, or because he inadvertently says something
intelligent. If he manages to avoid these pitfalls and it looks like =
he
might win, he tends to evade controversial issues for fear of =
antagonizing
swing voters. If he actually gets elected he is almost never in a =
position
to implement the reforms he has promised, except perhaps after years =
of
wheeling and dealing with his new colleagues; which gives him a good =
excuse
to see his first priority as making whatever compromises are necessary =
to
keep himself in office indefinitely. Hobnobbing with the rich and =
powerful,
he develops new interests and new tastes, which he justifies by =
telling
himself that he deserves a few perks after all his years of working =
for good
causes. Worst of all, if he does eventually manage to get a few
"progressive" measures passed, this exceptional and usually trivial =
success
is held up as evidence of the value of relying on electoral politics, =
luring
many more people into wasting their energy on similar campaigns to =
come.

As one of the May 1968 graffiti put it, "It's painful to submit to our =
bosses;=20
it's even more stupid to choose them!"

[Excerpts from "The Joy of Revolution." To see the complete text,=20
click http://www.bopsecrets.org/PS/joyrev.htm .]

BUREAU OF PUBLIC SECRETS
http://www.bopsecrets.org

         ! CyberBrook's ThinkLinks -  to make a better world !
                http://www.brook.com/cyberbrook

It is not your obligation to complete the task=20
of perfecting the world, but neither are you free from beginning it.
---Rabbi Tarfon, Pirkei Avot [Ethics of the Parents]

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
 "Frequently the only possible answer is a critique of the question
  and the only solution is to negate the question." --- Karl Marx
 (Grundrisse: Notebook 1, The Chapter on Money, October 1857)
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> 
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<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message -----=20
<DIV style=3D"BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black">From: <A=20
title=3DBrook@??? =
href=3D"mailto:Brook@CALIFORNIA.COM">CyberBrook</A>=20
</DIV>
<DIV>To: <A title=3DSOCIAL-MOVEMENTS@???=20
href=3D"mailto:SOCIAL-MOVEMENTS@LISTSERV.HEANET.IE">SOCIAL-MOVEMENTS@LIST=
SERV.HEANET.IE</A>=20
</DIV>
<DIV>Sent: Thursday, October 24, 2002 5:30 AM</DIV>
<DIV>Subject: Limits of Electoral Politics</DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>From: "Bureau of Public Secrets" <<A=20
href=3D"mailto:knabb@slip.net">knabb@???</A>> 
<BLOCKQUOTE cite=3D"" type=3D"cite">THE LIMITS OF ELECTORAL=20
POLITICS Roughly speaking we can distinguish five degrees of=20
"government":         (1)=20
Unrestricted freedom         (2) =
Direct=20
democracy         (3) Delegate=20
democracy         (4) =
Representative=20
democracy         (5) Overt =
minority=20
dictatorship The present society oscillates between (4) and =
(5), i.e.=20
between overt minority rule and covert minority rule camouflaged by =
a=20
facade of token democracy. A liberated society would eliminate (4) =
and (5)=20
and would progressively reduce the need for (2) and (3). . . =
. In=20
representative democracy people abdicate their power to =
elected officials.=20
The candidates' stated policies are limited to a few =
vague generalities,=20
and once they are elected there is little control over their actual =

decisions on hundreds of issues -- apart from the feeble threat =
of changing=20
one's vote, a few years later, to some equally uncontrollable=20
rival politician. Representatives are dependent on the wealthy for =
bribes=20
and campaign contributions; they are subordinate to the owners of =
the=20
mass media, who decide which issues get the publicity; and they are =
almost=20
as ignorant and powerless as the general public regarding many=20
important matters that are determined by unelected bureaucrats and=20
independent secret agencies. Overt dictators may sometimes be =
overthrown,=20
but the real rulers in "democratic" regimes, the tiny minority who =
own or=20
control virtually everything, are never voted in and never voted =
out. Most=20
people don't even know who they are. . . . In itself, voting =
is of=20
no great significance one way or the other (those who make a big =
deal about=20
refusing to vote are only revealing their own fetishism). The =
problem is=20
that it tends to lull people into relying on others to act for =
them,=20
distracting them from more significant possibilities. A few people =
who take=20
some creative initiative (think of the first civil rights sit-ins) =
may=20
ultimately have a far greater effect than if they had put their =
energy into=20
campaigning for lesser-evil politicians. At best, legislators =
rarely do=20
more than what they have been forced to do by popular movements. A=20
conservative regime under pressure from independent radical =
movements often=20
concedes more than a liberal regime that knows it can count on =
radical=20
support. If people invariably rally to lesser evils, all the rulers =
have to=20
do in any situation that threatens their power is to conjure up a =
threat of=20
some greater evil. Even in the rare case when a "radical" =
politician=20
has a realistic chance of winning an election, all the tedious =
campaign=20
efforts of thousands of people may go down the drain in one day =
because of=20
some trivial scandal discovered in his personal life, or because he =

inadvertently says something intelligent. If he manages to avoid =
these=20
pitfalls and it looks like he might win, he tends to evade =
controversial=20
issues for fear of antagonizing swing voters. If he actually gets =
elected=20
he is almost never in a position to implement the reforms he has =
promised,=20
except perhaps after years of wheeling and dealing with his new =
colleagues;=20
which gives him a good excuse to see his first priority as making =
whatever=20
compromises are necessary to keep himself in office indefinitely.=20
Hobnobbing with the rich and powerful, he develops new interests =
and new=20
tastes, which he justifies by telling himself that he deserves a =
few perks=20
after all his years of working for good causes. Worst of all, if he =
does=20
eventually manage to get a few "progressive" measures passed, this=20
exceptional and usually trivial success is held up as evidence of =
the value=20
of relying on electoral politics, luring many more people into =
wasting=20
their energy on similar campaigns to come. As one of the May =
1968=20
graffiti put it, "It's painful to submit to our bosses; it's even =
more=20
stupid to choose them!" [Excerpts from "The Joy of Revolution." =
To see=20
the complete text, click <A=20
href=3D"http://www.bopsecrets.org/PS/joyrev.htm"=20
eudora=3D"autourl">http://www.bopsecrets.org/PS/joyrev.htm</A> =
.] BUREAU=20
OF PUBLIC SECRETS <A href=3D"http://www.bopsecrets.org/"=20
=
eudora=3D"autourl">http://www.bopsecrets.org</A></BLOCKQUOTE> =
<FONT=20
size=3D3>         ! CyberBrook's =

ThinkLinks -  to make a better world=20
! <X-TAB>        </X-TAB><X-TA=
B>        </X-TAB><A=20
href=3D"http://www.brook.com/cyberbrook"=20
eudora=3D"autourl">http://www.brook.com/cyberbrook</A> It is not =
your=20
obligation to complete the task of perfecting the world, but =
neither=20
are you free from beginning it.  ---Rabbi Tarfon, =
Pirkei=20
Avot [Ethics of the=20
Parents] <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^=
^>  "Frequently=20
the only possible answer is a critique of the question   and the =
only=20
solution is to negate the question." --- Karl =
Marx  (Grundrisse:=20
Notebook 1, The Chapter on Money, October=20
1857) <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^></FONT=
>=20
</BODY></HTML>

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