Revolutionary Worker #1254, October 10, 2004, posted at http://rwor.org
A word of caution--something worth seriously pondering especially for all those progressive people who are not only getting drawn into urging people to vote for Kerry, on the basis of "Anything But Bush," but are being drawn toward making the electoral arena the key to everything:
If you fall into the orientation of trying to make the Democrats be what they are not, and never will be, you will end up becoming more like what the Democrats actually are .
On the orientation of "slowing things down" for a little while, and "buying a little time" (by trying to get Bush out of office, via voting for Kerry). The key question is: "Buying time to do WHAT ?
Once again, the point, clearly, is that whether or not people vote in this election, for all those who see the real danger--the very danger that makes them want to vote for Kerry, and to urge others to vote for Kerry, even knowing what Kerry is, and is not --that understanding of the great danger, and its immediacy, should make people feel compelled toact , and to call on, encourage and help mobilize many others to act, outside of and beyond the elections and the electoral framework--to build now, and in an ongoing way, the most powerful mass opposition and resistance that refuses to be bound by the terms of mainstream politics or by the notion that this politics represents the "ultimate word" on the "will of the people."
Bob Avakian, Chairman of the
RCP
previously unpublished