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On the “Conscience Vote” and the Role of Electoral Politics for the Revolutionary-Minded
It’s long been a truism among many on the left that electoral politics is essentially a bankrupt avenue for seeking meaningful social change, much less for achieving a just and equitable society.
And often this rejection of electoral politics encompasses as well the belief that there is little to no consequential difference between the Democratic and Republican parties in terms of the outcomes of their policies for the majority of Americans. Each party, the standard belief goes, sits in the pocket of corporate America and does the bidding of the elite, offering no meaningful benefit or change for the average American and doing nothing to tip the balance of power in U.S. society.
I’ve heard left progressives voice this position this election season, so it’s alive and well, meaning the choice remaining for these folks is either to opt out of voting or, as we also often hear, to vote one’s conscience by supporting a third party candidate.
To the first option of simply sitting out the election, let me offer this food for thought. Why would one give up an opportunity to make a choice? Making this choice and taking what we can get at the moment in terms of improving people’s lives doesn’t prevent me from continuing to work for great social change.
