tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4131728244854401872.post2721399160354866526..comments2023-11-05T03:28:11.911-08:00Comments on Insurgent Theory: Why i didn't vote for Obama part 4.Ben Turkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04838599516482103220noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4131728244854401872.post-16674643425058898712009-02-10T11:53:00.000-08:002009-02-10T11:53:00.000-08:00When did i ever say perfect? At most i've only eve...When did i ever say perfect? At most i've only ever said better. Why accept good when better is possible?<BR/><BR/>As far as purity in politics, do i need to go into the whole 'capitalism creates an artificial distinction between public and private life which makes certain activities (shopping) appear to be apolitical, while others (voting) become the only approved avenues of "political action" even though they're entirely ineffectual' and so, yes, politics are of course impure. <BR/><BR/>I'm not looking for purity or perfection, i'm looking for a political system that's at least a little bit better, something that'll keep the economic system from self-destructing before we've got a chance to replace it. I don't think that's really all that much to ask for, to demand even.Ben Turkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04838599516482103220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4131728244854401872.post-34933911224244521352009-02-10T10:07:00.000-08:002009-02-10T10:07:00.000-08:00You make the perfect the enemy of the good. The id...You make the perfect the enemy of the good. The idea of purity in politics is a historical dead letter.Scott Waltershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06465161646609405658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4131728244854401872.post-49948083309225153982009-02-10T09:01:00.000-08:002009-02-10T09:01:00.000-08:00You are correct there. All politicians are liars o...You are correct there. All politicians are liars or losers (cuz if you don't lie, you lose) and i'm no good at lying.<BR/><BR/>My solution in regards to electoral politics is to boycott it as publically as possible and demand reform. That's only a temporary band-aid solution to the real problems in our society, which are economic, can't be solved by any purely political process like representative democracy and must be solved by the development and proliferation of a radically alternative economic system, which is what i spend most of my time working on.Ben Turkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04838599516482103220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4131728244854401872.post-55451921206829778052009-02-10T06:58:00.000-08:002009-02-10T06:58:00.000-08:00so, i can gather that you won't be running for off...so, i can gather that you won't be running for office to bring about the change you desire. what's your solution?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4131728244854401872.post-36641129842047431062009-02-09T16:23:00.000-08:002009-02-09T16:23:00.000-08:00The 90's low voter turn out situation could've bee...The 90's low voter turn out situation could've been resolved in one of two ways. First, reforming the election process to make it more responsive and truly democratic, thus winning over the disillusioned non-voters. or second: expanded "get out the vote" efforts, and media coverage to exert social pressure on the non-voters (apathetic or disillusioned). <BR/><BR/>The current situation is the result of the second option succeeding wildly, even to the point where non-voters or anyone talking about vote boycotting is constantly attacked, called "lazy surrender[ers]".<BR/><BR/>Don't worry, i'm not ignoring the establishment, but i'm also not validating it by participating in it's fake democracy.Ben Turkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04838599516482103220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4131728244854401872.post-2253273660123691582009-02-09T13:35:00.000-08:002009-02-09T13:35:00.000-08:00i just don't understand how ignoring the establish...i just don't understand how ignoring the establishment moves to change it. especially if low voter turn out in the 90s eventually yielded the two unsatisfactory candidates in the most recent election.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4131728244854401872.post-3085702042006146702009-02-09T09:09:00.000-08:002009-02-09T09:09:00.000-08:00Anonymous, i am sorry, but you are incorrect. Allo...Anonymous, i am sorry, but you are incorrect. Allow me to illustrate a couple of historical examples of when low voter turn out has had significant effects on election reform.<BR/><BR/>First, on the international scale, vote boycotts have been used repeatedly in the communist and post communist world as ways for the opposition to expose the elections as illegitimate.<BR/><BR/>Second, on the domestic level, back in the 90's when US voter turn out was less than 50% the media and political science establishments started doing research into why. They surveyed non-voters and found that many of them felt disenfranchised, not apathetic. Then two things happened: 1. people started talking about election reform, instant run-offs, scrapping the electoral college, etc. 2. MTV and other organizations worked on making voting seem cool. By 2004 all talk of reform was silenced because the media discovered that manipulating elections to be neck-and-neck and then spazzing out about it would make them a lot of money, which had the side effects of 1. increasing turn out. 2. making reform appear unnecessary. 3. eliminating whatever substantive democracy or popular sovereignty that had existed in our system.Ben Turkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04838599516482103220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4131728244854401872.post-33983513430208089622009-02-09T07:06:00.000-08:002009-02-09T07:06:00.000-08:00then write in a frickin' name. not voting = lazy s...then write in a frickin' name. not voting = lazy surrender.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com