Thread by @radfagg

THREAD: I’m voting early for #BidenHarris2020.

Here’s why, against many of my core values, I’m doing so, why you should too if you’re able, AND why voting in this election is not revolutionary, and deeply insufficient:

I believe we need to use every tool we have at this moment. I believe a contested election gives us more fodder than one where Trump wins easily. I believe a racist establishment president is NOT BETTER but MORE NAVIGABLE than a fascist for of our most marginalized communities.

That being said, the idea that fascism can be voted away is dangerous, not only because fascism doesn’t care about the laws of democracy, but also because fascist movements that are mobilized at this moment will continue to be, regardless of how the election plays out.

For young people in particular calling for a political revolution--you are 100% right. I believe participating in an election as an immediate strategy is not counter to the much more revolutionary politics that are necessary in this moment.

I do believe voting without also organizing our communities and committing to revolutionary practices is the true danger facing us currently.

Let's set an example for those closer to the center of the spectrum that we can use a range of tools simultaneously, towards a shared vision for political revolution.

As actual leftists, let’s vote in the hopes of getting Trump out, of challenging the U.S. to hold itself to its most meager promises, not because we believe them, but because it’s important for us to create accountability both for political system and the officials within them.

On that note, I’m furious with democrats and liberals who are doing zero work in this moment, furious with those who shame Black, poor, working people for how they engage this insulting process...

while doing no door knocking, no challenging of their fascist friends, family, and coworkers, no protecting of those going to the polls, and making no demands of the racist officials they pressured us to elect.

Black people are mourning. We are living in fear every day in ways you will never understand. We are leading the largest social movement the U.S. has ever seen. It’s not our job to protect ourselves from you and protect you from yourselves at the same time.

Whatever happens in this election--which, given the lack of organizing on the part of both democrats and their liberal base, I’m not optimistic about...

...we will all need to be in the streets in the coming months and years, engaging with our communities in real time in ways we've never previously imagined.

Everything about this political process and the interests it protects--those of the wealthy, private sector, police, prison, and military systems, the destruction of the environment--have to be resisted on every front. That includes voting, sure, but it includes everything else.

Black people understand the importance of using EVERY tool to create needed change. When one tool stops working, you must readily switch to another. Y’all need to follow us, not the other way around.

On that note, #AbolishPolice, #AbolishICE, #LandBack, #FreePalestine, #DefundTheMilitary, #GreenNewDeal, #HousingForAll, #DecriminalizeSexWork, #HealthcareForAll, #BlackLivesMatter.