It’s the only system we can have that the people will have any power. It’s either democracy, or being ruled over. And we will always trend towards the latter if the people abdicate the power they have.
There will NEVER be a time where we can just sit back and say “cool, things are good now, we don’t need to participate in politics anymore”. It will ALWAYS be either fighting to enforce our own power, or fighting to get that power back through revolution.
The power may lie with capital right now, but that’s because >1/3 of people (at least in the US) simply sit at home on their fat asses and don’t even try to participate in the system. And that’s for the biggest elections too. Where things really matter, at the state and local level, primaries where you get a say in who is even on the ballot, turnout is even worse.
Where I am, we have mail in voting, and a ballot is automatically sent to you, along with a booklet with everything on the ballot. The full text of what you’re voting on, a plain English explanation of what it will do, any tax changes that would happen from it, and arguments for and against. For primaries, if you’re not registered with a party you get both ballots and get to choose which one to vote in. It literally could not be any easier to vote. Our primaries this year? Thirty-fucking-six percent. 36%. And that was a “surge” in participation.
You can vote in your underwear at home, for weeks before the election date. And 64% of people still said fuck it, they don’t care enough. **That’s **entirely why the wealthy are able to control things. The people do not give a shit enough about it to even do their basic civic responsibility and exercise their vote, from their goddamn couches.
It’s not about believing in the system.
It’s the only system we can have that the people will have any power. It’s either democracy, or being ruled over. And we will always trend towards the latter if the people abdicate the power they have.
There will NEVER be a time where we can just sit back and say “cool, things are good now, we don’t need to participate in politics anymore”. It will ALWAYS be either fighting to enforce our own power, or fighting to get that power back through revolution.
The power may lie with capital right now, but that’s because >1/3 of people (at least in the US) simply sit at home on their fat asses and don’t even try to participate in the system. And that’s for the biggest elections too. Where things really matter, at the state and local level, primaries where you get a say in who is even on the ballot, turnout is even worse.
Where I am, we have mail in voting, and a ballot is automatically sent to you, along with a booklet with everything on the ballot. The full text of what you’re voting on, a plain English explanation of what it will do, any tax changes that would happen from it, and arguments for and against. For primaries, if you’re not registered with a party you get both ballots and get to choose which one to vote in. It literally could not be any easier to vote. Our primaries this year? Thirty-fucking-six percent. 36%. And that was a “surge” in participation.
You can vote in your underwear at home, for weeks before the election date. And 64% of people still said fuck it, they don’t care enough. **That’s **entirely why the wealthy are able to control things. The people do not give a shit enough about it to even do their basic civic responsibility and exercise their vote, from their goddamn couches.