While not as big as the presidential election we see every four years, many states have important votes that will determine how capitalism will continue to be administered by the politicians, some of whom are being voted for today as well. Cities such as New York and my own San Diego have mayor elections, while the states of Maine and Texas have gay-rights measures. The workers Virginia and New Jersey vote for new governors, and perhaps the most famous state governor, The Govenator, is pushing for a set of measures that will give him the power to fix Caleeforneeya.
While some will hustle and bustle to their local polling stations, many others will not care, instead staying home to watch reruns of Sex in the City.
Some or all of these votes may seem important from the outset. I would certainly agree that gays should have all the rights that anyone else has, and the commercials I have seen for and against the propositions in California suggest importance of the vote from both sides.
But I also wonder whether these votes really are the answers we need. From my personal observations, I have seen two kinds of votes that one might make on voting day, and I do not mean, “yes” or “no”. The two kinds of votes that one is likely to see on Election Day are either an administrative vote, for a political office, proposition or the like, or some kind of human rights vote, like the gays rights measures above.
While both are needed in capitalism, they do not serve a useful purpose to everyday workers. Giving more power to politicians only allows them to administer the everyday running of society to the benefit of capitalism. A decision that makes a profit for a special interest will almost always be made before human needs are thought of. And these gay rights measures in Texas and Maine, and ones we have seen before such as Massachusetts only serve to bring these workers to an equal footing with everyone else. It’s kind of saying, “I don’t mind being treated crappy, as long as it’s the same level of crappiness as everyone else.”
Voting today only serves to continue the administration of capitalism, or attempts to fix aspects of it to make it nicer. The true fact of the matter is that capitalism can never be made to work for the working class, and that we need to start making votes that will allow us to create a society of our own, that we control.
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