• Beyond Voting: Anarchist Organizing, Electoral Politics and Developing Strategy for Liberation– Chris Crass
• The Lure of Elections: From Political Power to Popular Power – Frank Ascaso, Enrique Guerrero-Lopez
• VIDEO Electoral Politics: The New Revolution– Chokwe Antar Lumumba
•  Transformative Electoral Strategy
  https://befreedom.co/toward-a-transformative-electoral-strategy/

Dialogue Notes:

Check-in

• Learning about Jackson Rising and pushing interesting people into political offices, looking for fresh thinking
• Have been involved in a lot of campaigns
• Frustrated by those who don’t vote, but need to minimize damage while tearing down the system
• Radical people in elections recently making me reconsider, interested in strategy and tactics and the steps it takes to get to a radical change, requires a real rigor to shift systems in big ways, nihilism and idealism mixture that keeps us where we’re at
• Came from family that focused exclusively on electoral politics and voting, no idea of concrete steps that get us where we’re going
• How much energy do we put where?
• Hillbilly Elegy got me thinking about family, what part of you do you identify with, not about how I identify, more interested in how to decrease combativeness around it
• For the first time I can see voting as part of something bigger, pulling the left to the left

Dialogue

• Interesting to think about how politics give cause for discussions, how to talk to family/Trump supporters who otherwise have shared values with me about what they think of where things are now
• Conversely, not that interested in gentle conversation, want combativeness and taking power, electoral politics as one tactic, not a concession, finally seeing electoral politics as a way to take power, closer than it’s been in a long time
• Peacemaking not opposed to troublemaking,
• How electoral politics works with organizing? Was part of org that focused on saving essential public services, got initiatives on the ballot, got people engaged in what they care about, ignite people who are ready
• Most people see voting as democracy, but once in a position of power it’s harder – that’s when you really have to raise the issues and get to work. Easier in some ways being an anti-authoritative force than actually being in power. Talking about bigger issues now. Police, gentrification, streets, water.
• Most elected officials only prioritize rich white men, why is it bad to center others. What does conservative even mean? Certainly, not fiscal. Won’t see real change until millions of people are willing to strike.
• Do we mean electoral politics to only be voting for candidates? Some issues it’s the only way to get at certain issues.
• Questioning representative democracy. Is it the structure? Or is it about staying involved? Leadership tends to get further and further from the base. And starts scratching back with politicians and power. On structure, few structures lend themselves to actual representation.
• What is anarchy? It’s an acknowledgement that what we have built doesn’t work. There isn’t a form that works. It’s about engagement. There have been some champions – Ayende. Lumumba: “The selection of our leadership demonstrates the readiness of our people”
• Hard to say state power doesn’t work when we’ve been the ones benefiting from it
• Currently researching voting and messaging, in ways that is for POC but bridges groups, hard to contend with bootstrap mythology, can’t just take a core belief and throw it away. Electoral politics is the same. It’s how the world operates. Plenty of places in the world are super organized. This country just can’t logistically be handled in mass. Leads to localism.
• We are seeing a wave of localism in response to presidency. And how that relates to having the privilege to question voting when it is still such a core value for many and still something people are fighting to have – prisoner strike is fighting for the right to vote, gerrymandering is disenfranchising so many.
• Presidency is a signal more than anything. An empowerment.
• Lumumba going out and campaigning and what people wanted was to fix potholes. Have to connect to an understanding of lack of access to self-determination and resources.
• Understand the Occupy approach – but can we say there are all these problems and just start with one of them?
• Cat Brooks running for Mayor is a tactical move in movement for power for people.
• Spread of tactics. Cultural shift. Who the people vote in as a reflection of what they are ready for.
• Right knows how to market their ideologies. Left people don’t want to market to people but that’s how you win. But can you really tear down the master’s house with the master’s tools? Fundamentally means lying and watering down the truth. But you can change your language to get to people. Marketing as way to help people understand. Left has been marketing. Just hasn’t been conglomerating control of the media. Radical left doesn’t have a National Inquirer. We don’t want to be unscrupulous.
• Shift language – rational instead of radical
• People see there is a problem but don’t take action. Get a mass of people to support a cause without understanding it – i.e. people supported legislation to stop redlining, but as soon as there was a tax increase people had a backlash and did something even worse
• Tension of electoral politics. example of discussing abortion.
• Things become more sensical that did seem radical as collective consciousness changes.
• Congress does not vote in the interest of the people. Electoral system works how it’s meant to – to the advantage of the powerful. Disenfranchised, uninformed people. People don’t have a sense of how things could be different.
• Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor book about Obama election. How he let them down.
• A lot to be said for meeting people where they are. Kids in my classroom, ie. How to address obstacles to them empowering themselves. Getting stuff out of the way. Allowing self-determination. Accessing humanity. Electoral politics feels like it strips away humanity. Ie white supremacy, corruption, compromises, absconding responsibility – voting someone in because we think its all we can do, then feeling disappointed at the results. Or told that however the vote goes is the will of society, so let it go. Feels like there isn’t any impact or movement.
• Ran away from problems in my community that I didn’t feel connected to.
• How do we engage in electoral politics in a way that restores humanity? Passing laws to protect, organizing political community,
• Don’t just get into congress and then you’re in, they have to get into committees and there’s a lot of back dealing.
• Alive process of self-discovery – how many things are in the way in our communities. Portland prosecutor running on radical platform of not prosecuting. Discussion about DA/prosecutors races and potential impact.
• Looking at my own district and those running. One candidate is new to the system, one has been in it. Similar values. But how will they each fare in the actual system? The ways they have to trade votes, etc. How to move issues.
• How to actually stick with a candidate all the way through? Cal, tweet, encourage them to author legislation, vote for or against things, get involved with groups that lobby, ResistBot
• Marches. Women’s March, Climate March. They don’t care how much we march. What is the purpose? Is it a starting place to get people involved and activated? Help people connect the dots. What impact on psyches? Resourcing the movements. Do this work – hard to sustain, but it builds relationships and reminds us that we’re selling something beautiful. Seeing our numbers. We’re not isolated. Probably doesn’t influence policy makers. It’s a gateway to getting more involved in more challenging issues. Taking over public space. Awareness of the massive criticism that comes after. A good opportunity to have that first complicated conversation about whiteness and to think about something.
• If there’s a spark and some leadership, people will show up. Be ready to move and ready for more people. Who would have thought we would hear politicians talking about Abolishing ICE.
• The long slow work of infrastructure building. How to handle influxes of people and train and harness them before you lose them.
• Making connections between detention and prisons.
• School and workplaces are the most undemocratic place. Racist policing of hair at school. What would it be like if the kids decided what would be ok. Self-determination v. democracy. The indoctrination is you don’t have power, that is the biggest lesson they are teaching at school.
• Universal basic income. Argument against. If we gave people UI, they would be stuck and sad, because they have been indoctrined to not be able to be happy without control.
• Relates to fascism, conditioned to be controlled. Sheep. Related to electoral politics. Need to follow something. Positive way to work in groups and collectivity.
• Abusive relationships since colonization.
• Not easy to self-determine. Much easy to do what is expected within class and peers. And that got me all kinked up.
• Younger people relate to the notion of socialism. In my generation, the threat of communism, and a negative connotation. How has that shifted?
• Most people don’t understand the history and think we invented it for the first time #berniebros.
• Fellowship that sent teachers to learn about the evils of communism.
• Need to take Antifa back, you are either a fascist or not. Pick one.
• Electoral politics can’t be ignored, need to deal with it, its not gonna lead toward liberation but it helps organize, make connections between issue.
• Fight with all my weapons, and want to use electoral politics strategically. Want to know more about the offices. Read Jackson Rising book, group that makes a concerted choice on state power
• Thinking about struggles on every level
• Thinking more about relationships
• Leadership development