Katha Pollitt on Nader

Gordon Fitch gcf at panix.com
Fri Jul 21 14:17:29 PDT 2000


Katha Pollitt:
> ...
> I just think there are some things you can get from electoral
> politics, and some you can't. rolling back capitalism is not
> something voting is going to get you.
> ...

People continue to talk as if voting "gets you" something like an outcome (e.g. "Democrats move to the left.") But it doesn't. In any election larger than a village, any single vote has a vanishingly small material effect; yet one constantly speaks hereabouts as if it mattered greatly, so much, indeed, that crafty compromises and cost-benefit analyses of candidates are warranted. Even Katha is doing it. Would anyone care to explore this mysticism? What does your vote _actually_ get you? I'm especially interested in those who are prepared to vote for a candidate they concede is repugnant.



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list