More than Fascistic - Farcical Elections
Capitalism’s biggest shit show is having its ceremonial anniversary, and instead of feeling disgusted at the media circus that is designed to perpetuate the bloodbath, the lynching mob is cheering on the charade. “Who is winning? Is it Trump? Is it Harris? Are Democrats going to save democracy? Are Republicans going to introduce fascism?” So pretentiously innocuous is the tone of such questions, so sadistically joyous their anticipation, so extravagantly wasteful is the indulgence in this farce, that it boggles one’s mind.
For the past one year, every single day, we have witnessed images of Israeli military gleefully murdering children; we have scrolled through videos of charred and disfigured civilians, of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians deliberately being starved and ethnically cleansed. The only "democracy" in Middle East, Israel has according to scholarly estimates, killed over 200,000 human beings within past one year - funded by the oldest "democracy" US, and directly enabled by many of NATO's "democratic" member states as well as by world's largest "democracy" India.
All through the year, most people in these so-called democracies have remained silent during genocide because they preferred not to be “political”. They avoided talking about Gaza, ignored the calls to boycott Israeli products, refused to show up at or organize protests, declined to share on their social media any comments on Israel’s atrocities because they professed being the good people who don’t like to get “political”. So much for their love of democratic values.
And yet, since past few days, I have been barraged with curiosity from every such friend and family member that I know of personally, about the fate of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Those who used to avoid watching how their tax money was killing civilians daily, are suddenly glued to television sets and news analysis about the election results, and their excitement knows no bounds. Some even flaunt their selfies with Holocaust Harris as though it’s some sort of an achievement. And of course many are showing off I-Voted-Early stickers as if their life depended on it.
The truth is the entire electoral system in the US is rigged at its foundation. It is designed to keep the oligarchy in power. Just two parties with unlimited amount of money not only duopolistically get to field their exclusive candidates, they have also twisted the laws to make it impossible for candidates from other parties or those representing anti-war positions, to even go on presidential debates to air their dissenting opinions, let alone to appear on the ballot in a manner that is meant to count in a functional democracy.
In such a scenario, a right to vote is a mere farce, where the act of voting is a symbolism to keep the two parties in power. For those who are rejecting this premise, voting has emerged as an ethical issue, a moral issue, a call to conscience. A vote for the conscientious person is not about electing genocidal maniacs and blatantly warmongering, terrorizing politicians once every four years. It becomes a moral duty to reject such candidates by either voting for candidates from other parties (in this cycle, Claudia de la Cruz of PSL, Jill Stein of Green, or independent Cornel West), or to protest the entire system by refusing to endorse any candidate that will perpetuate immoral cycle of violence. Either way, making Trump win or to make Kamala win is never a moral choice for any voter, let alone a rejoicing choice. So, while knowing that either of these two genocidal parties will come to power anyway, obsessing over electoral results as though a grand suspense is underway, is an absurdity at best, and a display of sadistic indifference towards suffering of Palestinians, at worst.
If anything, the election result will reaffirm only one unsavory truth, which is that, whenever the US sends tens of billions of dollars to Israel, it doesn’t mean that Biden or Harris orchestrated it on their own accord. Tomorrow when (not, if) Trump sends more billions, it won’t be solely his legacy either. Everyone who participates in this ceremony to elect the Amerikkkan Empire’s next King/Queen will be directly - financially and legally - responsible for execution of more mass murders. There is no escaping that, and no matter who wins this most inconsequential, most ludicrously useless, and most viciously murderous election season, it is the international working class in its entirety - the oppressed, the colonized, and the global South - which stands to only lose. If anything, today will just be a reminder that it’s time to look beyond, far beyond elections that are the masters’ tools devised to keep the castle intact. This system cannot be salvaged. It must be scrapped. And Democracy is not under some sudden threat. There simply has been none, to begin with.
