Palestine Solidarity Information, Analysis, Local Actions and Events for the week of February 25
It has become clear that the Israeli government will continue their assault on Gaza and the West Bank. The retaliation for the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel, has escalated, therefore, GRIID will be providing weekly links to information and analysis that we think can better inform us of what is happening, along with the role that the US government is playing. We will also provide information on local events and actions that people can get involved in. All of this information is to provide people with the capacity of what Noam Chomsky refers to as, intellectual self-defense.
Information
US blocks Gaza ceasefire demand at Security Council for third time
Israel Is Assaulting Hospitals in Gaza With Full U.S. Support
After Gaza Cease-Fire Veto, Biden to Attend Fundraiser at Home of Pro-Israel Billionaire
‘Horrific’: Israeli Escalation Would Kill Another 85,000 Gazans in 6 Months, Study Shows
‘Two-State Solution’ as a Distraction – The Problem is Zionism
AIPAC ALLY SLAMS “UNCOMMITTED” VOTERS WARNING BIDEN TO CHANGE COURSE ON GAZA
Analysis & History
The Crimes Driven By The Ideology of Jewish Supremacy
Local Events and Actions
Webinar with Elias Chacour – Saturday, March 2nd at 12 noon. Register here.
For upcoming events/action also check the FB page for Palestine Solidarity Grand Rapids https://www.facebook.com/PalestineSolidarityGR
Protesters wanted to confront Vice President over her complicity in genocide, but were prevented from getting anywhere near Kamala Harris
Roughly 25 people were able to show up at the last minute to confront Kamala Harris over the Biden Administration’s complicity in genocide, along with enabling Israeli war crimes through US military aid and weapons.
I say last minute, because despite the fact that it was a week ago that the Vice President’s visit was announced, some details of the visit were only revealed on Thursday morning. WZZM 13 ran a short story, stating that Harris would be at Fountain St. Church and speaking at 12:30pm.
The Democratic Party continues to limit the amount of people who have access to these kinds of events, and Thursday’s event was no different. The event at Fountain St. Church was by invitation only, which meant it was only available for members of the Democratic Party establishment, which is often Democratic Party politicians and members with money.
You can see from the photo here below, where the GRPD SWAT vehicle was used as a barricade, along with metal barricades and a tent that was set up to provide event more cover for those invited and those doing so-called security.
Those who were invited had to enter at the corner of Fountain Street and Ransom Avenue NE. There were several GRPD cops and cruisers, along with barricades and police tape at the intersection, with someone involved with the event who had list of names of people who could enter.
Some of those who were invited that I saw go in were Grand Rapids City Commissioner Ysasi, State Representatives Rachel Hood and Phil Skaggs.
If you have any doubts about what the real function of policing is in the US, you just had to show up today to the protest in solidarity with the people of Palestine.
In addition to the intersections that were barricaded off from the public, their were GRPD cruisers parked all around the perimeter of Fountain St. Church, cops with police dogs walking around and a group of cops on bicycles, which you can see here in the photo below.
The bike cops rode into one of the GRCC parking garages, only to re-appear about 30 minutes later, when they forced those protesting in solidarity with the Palestinians further south on Ransom. No doubt the Secret Service or Democratic Party invitees who didn’t appreciate being confronted, prompted the GRPD bike cops to aggressively move people away from the area where invitees were entering. One witness said the GRPD and the Secret Service did physically abuse some of the protesters, and put another protester up against a tree before telling them to move. Ten minutes after protesters were moved by bike cops, the VP’s Black SUV came through the Fountain St/Ransom Ave intersection, with dozens of Michigan State Police cruisers following the Vice President’s car.
Interestingly enough, there were anti-abortion protesters on the east side of the Fountain St/Ransom Ave intersection, but they were not push further down the road, nor did the GRPD question their use of a sound amplification device, which has often led to arrests of left dissidents.
In the end, the Democratic Party made sure to insulate VP Harris from any dissenters who would challenge the administration’s unconditional support for Israel’s genocidal campaign against the Palestinians. The administration’s unconditional support for Israel’s war crimes could result in Biden losing the November election. And while Democratic Party loyalists will blame people for not voting for the Biden/Harris ticket, the Dems only have themselves to blame because they have endorsed genocide.
Editor’s note: Jack Prince provided information for this article.
Is Kent County going to have its own Ottawa Impact moment? Part II
On Tuesday, GRIID posted Part I on the Kent Contract Coalition. I pointed out the basics of this contract, along with which GOP candidates and incumbents had signed on to the document that is following the model adopted by the GOP in Ottawa County in 2022.
At the end of that post, I mentioned that for Part II, I wanted to present some ideas on how to combat the ideology and the electoral strategy of the Kent Contract Coalition.
Combating the Kent Contract Coalition
Now, the obvious and simplest answer is for people to not vote for the 19 GOP candidates and incumbents that have signed on to the Kent Contract. However, if you look at the 19 GOP candidates and incumbents that have signed the Kent Contract, you can see that the bulk of them are running for Kent County Commission Districts that are primarily rural, as you can see in the map here.
The rural and less populated districts in Kent County have been won by GOP candidates for a long time. On top of that, the Kent County Democratic Party often runs candidates for those rural districts to merely have someone on the ballot, but don’t run serious campaigns with strong platforms. Therefore, it seems that the Kent Dems often concede these districts as not winnable.
Of course part of the problem of finding good candidates is finding someone who can connect with people, who are dynamic and who don’t just follow the partyline. People need to understand the concerns of those who live in rural parts of Kent County, they need to develop a robust vision that could counter the ideological stance of those in the Kent Contract Coalition, and they need to run on issues that directly impact individuals and families.
Now, countering the Kent Contract Coalition should not just involve reaching those in rural areas, but appealing to all residents in Kent County. This is more difficult, since if you include the urban districts you are now involving a more racially diverse population, a population that is more supportive of the LGBTQ community and other critical issues like housing, immigration and climate justice. This is often where the Democratic Party in Kent County fails, since they rarely take a strong stance on critical issues, partly because they too often run on a campaign slogan that say, “Vote for me, since the other candidate/political party is so far to the right.”
You can’t run an effective political campaign and just say, “I’m not as bad as my opponent”, nor can you run an effective campaign by making vague promises that include words like freedom, pro-family or “I’ll put more money in your pocket.” What would get people excited would be running on a platform that would do some of the following:
- Make $25 an hour the minimum wage.
- Adopt the Rent is Too Damn High Coalition demands.
- Immigration Justice policies – support the Drive Safe legislation, oppose ICE raids on undocumented immigrants or make Kent County a sanctuary county.
- Reduce the Sheriff Department’s budget, which would include a reduction in funding for the Kent County Jail and divert that money towards alternative safety programs or funding towards housing of food justice projects.
- Promote community garden projects, tree planting, and other sustainable projects that would promote more food justice and ecological sustainability.
- Begin a County Budget process that would be participatory, not then kind the City of Grand Rapids does, where they give out a very small percentage of the budget, but a participatory budget process where people would have input on the entire budget.
Of course, it is rare to find individuals who would run for County Commission on such a platform. However, you could do what I suggested in a recent post about Social Movements and Elections, where community-based groups would have a collective vision, with a list of demands that candidates would have to adopt if they want those involved in social movements to vote for them.
Lastly, we could just by pass the electoral process and build strong social justice movements that would have the power to force policymakers to adopt such platforms. Or better yet, we could create a new system of governance that would not be based on representative democracy, but more locally based municipal politics, which would involve a whole lot more people, be participatory and follow an assembly model for decision making on a regular basis, as opposed to showing up to vote for the lesser of evils every two years.
On Monday, for President’s Day, WXMI 17 ran a story with the headline, “Gerald Ford is the only president from Michigan. Here’s why he has a unique place in US history.”
The channel 17 story ran a disclaimer early on in the story saying that the all of the information cited in their story was from the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library & Museum. Therefore, it is no surprise that the content that WXMI 17 used in their story was 100% positive about the Gerald R. Ford.
In addition, Rep. Hillary Scholten posted on her Facebook page for February 19, “Today has extra special meaning here in West Michigan as we get ready to celebrate the 50th anniversary of President Ford. Looking forward to celebrating together this summer!”
The “celebration” that Rep. Scholten is referring to will be on August 8, 2024, which will be the 50th anniversary of when Ford was sworn in as President of the United States. I think it is reasonable to ask, what exactly are we celebrating? Is it a celebration just because Ford became President 50 years ago, only as a result of the Watergate scandal that forced Nixon to resign? Is it because one month after Ford became President that he pardoned Nixon for the crimes he committed? Maybe we should ask the people of Vietnam, Cambodia, Chile, Cuba, Argentina or East Timor whether or not they will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of Ford becoming President.
What follows is what I wrote about Gerald R. Ford in my book, A People’s History of Grand Rapids. You could also watch a shortened version of this history in the following video we produced about Gerald R. Ford’s legacy in 2011.
When Richard Nixon resigned from the presidency on August 9, 1974 due to his involvement in the Watergate break-in and the ensuing impeachment hearings, Grand Rapids’ very own Vice President Gerald R. Ford moved into the White House as President of the United States. Ford died in 2006 and the Grand Rapids Based media reported on his passing with nothing but platitudes about Ford.
Probably the biggest reference being made about Ford at his death and ever since he occupied the oval office was that he “healed the nation.” Not surprisingly, this is the title of Ford’s memoirs. But what exactly does that mean when pundits and politicians say he healed the nation? It means that Ford pardoned Nixon, which is to say that he did not seek an indictment of Nixon for illegal activities during what is now known as the Watergate scandal. The Ford Museum literature says that by pardoning Nixon, Ford helped restore confidence in the office of the presidency. Is this the reality or was it a way to sidestep any serious investigation of the illegal practices of the Nixon administration, which ultimately would lead people to see the very nature of the US Imperial Project?
When Nixon’s crimes are mentioned, what most people think of was the wiretapping of the Democrats before the election. What is usually omitted from the official record are Nixon’s war crimes in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. This is what “official historians” mean when they say Ford healed the nation, that the American public was protected from the ugly realities of US foreign policy. Well, what are we being protected from? Looking at the brief history of the Ford administration might help us to answer that question.
Ford became Nixon’s Vice President in October of 1973 and was sworn in as President in August of 1974. He served as President until Carter took the oval office in January of 1977. Ford supported the repressive government in the Philippines in its counterinsurgency war against rebels. During the coup in Argentina in 1976, Ford supported the generals who took power and slaughtered thousands of dissidents. Under Ford the US provided millions of dollars in military aid to the right-wing movement in Angola known as UNITA. He negotiated military bases in Spain with the fascist dictator Franco. Ford maintained the illegal terror war and embargo against Cuba and was President during the final days of the US occupation of South Vietnam. But probably the foreign policy that best defines Ford was his support of the Indonesian invasion of East Timor.
Much has been written about what took place in the meeting between Ford, Henry Kissinger, and Indonesian President Suharto on December 5th and 6th in 1975, but it wasn’t until December of 2001 when the National Security Archives finally obtained declassified documentation of what took place. What we now know is that Ford and Kissinger not only knew of the Indonesian plans to invade East Timor, but that they offered diplomatic and military support for the invasion, which became a multi-year and bloody genocidal campaign.
This is the history that is omitted from much of the media and the academic elite in this country. Ford himself did much to limit government transparency during his presidency. With revelations of US abuses abroad through the CIA, Ford attempted to pre-empt any serious investigation by creating his own committee headed up by Vice President Nelson Rockefeller. This did not set well with some members of Congress and an official investigation was headed up by Senator Frank Church. The Church Committee, as it became known, discovered that the US had been engaged in illegal activities such as assassinations and attempted assassinations of foreign heads of state. In his book Safe for Democracy: The Secret Wars of the CIA, National Security Archives staffer John Prados reveals that Ford tried to block the Church Committee hearings and then attempted to get members of Congress to not support the findings. 7 In 1974, Congress amended the Freedom of Information Act over Ford’s veto. “The new provisions took effect February 19, 1975 and obliged the Executive branch to disclose information of importance to public debate on national security issues,” according to Graeme Mount, author of the book 895 Days That Changed the World: The Presidency of Gerald Ford.
So, it seems that despite the efforts of some to investigate and challenge US foreign policy practices before and during Ford’s administration, Grand Rapids’ “First Son” tried to prevent the public from knowing what the US government was doing in its name. Not only is this important information on the role that Ford played as President, it continues to be crucial since most US Presidents since, have engaged in illegal wars abroad.
Is Kent County going to have its own Ottawa Impact moment – Part I
In January of 2023, people first became aware of the group known as Ottawa Impact. Ottawa Impact, was formed in early 2022, by Republicans in Ottawa County to shift the politics in that county further to the right.
GRIID ran two articles in one week – January 4 and January 11 – which not only pointed out how the commercial news media had completed failed to report on the group Ottawa Impact, but we also provided some analysis of the contract that all political candidates signed with Ottawa Impact.
In 2024, there is a possibility that what happened in Ottawa County might be repeated here in Kent County. There is a group of Republicans in Kent County known as the Kent Contract Coalition. Their website is pretty clear cut, although lacking in content. Like the group Ottawa Impact, the Kent Contract Coalition has a list of candidates that have signed the contract agreement, which you can find here.
The contract consists of the some of the following policy commitments:
- Defending the 2nd Amendment and adopting a Constitutional Carry resolution.
- Anti-Public Education, Anti-Trans and Anti-CRT.
- Removing Kent County from the Government Alliance on Race and Equity, the Michigan Public Health Institute membership, and end the promotion of Planned Parenthood.
There are a few other contract talking points, but they are vague or promote notions of government transparency and accountability. This seems rather odd, since the Ottawa Impact made the same commitment, but have not really practiced accountability and transparency.
The Kent Contract has been signed by 14 GOP candidates for Kent County Commission seats, some are incumbents and some are hoping to become elected. The page has hyperlinks to their websites and/or FB pages, which I provide below. However, many of the pages didn’t work, had already been gobbled up by another entity or were questionable to open – at least that is what by MacBook told me.
Mark Jordan District #1
- votemarkjordan.com
- Site doesn’t work
Tom Antor District #2
- CommissionerAntor
- Content not available
Mark Laws District #3
- https://www.votemarklaws.com/
- https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083727080640
- Both links work
Katie DeBoer District #4
- https://katie4kent.com/
- https://www.facebook.com/katie4kent
- Both links work
Stefanie Boone District #5
- booneforkent5.com
- https://www.facebook.com/xeus.boone
- Campaign page warns that connection isn’t secure
Stan Ponstein District 7
- https://www.stanponstein.com/
- https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063712706170
- Both links work
Matt Kallman District #9
- http://www.mattkallman.com/
- Link works, but has very little content – also not secure
Bill Hirsch District #10
- electbillhirsch.com
- Expired site
AJ Hoff District #11
- ajhoff4kent.com
- Expired link
Nick Prill District #13
- nick4kent.com
- https://www.facebook.com/nick.prill
- Failed to open
Jerri Schmidt District #14
- jerrischmidtforkentcounty.com
- Site Not Found
Josie Kornev District #18
- josieforkent.com
- https://www.facebook.com/josie.kornev
- Website can’t be reached
Jeremiah Bannister District #19
- https://www.facebook.com/jeremiah.bannister
- Doesn’t have a campaign site
Wally Bujak District #21
- votewalterbujak.com
- Campaign page doesn’t work
So, you can see that this group doesn’t appear to be terribly organized, since many of their campaign sites don’t exist or are not secure. However, this shouldn’t be the only criteria we use to assess what this group is and what they are up to.
In Part II, I want to present some ideas on how to combat the ideology and the electoral strategy of the Kent Contract Coalition.
President’s Day should be renamed War Criminal’s Day
President’s Day is one of the officially recognized holidays in the US. Most local, state and the federal government have the day off, as do mail carriers. I’m glad that mail carries get another paid day off.
Companies love President’s Day, since they get to run sales and demonstrate how patriotic they are, even if they do sell sweatshop clothing made in Vietnam. However, the larger problem with President’s Day is that it prevents us from having any serious examination of those who have sat in the White House, especially the policies they enacted.
Some people might think that the titled of this post is a bit over the top. I get it, we were all subjected to the US education system, where critical thinking, even at the university level is not really a priority. However, I believe there is plenty of evidence to show that every US President has committed War Crimes, in some for or another.
First, look at the history of Indigenous Nations in the US, where the US stole their land, murdered many of their people, forcibly relocated Native communities, violated virtually every treaty they signed and forcibly removed thousands of Indigenous children and put them in what are euphemistically called Boarding Schools.
Second, think of all the US Presidents that been complicit in chattel slavery, Jim Crow policies, the so-called Drug War and Mass Incarceration. See Margaret Kimberly’s book, Prejudential: Black Americans and the Presidents.
Third, look at how many times the US military, the CIA and other US agencies have directly intervened in countries abroad – always in the name of democracy – but ended up occupying those countries, building US Military bases, providing military weaponry, military training or propped up dictatorships. See Zoltan Grossman’s excellent chronological history of US Interventions from 1890 to the present. https://sites.evergreen.edu/zoltan/interventions/
Just investigating each of these points should make any reasonable person question the very idea of celebrating President’s Day.
Lastly, it is important that we do our own investigations of this history. I think reading Howard Zinn’s book, A Preople’s History of the United States, is important, along with books by James Loewen such as:
Lies My Teacher Told Me
Lies Across America: What Our Historic Sites Get Wrong
MLive article doesn’t challenge the unelected, anti-democratic DDA Board, who also makes decisions on how millions in tax dollars are spent
Last week Wednesday, MLive posted an article with the following headline, Riverfront amphitheater gets $20.5M commitment from Grand Rapids board.
The Grand Rapids board the headline was referring to is the Downtown Development Authority, the DDA. The MLive article states:
On Wednesday, the DDA approved a resolution to cover annual debt payments over a 20-year period on $20.5 million the city of Grand Rapids wants to borrow to help finance the venue at 201 Market Ave. SW.
The majority of the MLive story follows the usual pro-development line of thinking, with no critical assessment of what all of this means. The article does acknowledge that at least $45 million in public funding has been made available for the amphitheater project, but fails to mention that the public had no say in such matters.
If you look at the DDA agenda for the February 14th meeting (which you can find here), you can read for yourself what was included in the agenda packet for that meeting.
Before discussing more of the details from the February 14th meeting, it is worth noting that the DDA Board is made up of mostly corporate representatives, 2 government representatives and a representative from the Grand Rapids Community Foundation, although that person operates within the framework of the Grand Rapids Power Structure. Two of the corporate DDA Board members are DeVos family operatives – Richard Winn and Greg McNeilly.
In addition, the DDA Board is by appointment so they are not an elected body, thus they are only answerable to Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. and Grand Rapids City officials.
In looking at the DDA Agenda for February 14th, one can see on page 7, that their current assets are roughly $32.5 million, money that is mostly generated from taxing entities within the official DDA boundaries. And speaking of the DDA boundary, there was a very useful map in the agenda packet (page 43), which shows the ever expanding boundaries of the DDA, which began in 1980 in the area shown on the map as area A, to 2024, with 18 areas, from A through R. It’s too bad that the MLive article didn’t include this map, as it is extremely useful for the public, since it provides a good visual of how much land/property the DDA controls. Again, it cannot be said too often, that the taxes generated from the DDA-controlled area are spent by an unelected body that primarily represents the Grand Rapids Power Structure.
Also included in the DDA agenda packet for February 14th (from pages 86 – 95) is a Memorandum of Understanding regarding the DDA’s plan to pay off the bond that the City of Grand Rapids will incur for the Amphitheater.
It’s too bad that MLive does not provide more details on these so-called private/public partnership projects. Not only do they not provide more details, they don’t even provide the necessary hyperlinks to make it easy for people to do their own investigations. More importantly, as part of the local commercially controlled media landscape, MLive fails the public by not questioning or challenging the undemocratic nature of the DDA and how this unelected body gets to decide how public tax dollars are spent.
Palestine Solidarity Information, Analysis, Local Actions and Events for the week of February 15
It has become clear that the Israeli government will continue their assault on Gaza and the West Bank. The retaliation for the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel, has escalated, therefore, GRIID will be providing weekly links to information and analysis that we think can better inform us of what is happening, along with the role that the US government is playing. We will also provide information on local events and actions that people can get involved in. All of this information is to provide people with the capacity of what Noam Chomsky refers to as, intellectual self-defense.
Information
CNN’s Israel Bias Has Been Laid Bare. But CNN Is The Norm, Not The Exception
Ilan Pappé: PA Is Not Relevant, Israeli Attack on Rafah Is Imminent
Fears of mass expulsion as Netanyahu orders plan for Rafah assault
IDF Storms Largest Hospital in Southern Gaza and Attacks ‘Ward Full of Patients’
The Unrepentant West Embraces Israeli Genocide in Gaza
Israel engineers “deep pockets of starvation” across Gaza
Analysis & History
NOWHERE LEFT TO GO IN GAZA AS ISRAEL’S GROUND ASSAULT ON RAFAH LOOMS
The Chris Hedges Report with Dr. Ahmed Alhussaina, vice president of Israa University in Gaza, on Israel’s demolition of every university, along with hundreds of schools and cultural centers, in Gaza.
Local Events and Actions
Not My President’s Day Rally/March
Friday, February 16
2 – 6:30 PM
Lansing State Capitol – 100 N. Capitol Ave
Campaign to pressure the Grand Rapids Catholic Bishop to call for an immediate ceasefire in Palestine and and end to US military Aid to Israel.
For upcoming events/action also check the FB page for Palestine Solidarity Grand Rapids.
MLive article on DeVos family property donation completely omits the real motives of the most powerful family in West Michigan
The headline from a February 14 article on MLive reads, DeVos family donates land eyed for Grand Rapids soccer stadium.
The MLive article states that Dan and Pamela DeVos donated the property to the Grand Rapids Downtown Development Authority (DDA) with the intent that that land might be used as part of the land that will be necessary to construct a soccer stadium in Grand Rapids.
The only source cited in this article was DeVos family spokesperson Nick Wasmiller. One of the quotes from Wasmiller states:
“This donation is the next step in advancing exploration of such a use. Having the location be the potential home for a downtown soccer stadium is exciting, and Dan and Pamella are eager to see the results of future due diligence determining if such a vision can become a reality.”
There are several things that the MLive article omitted, which I believe most people would find useful, such as:
The Downtown Development Authority, which received the property donation from the DeVos family, has a 9 member Board of Directors. Of those 9, two are direct DeVos family operatives – Richard Winn, the DDA Board Chair, who is with ACH Hospitality, a chain of hotels that the DeVos family owns; and Greg McNeilly, with the Windquest Group, which is run by Dick and Betsy DeVos.
The MLive article quotes the DeVos family spokesperson as saying, “Dan and Pamella DeVos acquired this property because they believed it held tremendous potential for a future community use benefitting West Michigan residents, employees and visitors.” However, they failed to mentioned that the property in question was purchased in the fall of 2022, at the exact same time that Grand Action 2.0 first began to propose a soccer stadium for Grand Rapids.
It is mentioned that there are public and private partners involved in the soccer stadium proposal, like the Grand Rapids-Kent County Convention/Arena Authority, but the MLive article also omits the fact that the DeVos family has an operative who sits on that Board. Richard Winn, the President of ACH Hospitality, a DeVos-owned hotel consortium. Notice that Richard Winn sits on the board of the DDA and the Grand Rapids-Kent County Convention/Arena Authority. Winn, like most DeVos family operatives are on these committees or serve as Board of Directors, not only so they can influence outcomes, but because these development projects will assist the DeVos family to increase their profits and the wealth. More people coming to the downtown for a soccer match or the amphitheater, will be more likely to spend the night in one of the DeVos hotels in downtown GR.
The last major omission in the MLive article, has to do with the fact that the donated property from Dan DeVos to the DDA, will make it easier for him to own the soccer team that the new soccer stadium will be home to. Dan DeVos is the chairman of the NBA team, the Orlando Magic, is co-owner of the Grand Rapids Griffins and was owner of the now defunct arena football team, the Grand Rapids Rampage. I’ll wager money that Dan DeVos will be involved in the ownership of the newly former soccer team, once the city/county has given the green light to use public funds for the new soccer stadium.
In the end, it would have been more honest if MLive had made these connection or at least raised the points I have listed above. Had they done so, their headline could have read, DeVos family donates land eyed for Grand Rapids soccer stadium….NO SHIT!
Social Movements and Elections: Stop giving away your vote without demanding something in return
Elections are often the graveyard of social movements.
People who know me, know that I am deeply committed to the power of social movements. Social Movements are the primary mechanism for which to make change, both because we can pressure those in power to bend to our will, and we can create new ways of organizing that doesn’t rely on governments or other institutions that continue to betray us.
Let’s face it, electoral politics is deeply corrupt and elitist. Here is just a short list of why the US political system is corrupt:
- Those with the largest war chests often are the winners in elections.
- Candidates are often vetted by political party elites to make sure they are not too radical
- Political Parties do not want to dismantle the Electoral College, even if their members do.
- Political Parties do not support Ranked Choice Voting, even if their members do.
- The duopoly of Republicans and Democrats both despise 3rd Party candidates or the creation of Independent Political Parties.
- The GOP/DEM duopoly are equally committed to Capitalism, Militarism, Colonialism and US Global domination.
- Elected officials, while in office or while they are running for office, deceive and lie to us on a regular basis in order to win votes.
On this last point, think about how much the Biden Campaign pledged around issues like Climate Justice, but then started giving out oil and gas licenses left and right; how they claimed to fight for working people, but couldn’t even raise the federal minimum wage; that they were about racial justice and racial reconciliation, but supported increased funding for policing; how they campaign on Comprehensive Immigration Reform, but have continued many of the same border/immigration policies as Trump and have deported thousands on immigrants; how they were going to put more money into housing and other basic community needs, but have passed the largest US military budgets in US history; and how the Biden Administration is deeply complicity in Israeli war crimes and the Israeli genocidal campaign against the Palestinians.
Now for those who want to say stupid things like “we have to vote for the lesser of evils” or “choosing to not vote, is the same as voting for the GOP.” The more we continue to embrace lesser of evilism, the more we allow politicians to continue to drift to the right.
Why is it that people feel like they have no real choices, so they vote for the lesser of evils? I think a large part of the problem is that we think of voting as a process where we support the candidate we find the least offensive.
Well, what if we engaged in the voting process in a totally different way. What if we, because this is a collective strategy, what if we think about candidates as not just vying for our votes, but for our vision and our collective platform.
What if groups in Grand Rapids such as Movimiento Cosecha, Defund the GRPD, the Grand Rapids Area Tenant Union, the Grand Rapids Area Mutual Aid Network, the Latino Community Coalition, the Comrades Collective, the Institute for Global Education, Palestine Solidarity Grand Rapids, Linc Up, the Urban Core Collective, neighborhood associations, labor unions, those working on Climate Justice, Housing Justice, Food Justice, Reproductive Justice, etc., would come together with their wish list of changes.
Our collective vision/platform/demands could be something like the following:
- Reduce the US military budget (currently $886 Billion) and redirect those funds for real community needs.
- Make housing a human right, invest in social housing and prevent the market from dictating the cost of housing.
- Make sure everyone made a livable wage.
- Adopt a Green New Deal
- Pass Driver’s Licenses for All policies.
- Provide Permanent Protection for all immigrants!
- Dismantle anti-trans and and anti-LGTBQ policies and practices
- Make sure that every individual and family would be able to eat healthy and nutritious food
- A Single Payer Health Care System or a Health Care System that didn’t operate within the market
- Stop the oppressive system of policing and develop real community safety policies/practices.
- Dismantle the Prison Industrial Complex.
- Make sure that the accessibility was woven into every aspect of society.
- Develop a truly sustainable mass transit system
- End Settler Colonialism and return land back to Indigenous People.
- Get rid of shitty jobs and create work that is shared, valued and benefits people and eco0systems.
- More time for leisure, play, dancing, potlucks, learning new languages, making art and making love!
Once we put together a collective platform, we present it to any and all candidates and say, “If you want us to vote for you, then you have to adopt our collective platform. We will no longer be held hostage by a corrupt and shitty electoral system that does not support a radically imaginative future that is necessary of we want to survive and thrive.”
Now, as someone who embraces the anarchism as a political practice, I don’t want to really perpetuate an electoral system that is unjust. We need to seriously rethink about how we want to govern ourselves, since the current representative democracy we have in the US doesn’t work to create collective liberation. However, it you chose to participate in the current electoral system, then stop giving away your vote without demanding something in return.
Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy 