The Skinny: Vote Pledging, Untrustworthy Media, and the Urgency of Climate Catastrophe

 

Labor Class Voting Theory, Climate Catastrophe and Socialism, and “Fake News.”

 

On Maximizing Your Influence as a Labor Class Voter in the 2020 Democratic Party Nomination Race

Factually, between Citizens United, gerrymandering, mass voter purges, closed primaries and that whole “living in a corrupt oligarchy that is forever shifting rightward” thing, your power as an individual American voter is severely limited. It is not however, non-existent.

As such I am baffled at why wealthy donors, the corporate media and bougie professional class liberals so casually insist the labor class voter completely surrender that tiny bit of power & influence by pledging to vote for whichever stiff the Democratic Party forces on them in advance.

Let’s break this down a little further:

First of all, what for the love of humanity does a pledge to “vote blue no matter who” even mean anyway? Do the Democrats have pledge police hiding behind the curtain in voting booths all across the country? What precise mechanism exists to stop me from saying “yes I’ll vote for Joe Biden if he’s nominated” just to shut you up and then doing whatever I want to do on voting day?
Right: nothing like that exists or could exist so there’s no way to enforce my pledge on voting day. Thus right off the bat we can understand that this pledge is meaningless on its face.

Okay, so if the pledge isn’t in any way binding, what the heck is going on here? Democratic Party political operatives, media surrogates and delusional liberals will tell you it’s about beating Trump, but how exactly does that make any sense either?

It’s not like Trump is going to hear about or care that a bunch of people who would usually vote Democrat are going to again vote Democrat in 2020. Does any reasonable person believe Trump is going to be frightened by “blue no matter who” into not running for re-election? No.

If the Democratic Party was about beating Trump no matter the cost, they’d be impeaching him right now. They wouldn’t be chumming it up with Republican senators; they’d be organizing protests against fascism. They wouldn’t approve Trump’s military budgets or vote for his nominees. Obviously this entire narrative is false and it doesn’t take a genius political analyst to realize it either.

So again you have to ask yourself, what is the purpose of pledging to vote for the Democratic Party nominee in the 2020 election, no matter who that is, months and months before the first Democratic Party primary contest in Iowa?

In my opinion, it’s obviously about establishing prior consent to rig the 2020 nomination from the labor class left and helping to further cement the objectively false narrative that if Joe Biden (or some other stiff) doesn’t beat Trump, it’s the dreaded “Bernie Bros” who are to blame.

You will of course recognize this narrative from the early fallout of the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton punting a winnable election to a reality TV show billionaire fascist whose catch-phrase was, I kid you not, “you’re fired.” The problem of course is that none of this was ever supported by math:

Not only did *way fewer* angry Bernie Sanders supporters defect to Trump in 2016 than Hillary Clinton supporters defected to John McCain in 2008, but any fair count of third party votes reveals way more independent conservatives voted for Gary Johnson than independent liberals voted Jill Stein.

Furthermore, absolutely none of this is happening in a vacuum. We know that between provisional ballots, voter purges and Democratic Party-friendly media smear campaigns that Sanders was cheated in 2016 – whether Hillary Clinton would have won the nomination without that or not is completely irrelevant.

We also know that every single aspect of the elite established order, from billionaire donors, to the Democratic Party leadership, Wall Street, big media companies and on down to bougie professional class liberals, is fundamentally opposed to a Sanders presidency.

As I’ve demonstrated numerous times in my writing, there is absolutely nothing the elite “liberal” establishment wouldn’t do, or say to stop a Bernie Sanders from ascending to the White House – and that includes, in my opinion, rigging *another* nomination contest and potentially throwing the 2020 election to Donald Trump.

Look, let’s assume a hypothetical scenario where I’m a Bernie Sanders supporter who is hoping my candidate is going to win the nomination but I’m being pressured to pledge my vote to “blue no matter who” months before Iowa. Sound familiar? Let’s also assume that I know Trump is a fascist, I’m virulently anti-fascist and deep down inside I suspect I’m going to bite the bullet and vote for Joe Biden if that walking corpse somehow limps his way across the finish line and wins the nomination.

Keep in mind that in this scenario I’m still sincerely hoping Bernie wins, and I’m prepared to do whatever I can to help him get nominated; but in the end I’ll cave even for a garbage candidate like Palooka Joe Biden, to stop the fascist and at least try to protect marginalized people from danger.

Precisely how does it advantage me to tell the Democratic Party, the media or bougie liberals who would rather crawl across broken glass than see Bernie Sanders become President that yes indeed, I probably am going to “vote blue no matter who” in ADVANCE, in this scenario? Again you have be aware that I know these people are probably going to try and cheat me if they think they can get away with it – why should I tell them that it’ll work on me as a voter, even if it hypothetically would?

Doesn’t agreeing now, months in advance, just give away most of my already minuscule influence over the nomination process? If I want to see Sanders nominated and I think forcing the Democratic Party to back off with cheating and the lies while help accomplish that, isn’t it a huge sucker move to pledge my vote to the party (no matter what) right now? Don’t I actively *want* the powers that be to believe that if they don’t nominate my candidate or at least let him run on a level playing field they can’t count on my support? Again, just remember that we’re talking about months before the first Primary in Iowa and the casting of a single ballot here.

Objectively the best way for me to maximize my power as a labor class voter is to convince the Democratic Party and the elite establishment that they have to nominate Bernie Sanders or they will lose – and it’s pretty easy to make that argument because it looks to me like it’s true. Frankly, the correct move in a purely realpolitik sense would probably be for me to declare that I’m going to vote for Downmarket Mussolini if you don’t nominate Bernie, effectively doubling my power to ruin the bougie and elite liberal picnic on election night. Does that sound extreme?

Well if I have no intention to actually vote for Trump, but saying so effectively doubles my influence, then the only real reason not to do so is that I find it distasteful and I fear my minority comrades may not be aware that I’m lying for political advantage. Otherwise, I probably *should* tell Democrat apparatchiks that I would vote for Trump over anyone but Bernie.

Do you think it’s a coincidence that the corporate media keeps beating you over the head with a false smear about “Bernie or Bust” voters casting ballots for Donald Trump to spite minorities, marginalized people and the poor victimized Democratic Party? No, it probably isn’t. Absolutely nobody bats an eyelid when bougie liberal influencers say they’ll never vote for Bernie Sanders and yet you, the labor class voter are admonished and excoriated every single time you refuse to give up your extremely marginal level of power and influence at the whims of your “betters.”

This is because in America it is completely acceptable for every class of person to exhibit profound solidarity and class consciousness – except the extremely diverse American labor class upon whose blood and stolen futures our “betters” build castles made of money in the sky.

So in the end I think the only reasonable response to a demand that I pledge to vote for the Democratic Party nominee no matter who it is, months before the first primary contest, is a savage middle finger and a hearty “get off my lawn.”

I might vote Dem, I might not, you don’t know and you’re not supposed to know – my response to the unfolding 2020 Dem nomination contest is the only power I have over the party and its elite minions and I for one, have no intention of surrendering it. I *want* you to be afraid to cheat Sanders again this time because you’re terrified the left will bury you in the good moist earth in November 2020.

You don’t own me, or any labor class vote in the country and the sooner you learn that there’s millions of others “who just don’t give a f*ck like me” the sooner we can move forward and start winning elections again.

Just so we’re clear.

 

 On  Climate Catastrophe, Green Legislation and Socialism

The dirtiest little secret that absolutely nobody in the mainstream media is telling you about during the ongoing discussion about impending climate catastrophe is that there is absolutely no “free market capitalist” answer to our present climate crisis and thus, what appears to be an impending if not unfolding mass extinction event.

As such, anyone selling you the idea of a capitalist “green” energy sector is engaging in a subtle, but still altogether insidious form of climate science denial.

Part of the problem here is a question of scale. As Naomi Klein (and others) have painstakingly detailed in her already five year old masterpiece “This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs the Climate” we are facing down an almost certainly fatal ecological crisis that is going to take trillions upon trillions of dollars to solve and result in a number of fundamental changes in our way of life – and I’m not just talking about plastic straws and hamburgers here my friends.

Furthermore it’s not just a question of dollars and cents; this problem is global, and the resources required to solve it as well as the changes we’re going to have to make to survive this are also global. This doesn’t just mean no more oil and no more natural gas, it also means no more ecologically devastating wars and war machines, no more plastic too among an almost list of other alterations that will be required. We have to change how we eat, how we use land and water, how we consume in a society that currently *revolves* around the act of consumption.

You all know the numbers, we have less than eleven years to triple our current rate of carbon reduction or the global ecosystem will reach a tipping point of no return that goes full Mad Max by 2050 at the very latest. Furthermore, if you’ve been watching this story unfold you also know that many of our scientific projections have been far too generous, we might not even have these next ten years to solve it and already we’re seeing mass die offs nobody can predict or apparently, prevent.

And while this may offend some of my comrades, the simple truth is that most of you are still trying to find a happy compromise or a wiz-bang scientific gimmick that will solve the problem – while precious time is evaporating along with the hope for a future that’s welcoming to mankind as a species. I see a lot of folks decrying the hypocrisy of liberal politicians who killed the New Green Deal posting about their support for Greta Thurnburg on Twitter, but very little self reflection from the Democratic Socialist left.

Look we know where the (reactionary) right stands on climate catastrophe – nihilism and greed; they’re looking *forward* to the profit opportunity Eco-Fascism and wars to secure “dwindling precious resources” for themselves and American corporations. This is of course rarely reported in the media and when it is mentioned, it’s usually with a sad shake of the head and ironic detachment – “oh look, rich people are building bunkers and hiring Pinkertons for the coming apocalypse and I haven’t even finished season 5 of The Wire yet!”

We also know where the fossil fuel industry stands on climate catastrophe – they’re interested in making more money off “green energy” but in the meantime they intend to pump enough oil and natural gas out of the Earth to wipe out all life on the planet.

You might think that’s an exaggeration, but it’s not – as of 2014, American (only) fossil fuel companies had announced in stock reports proven reserves equal to literally seven times the amount of carbon the atmosphere can take: just the fuel. Yes, you read that right; companies like Exxon-Mobile have already (five years ago) declared their open intention to kill us all and the planet we live on as a method of advertising to stockholders – who by the way, greedily lap up Exxon stock at premium prices year after year.

Finally of course we know where the liberals and neoliberals stand on climate catastrophe – denial, half measures and performative nonsense that will not even remotely save us from certain destruction if enacted. Ultimately however, the (neo) liberal belief in free market fundamentalism and infinite growth is simply not compatible with the scale of change necessary to save our species and planet. As such mainstream liberals have taken to shaming people who don’t recycle and desperately praying some tech-bro will find better ways to monetize “green energy” before rioting proles tear down the gates and burn their palace of privilege to the ground in anger.

Which only leaves us with the American left, as currently dominated by Democratic Socialists and the Bernie Sanders revolution; what exactly is their current position on addressing climate catastrophe and an impending mass extinction event?

Is it “basically the same as the liberals but maybe a little better” because from out here that does sort of appear to be the case. What good is AOC’s New Green Deal if it doesn’t ban fracking and natural gas? Why is Bernie Sanders talking to me about partnering with the very same energy sector that brought us to the brink of destruction to solve this problem?

Do these folks really sincerely believe that there’s a future for capitalism in the energy sector in which billions of people all over the world do not die horribly? If so that’s pretty terrifying because as far as I can tell, that belief would be objectively false if the scientific data as opposed to propaganda is to be trusted.

Brass tacks time here – if your plan to fight impending climate catastrophe involves infinite economic growth, the profit motive and partnering with the private energy sector (or worse, the fossil fuel industry) to solve the climate catastrophe problem, then your plan is naive and worthless – full stop.

We are talking about an industry that has known about the very real danger of burning fossil fuels for over fifty years and has spent the last forty of them hiring public relations mercenaries and fake scientists to deny the existence of a problem; putting the entire human species in peril for profit. These folks have demonstrably known they were slowly killing us all for decades and not only did nothing, but actively concealed that knowledge from everyone – many of their leaders belong in prison not at the negotiating table for a New Green energy market.

Furthermore it is more than just a question of not trusting monstrous capitalists who have actively murdered millions (at least) for a quick buck, but also a question of justice and compensation. Why should the same sick bastards who brought us to ruin for an extra five bucks a share have the right to not only go free despite their crimes, but profit from the societal mobilization we’re going to require to clean up the mess they have left? How does that compute at f*cking all?

Frankly this actually goes well beyond just the big oil and gas companies. While rich liberals are out here trying to shame you into subsidizing Elon Musk’s electric car company, informed observers have already exposed that a mere 100 companies are responsible for 71% of the emissions slowly baking humanity to death. When do they pay for the damage they’ve done and the cleanup required? What about the world’s largest polluter, the United States armed forces; when do the weapons contractors that fuel the Pig Empire war machine pay for the damage they’ve done and the resources it’s going to take to clean them up? Why are we not only letting all the most irredeemable murderers on Earth get away with killing perhaps billions but insisting that they have a right to turn a profit from *our* collective efforts to fight their despoliation and inhumanely selfish greed?

We are quite literally running out of time as a goddamn species and the so called “western left” is still talking about bending over backwards to waste time and resources ensuring that some rich prick somewhere, possibly even some of the people who’re killing our kids for money as we speak, can turn a f*cking profit on “green energy?”

That’s monstrous and absurd.

There is literally only one surefire way out of this problem and in light of the fact that what’s at stake is the survival of the planet and a future for our children, rather than even our grandchildren, it is criminally irresponsible and borderline insane that we aren’t talking about it already. We must, together as a species completely remove the entire energy sector (among others) from the free market or we will surely all bake to death under a blood orange sun.

We’re talking about mass appropriations of energy and fossil fuel companies, their assets and the assets of their owners/investors to facilitate not only shutting down the wells but also a global initiative to save the planet. There can be no more profit from energy because we don’t have the time, room or responsibility to keep providing an income for monstrous evil parasites that kill us and our environment to turn a profit on fuel and energy.

To quote Thatcher of all people – “there is no other alternative.”

You can cry to me that I have no right to expect AOC, Bernie Sanders or any other left wing politician to put forward such a suicidal idea but I will remind you that it is not *I* who is contemplating suicide here. There is no other choice. We are going to eliminate capitalist “energy” and fossil fuels or we are all going to die. You telling me it will be politically unpopular is no different than affluent liberals crying “we can’t afford this” – it is you living a fantasy when you say this is unrealistic.

Someday very soon what I’m telling you here will all be common knowledge and huge portions of our society will be talking about how to completely socialize the energy sector and abandon the economic philosophy of infinite growth. You can choose to do it now, or you can wait for the bodies to stack up so high that no giant pile of money could ever obscure them – but in the end, you will choose socialism, at least in the energy sector.

How do I know this? Because I know that deep inside almost every human being on earth, there is a nigh-inextinguishable will to survive and I do not believe that a world full of humans are going to agree to just die because “well all the rich people say so.” Sooner or later the barbarians will be at the gates; your children are already becoming radicalized as we speak because they know it is their generation who will have to storm the Bastille this time. I don’t know about you, but I’m gonna bet on the seven billion people just like me who want to survive and grow old surrounded by their children, instead of perhaps ten thousand rich people and oil executives.

One way, or another – the future is left. Everything else is just fiddling like Nero while Rome burns around us and that includes, as far as I can tell, the American Democratic Socialist iterations of “The New Green Deal.”

Do or do not, there is no more time for try.

 

Article Analysis: Fake News and Trust in US Media

 

• nina illingworth