Re: historical errors

[Yoshie Furuhashi <furuhashi.1@xxxxxxx>]

At 12:49 PM -0700 9/16/04, Devine, James wrote:
> Yoshie writes:
> >  The majority of Americans are already wasting their votes -- they
> >  either don't vote or live in one-party states like California, New
> >  York, and Texas.  Evidently, the vote-wasting issue doesn't matter to
> >  them at all.
>
> I was looking at the issue from the voters' point of view, not from
> the leftist point of view. (If we ever want to have an impact, we
> have to learn to "put ourselves in the other guy's shoes"!) They
> don't see a vote for the Berry or Kush as a wasted vote.

I'm looking at the issue from diverse voters' points of view -- as
voters do not have the same points of view.  Why don't the majority
of voters vote?  Not voting would have to be the ultimate "waste" of
votes, if not voting for Bush or Kerry constitutes a "waste."  Why
doesn't the vote-wasting issue matter to them?

Why don't leftist voters who agree more with Nader or Cobb or others
on the left than with Kerry vote for Kerry in such one-party states
as California, New York, and Texas?  Kerry doesn't need leftist
popular votes to carry electoral votes in the Democratic one-party
states, and leftist popular votes cannot give electoral votes to
Kerry in the Republican one-party states.  Why doesn't the
vote-wasting issue matter to them?

At 12:49 PM -0700 9/16/04, Devine, James wrote:
>  > Getting organized at the grassroots takes a lot more work from a lot
> >  more people than the Green Party has so far been able to mobilize on
> >  its own.  How many ACTIVE members does the Ohio Green Party have?  By
> >  ACTIVE members, I mean members who regularly (let's say at least once
> >  a week) take PRACTICAL ACTIONS -- collecting signatures for ballot
> >  access, organizing actions on the social movement front [for economic
> >  justice, against the wars and occupations, for women's rights,
> >  against death penalty, for prisoners' rights, etc.] on their own or
> >  together with other organizations], organizing public educational
> >  events for the Green Party, etc.) -- rather than just signing up for
> >  the party on paper or even attending party meetings.
> >
> >  In my estimation, the Green Party needs at least 30,000 ACTIVE PARTY
> >  MEMBERS nationwide, EACH of whom is NETWORKED with about 100-1,000
> >  non-Green activists sympathetic to and willing to support the Green
> >  Party, to be able to claim that it is BEGINNING to practice some kind
> >  of grassroots democracy.  The Green Party doesn't have enough active
> >  members yet.
> >
> >  The question is how to get there.  In addition to existing members
> >  getting MORE ACTIVE on the social movement front, running a
> >  presidential candidate who has national recognition (someone who can
> >  draw as many people as Ralph Nader, Noam Chomsky, Michael Moore,
> >  Howard Zinn, Angela Davis, and so on) is one of the most important
> >  means of attracting new activists to Green-Party sponsored events.
> >  Four tools of party building: pens, sign-up sheets, clipboards, and
> >  flyers that advertise upcoming local Green Party actions and
> >  meetings.  The task of existing Green activists in the presidential
> >  election is to nominate/endorse someone who is in the same league as
> >  Nader in name recognition, organize events that feature his or her
> >  appearance, and make the best use of the four tools of party
> >  building, signing up as many in the audience as possible for local
> >  and statewide party activities....
>
> it seems that the Party you describe needs to have an activity that
> they can get involved with in non-election years that can then
> organically imply some election-year activity, which may or may not
> involve running candidates.

Precisely.

> If they run candidates, we should be clear that it's for propaganda
> purposes, not to win.

That depends.  A number of races are winnable.  The Green Party
candidates' average victory rate in 1985-2003 is slightly less than
25%.  So, in about a quarter of elections, the Green Party should try
to win, and in the rest they should try to recruit more activists and
organizers to the party and allied social movements (which is
different from a mere propaganda purpose).

> If they win, just remember Audie Bock... what could the Greens do about her?

That's just one example.  And one should expect such party switches
from time to time.  On the other hand, Matt Gonzalez switched from
the Democratic to the Green Party.  That alone more than compensates
for Audie Bock.

> The actually-existing Green Party, by the way, seems to be "subtly
> (or sometimes even pretty blatantly) designed to motivate people
> to support the Democratic Party."

Some Green party members are like that.  Others aren't.  I'm
supporting the left wing of the Green Party represented by such
leaders like Peter Camejo, Matt Gonzalez, Howie Hawkins, Donna
Warren, and Jason West and such local leaders like Logan Martinez and
Rick Wilhelm.

At 12:49 PM -0700 9/16/04, Devine, James wrote:
> Yoshie again:
> >  The DLC want their money, manpower, and political influence on their
> >  members and sympathizers.  E.g., unions and the AFL-CIO alone are
> >  spending about $150 million, not counting their manpower contribution.
>
> but the DLC people don't want grass-roots activists. They want
> passive followers. That was my point.

The DLC pay to hire followers, but it can't pay all who do work for
the Democratic Party.  Intellectuals like Medea Benjamin and Norman
Soloman aren't paid by it, nor are union leaders.  Any successful
organizer of hegemony can't simply depend on passive followers like
the military dictator.  Hegemony depends on active consent and
creative initiative on the part of the followers.
--
Yoshie

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