Re: Contradictions of an election in an imperialist country

Many of the half million people killed by U.S. developed sanctions against
Iraq are also women. A vote for Gore or Bush is a vote to continue the
sanctions and a general imperialist foreign policy that kills and enslaves
tens of millions every year.  It might be argued that Bush would continue
the sanctions anyhow, but at least Gore would presumably defend Roe v. Wade.
But voting for Gore does undermine the ability to build an independent
grassroots movement. Every four years, there will ALWAYS be another crisis
"just this one last time we have to support the Democrats"--this has and
will happen again and again. The only way to stop the mass genocide of
imperialism is to build an anti-capitalist movement. Voting for capitalist
politicians undermines this.

Alan Spector



----- Original Message -----
From: "Judi Kessler" <jukessle@weber.ucsd.edu>
To: "Steve Rosenthal" <smrose@mailhub.exis.net>
Cc: <PSN@csf.colorado.edu>; <wsn@csf.colorado.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, November 15, 2000 9:29 PM
Subject: Re: Contradictions of an election in an imperialist country


> All true, but the alternative - and we really only have two options -
> would be much worse.
> Whatever our political ideologies might be, the reality is, we live in a
> capitalist nation and our choices are limited to Gore/L. or Bush/C. Some
> of the Jewish and Haitian voters are also women, and most women don't want
> to see a new Supreme Court overturn Roe vs Wade.
> I don't see a contradiction - only pragmatism.
> Judi Kessler
>
> On Wed, 15 Nov 2000, Steve Rosenthal wrote:
>
> > In Florida disenfranchised Jewish voters demand that their votes for
> > Gore and Lieberman be counted, yet Gore and Lieberman are strong
> > supporters of Israeli oppression of Palestinians.
> >
> > Disenfranchised Haitian American voters also demand that their votes
> > for Gore and Lieberman be counted, although the Clinton-Gore
> > administration supported the 1991 coup against Aristide, supported
> > the coup government that murdered thousands of Haitians, and only
> > agreed to return Aristide to Haiti after he promised to abandon his
> > reform efforts and instead to impose structural adjustment on the
> > Haitian people.
> >
> > Neither Palestinians nor Haitians who have been victims of US
> > imperialism and its client regimes for many decades had any
> > opportunity to vote in this election.
> >
> > Vietnamese Americans voted in the U.S. presidential election, but
> > Pres. Bill Clinton arrives in Vietnam today to promote US investment
> > and trade with a country in which the US imperialism killed some
> > three million people during a quarter century of war.  Both Democrats
> > and Republicans have yet to be called to account for that crime
> > against humanity.
> >
> > These are some of the contradictions of elections held by the ruling
> > class of an imperialist country.
> >
> > Steve Rosenthal
> >
>