A Reason to Vote....

I know there is a fair amount of contention within the anarchist community on whether voting while living in a democratic system is a tool to monkeywrench from the inside or an abominable act of compliance. Can a moral act within a corrupt system still be considered moral or is its essential nature fundamentally immoral due its existence within an oppressive system? As my partner would say, it is a thing. I certainly believe in situational purity, that when the two options are equally evil, abstention is the most moral response. Such was the case for me in the Kerry-Bush election. (Some blame for the last four years of awful must be placed on the Democrats' shoulders for nominating an unpopular, stilted windbag in such a key election year. They seem to have learned their lesson, though, with the overwhelmingly qualified pool of candidates this year. Yummy.) However, when one option is so overwhelmingly evil and the other might actually facilitate some positive change, it is immoral to passively allow the overwhelming evil to overcome, which brings me to the point of this post.

If Mike Huckabee wins the Republican bid, as he very well may, any anarchist who does not do everything in his or her power to prevent his ascent will be guilty on account of apathy for the moral carnage guaranteed to follow. He is an evangelical preacher. The evangelicals hate women, GLBTQ anything, art, music, science, yoga, vegetarians, the environment, and everything that is good and wholesome and loving in the world. (Caveat: if people choose to believe in such things, I will fight furiously for their right to do so, even though they would not return the favor for me.) I just can't imagine an evangelical preacher being able to separate his socially dangerous beliefs from his oath to uphold the constitution, since separation of church and state has been interpreted in there and it seems like the concepts of secular government and evangelism are mutually exclusive. In fact, Huckabee has gained such round support on the basis of his intolerant, fundamentalist rhetoric. If you don't vote against him, the insane backwater folks who believe a woman's only place is silent in the home, GLBTQ individuals are morally infected and should be quarantined, expression should be quelled, and science is the devil's work will win, at a dear cost to liberty, beauty, and America's place in the world. If this ominous warning has not changed your mind about showing up at the polls, I hope this video and column by the fine folks at AlterNet might. Included are actual clips of what Mike Huckabee professes and why we should all be very afraid.