i am of the opinion that the only real way to change both our system of government and society is revolution and that there is no path to revolution in the imperial core currently. because the core is where the bourgeois state apparatus is strongest, there's no way to successfully defeat it's combined political, social, media and coercive force.

I believe that what we can do is build parallel structures of support and governance so that as the state eats itself we aren't left out in the cold.

i'm not posting in these threads to convince people of that though, most people are like yourself and believe that the state can be reformed to serve them. rather than get everybody to start reading old books and studying state action against workers so that they'll come to see things my way, it makes more sense for me to build up the elements of reformist tendencies that overlap with my own concerns.

one place my ideas can overlap with reformers' is that as the state enters managed decline we can influence which parts of the state apparatus get cut off.

it would be much easier to create parallel support structures of support when workers have more agency, so i support the growth of parties that are internationalist and worker focused.

with this outlook, there is no "harm reduction" element to voting for the nicer sounding of the two major parties because neither can be pushed left (see the last uhh 40+ years for evidence that the democrats can't be pushed left) and both are committed to the maintenance of structures that presently undergird state power.

they'd both feed us into a wood chipper if it meant preserving the amazons and grummans of the world.

now before i get accused of coming in here trying to co-opt good legitimate grassroots browbeaten and bullied biden supporters, i'm also of the opinion that a person who genuinely believes in reform would be better served by voting for a third party unless their demands are met.

consider: as i've said many times, votes are support. parties use them to gauge how well their platforms and actions have been received and there is no way to lodge a vote with a caveat or a citation or a star beside it. all they will see is support.

a vote for biden is absolutely a vote for genocide. it cannot be anything else.

for reformers, if that's unacceptable then they gotta at the very least do the easiest thing to show the party they believe can be reformed what their demands are: vote for a party whose platform reflects their own politics.

there is of course, much more a reformer could do to influence the democrats, one could contact their local party representatives, protest at the convention before biden is declared the nominee and any number of actions in addition to those.

but they all have to have the backing of a committed "no" to the genocide come november to have any teeth. and that goes for even circumstances where biden stops sending aid or all the pals die or get forcibly relocated or the icc steps in and puts peacekeepers on the ground for bosnia 2.0.

it is too far and if it stops it was too far.

am i concerned about trump? yes and no. he's not a candidate i'd like to see in power but then again neither is biden. the overwhelming majority of americans survived his first term and he was shown to be a demagouge as opposed to an extremist then, a man more concerned with doing what's popular no matter what versus doing what accomplishes his goals no matter what.

i'm always glad to talk to people about this stuff. be safe out there.