Fear-Based Voting

Hola mi Gente,

Riddle me this: why would you admit to voting for Hillary Clinton, a neoliberal/ neoconservative, regardless of her policies? I ask because this is precisely what people are doing when they say they will vote for the democratic nominee regardless of who it is. If you send the message that your vote is sold regardless of a candidate’s policies, why would that candidate give a fuck about you?

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Fear and Neoliberals

Fear keeps us focused on the past, or worried about the future, and ignorant of our present.

I don’t watch milquetoast TV neoliberals such as Chris Hayes, but a friend informed me that he had actress/ activist, Susan Sarandon. And sure enough, she wasn’t having any of Chris Hayes’ dominant Sanders media tropes.

For example, Hayes, fear-mongered about the likelihood that many Sanders supporters will walk away from Hillary, clutching his pearls, he said, “But isn’t that crazy? If you believe in what he believes in? “Yeah but she doesn’t,” Sarandon shot back. “She accepted money for all of those people. She doesn’t even want to fight for a $15 minimum wage. So these are people that have not come out before. So why would we think they’re going to come out now for her, you know?”

In fact, I like that she actually knew the meaning of “naïve” and used it to characterize Hayes’ position. At one point, Hayes asked Sarandon if she would vote for Clinton if she were the nominee and Sarandon refused to say whether she would because Clinton does not embody the policies Sarandon has fought for during her life. Hayes was actually surprised, saying, “Really?” And he pulled the Trump card (pun intended), implying that not voting for Clinton would bring Trump to power. Today, the headlines are, Susan Sarandon says Trump Might Be Better for America than Hillary Clinton. SMDH That’s not what she said.

Here’s part of what she actually said, “… some people feel that Donald Trump will bring the revolution immediately if he gets in, things will really explode.” Such is the blindness of people privileged enough to be OK with the status quo, that Chris Hayes was stopped in tracks. Giggling uncomfortably, he asked, “Really?” Asked if she thinks that’s “dangerous,” she replied, “It’s dangerous to think that we can continue the way we are with the militarized police force, with privatized prisons, with the death penalty, with the low minimum wage, threats to women’s rights and think you can’t do something huge to turn that around.”

And she's right! Voting for the lesser of two evils, decade after decade, is no longer “pragmatic” (if it ever was) when it's a vote for acquiescence to the very power that oppresses you. It's a lot like licking the boot on your neck. 

If you’re basing your vote on fear, rather than an attempt to create an equitable society and a government that responds to the will of the people rather than the moneyed interests, then you’re advocating a position much more dangerous than Trump. In fact, Trump exists only because we continue to fear envisioning and being the kind of society we want to be. Here’s the complete Susan Sarandon segment:

I will not be voting for Hillary.

My name is Eddie and I’m in recovery from civilization…