The Ex-Worker7 Marras 2016

#51: Anarchism, Voting, and Direct Action: An Audio Zine

Do anarchists vote? If not, how do we express our voice and participate in changing society? What's the problem with elections and representative democracy? In this special Election Day audio zine,we describe why electing representatives robs us of our power, refute common arguments made to convince us of the value of voting, explain direct action as an alternative approach for making change without politicians and parties, and lay out our vision for a free world beyond electoral politics. We begin by surveying anarchist responses to elections from the 19th century to the present day, and include excerpts from CrimethInc. interventions against the last few presidential elections, including "Don't Just Vote, Get Active: A Community Non-Partisan Voters' Guide" (2004), "Voting vs. Direct Action" (c. 2004), "False Hope vs. Real Change" (2008), "The Party's Over" (c. 2009), and the "Democracy is Bankrupt" website (2012). This audio zine provides background for our discussion of the 2016 presidential campaign and its likely aftermath, which appears in Episode 52. Whoever they vote for, we are ungovernable! {November 7, 2016}

-------SHOW NOTES------

This audio zine draws on several previously published CrimethInc. texts that address voting, elections, democracy, and direct action, including "Don't Just Vote, Get Active: A Community Non-Partisan Voters' Guide" (2004), "Voting vs. Direct Action" (c. 2004), "False Hope vs. Real Change" (2008), The Party's Over" (c. 2009), and the "Democracy is Bankrupt" website (2012).
In the introduction, we quoted a variety of historical anarchist critiques of elections, voting, and representative democracy, including: Mikhail Bakunin, "On Representative Government and ; Peter Kropotkin, "Revolutionary Government"; Elisee Reclus, "Why Anarchists Don't Vote"; Henry David Thoreau, "Civil Disobedience"; Emma Goldman, "Woman Suffrage"; Zo d'Axa, "He Is Elected"; and the Yippies' nomination of Pigasus. You can find many more anarchist critiques on these themes via The Anarchist Library.

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(173)

#115: Iran: An Uprising Besieged from Within and Without—Three Perspectives

This episode offers an audio version of "Iran: An Uprising Besieged from Within and Without," discussing the uprising that broke out across Iran on December 28, 2025, triggered by economic distress an...

9 Tammi 44min

#114: Safeguarding Our Movements against Repression—How to Respond to the Criminalization of "Antifa"

This episode offers an audio version of "Make Ready: Safeguarding Our Movements against Repression," exploring the implications of Donald Trump's executive order designating "Antifa" as "a major terro...

23 Syys 202525min

#113: Mutual Aid and Revolutionary Anti-Capitalism: Revisiting the Difference Between Mutual Aid and Charity

This episode offers an audio version of "Mutual Aid, the Commons, and the Revolutionary Abolition of Capitalism," exploring why the best way to understand mutual aid as an effort to create participato...

20 Kesä 202523min

#112: From Minneapolis to Los Angeles: The Origins of the Wave of Resistance to ICE

This episode offers audio versions of "Minneapolis to Feds: 'Get the Fuck Out'" and "Los Angeles Stands up to ICE: A Firsthand Report on the Clashes of June 6," which trace the origins of the angry re...

17 Kesä 202526min

#111: Become an Anarchist or Forever Hold Your Peace

This episode offers an audio version of "Become an Anarchist or Forever Hold Your Peace," arguing that neither courts nor laws will halt the descent into autocracy. Massive numbers of people will have...

18 Maalis 202521min

#110: It's Safer in the Front

This episode offers an audio version of "It's Safer in the Front," making the case that seeking safety by avoiding confrontation is not likely to be an effective strategy in a time of escalating polit...

26 Helmi 202522min

#109: Sacrificial Violence and Retribution

This episode offers an audio version of "Sacrificial Violence and Retribution," exploring the responses to two different extrajudicial killings as a way to understand the different forms of violence t...

9 Tammi 202517min

#108: The Case for Resistance

This episode offers an audio version of "The Case for Resistance," laying out an analysis of what we can expect from Donald Trump's second term and how we can prepare to confront it. "This is a pivota...

23 Marras 202441min