Vote and/or Die

By the time I finish writing this, it may well be accurate to say that the day of the US Presidential Elections, which have so dominated politics this year, have finally arrived. To my mind, this is a good thing, if only because it means the whole affair will soon be over. Many of my friends and fellow activists have got very worked up about the election insisting that a Kerry victory is vital for the survival of the human race or that a vote for Nader is the only way to express opposition to the occupation of Iraq and the duopoly of power. I happen to think it's all pretty irrelevant.

Regardless of who ultimately emerges victorious little will change and I certainly wouldn't want to be living in Fallujah over the coming days and weeks. This has done little to stop the shrill cries of those positioning themselves in the Kerry or Nader camps (insofar as people living thousands of miles from the States with no ability to influence the elections can be considered within candidates' camps). Zeynep Toufe's poston the election is a breath of fresh air and I endorse everything she says, with the caveat that as a non-US citizen I acknowledge that it's a bit rich for me to start telling people who are how they should vote. You really should take the time to read it in full, but for the lazy among you, the following passage is particularly important:

To everyone who is voting for Kerry because they are against Bush and the war, I say: what's more important than your vote is that you get out there and fight tooth and nail against the Kerry administration which is certain to be belligerent, perhaps in finer, more refined ways than Bush.

To everyone who's voting for Nader thinking that's the correct way to stand up to the two-party duopoly I say: the duopoly is quite happy if all you do is show up on election day, vote for Nader and become relatively dormant until the next election. In fact, the real work is between elections.

Now go and read the rest.