Voting is SILLY and here's why.

I've been in the union a good seven years or so. We only just got enough people in the workplace that I was elected as a delegate but that came about because there were legitimate widespread grievances and I was actively getting involved. One strike day, I was the only person on strike. The others were already rostered off. You have to do things. Keep taking bites, as little or as large as you can and they will accumulate.

Who made these subtitles? They made a load of mistakes.

Small point of contention, but, while it would be accurate to say that Jean Chretien pushed forward neoliberalism in Canada, it's less accurate to say that it was him and not the Conservatives, as Brian Mulroney was doing it 10 years prior. Chretien played more the Clinton to Mulroney's Reagan, or the Blair to Mulroney's Thatcher. Not the one who started it, but definitely the one who ushered in its status as bipartisan hegemony.

Revolt whilst we can, Reform if we must seems reasonable. My queer german ass is uncomfortable not voting left, and I think that's pretty valid, since I also know it isn't enough

are you ok man

"Revolt whilst we can, reform if we must" is brilliant.

No Restaurants tho? Gee thats ruff

I get to be on a voting roll of 300,000 people who I on average agree with way more than the general population in a mixed member proportional system. And the 300,000 people I’m on a roll with have alternative political structures we can and do invest energy into. So to me the whole voting thing seems chill.

The left has failed to create an independent working class movement - we still live in the Stalinist epoch. This post covid moment and a new Cold War presents a potential break and moment for a new politics.

As a former psl member I 100% agree with you about the PSL thing, they are not trustworthy, committed, principled, or even progressive. They're opportunitists who waste money in elections and shallow worthless displays of solidarity. They're almost a cult and have a long history of abuse, including sexual abuse.

I'm not sure I agree with you, having watched the video with a friend, and I think that while you have interesting arguments, I wouldn't want to waste my vote by not using it. As a Filipino who had to witness vote buying and other measures to weaken and manipulate democracy in my country, I felt it was still important to use my vote, my very first vote, honestly.

It’s not silly! It’s a fundamental part of American society! A fundamental part that is at risk, may I add. This is probably the most important election in the history of America, and if you’re trying to dissuade people from voting, then you’re no better than the fascists trying to turn this country into Russia!

Love your videos, hope you're doing well

Can someone point me in the right direction regarding the PSL being garbage?

Voting isn't silly if voting will decide if a potential dictator comes into power or not. Fuck Biden, but fuck Trump even more. Vote or you're literally supporting Trump.

The GOAT returns, 10/10 as usual

Leftists not voting now will try to reverse Trump’s 2nd term & vote in 2028 for the Democrat candidate.

Because the Democratic Party will want to win Trump-Biden-Trump voters, that candidate will inevitably be less liberal than Biden

The choice is Biden-Harris or Trump-Moderate

its bordigover, libs are taking up our positions

Aristotle wrote about this. Athenian democracy had very little voting involved for exactly the reason that it skews oligarchic. The founders of the US, well versed in the greek classics and being rich as fuck, saw democracy as an end to their oligarchy and made voting their highest goal.

Loved the video and the style

I shouldn't have read the comments, why are people so fucking stupid, it's like they don't even watch the videos

This is a decent video Bad Mouse, you say alot of things that need to be said and I agree with, and appreciate, the vast majority of your arguments here. Where I differ is that I think that capitalism and representative 'democracy' need to be completely rejected if we are to achieve liberation or make any signiificant change, including in just gaining reforms (as how we do so is crucial). We really need to stop giving any legitimacy to capitalism and the state in my view and that means not voting at all, while also building independent, truly grass roots alternatives and utilising direct action. Its my view that voting strengthens the capitalist class and weakens us., and that representative 'democracy' is a system that has completely failed.

The biggest weakness of a dialectical materialist analysis of history is that it has trouble conceptualizing how a wild card like Trump played at the right place and time can radically impact things. Case and point: the Supreme Court now annually cries havoc with our rights and deeply impacts our lives. The overturn of Roe V. Wade, student debt relief getting killed, the expansion of police immunity to prosecution are all things that could have been avoided if Clinton had made those appointments instead. And yet here you guys are somehow still repeating the same rhetoric in the same smarmy voice from back in 2016.

Voting just to keep Trump from a second term is one of the best things American leftists can do to help their country and the world right now.

i disagree, you can have restaurants in Socialism, if it's designated in a special zone for commercial use. please look into Yanis Varoufakis, he has a couple books, one about Techno-Fuedalism, and the other about mapping out a Market Socialist society, called Another Now. if you are like me and are not fond of reading books, After the Oligarchy both has a couple videos breaking down the systemic bullet-points of Varoufakis' socialist model, but also had a two part interview on his channel with Yanis to question a couple contentious aspects of such.

Hey Badmouse we thought you were dead

What's your beef with the PSL?

I was hoping for a more substantive refutation of the "Why aren't you doing a revolution now?" After equivocating that there are practical concerns (i.e. life as we know it being turned upside down) but then you say "Will there need to be something like this eventually? Will there need to be such actors. Yes." So the revolution needs to happen it just needs to be someone else who does it, got it. A "standard from which you can make better steps" feels like you're walking back your call for revolution.

Also, you don't even refute the right wing talking point. His point is dramatic and grandiose, but I think you owe it to your audience to at least explain why this point is wrong. The point's "slowing down progress" as a rational for dismissing it communicates that you prefer political expedience over the responsibility to educate your audience.

Nah I'd vote

You sound like the kind of leftist /pol/ users invent in their head to tell people why leftists are unhinged and will always fail.

What a brilliant video essay. Such high quality information from a socialist perspective is awesome. More power to BadMouse.

A very important part of democratic socialism is that we need democratic capital through co-operatives, for example, that we use to build and influence an (acutal) leftist party. That and our own media, of course. I dont know how well that could be applied to the united states and other countries though.
And yeah, of course we cant build socialism just through parliamentary reforms. If people actually think that... i dont even know.

Please explain the PSL thing!

I’d love for you to tell this story in Syria or anywhere else in the world where people are denied the power to vote. This reeks of privilege.

whats wrong with restaurants?

I'd suggest using all of your methods and still vote, but do it thoughtfully because in the realms of politics one can never know what is going to work and what isn't so you must use all the methods that are available to you.

PSL is far from perfect but they are effective organizers that do great work. Many of the criticisms they've received have led to positive change or are unfounded and just seems like gate-keeping. Leftists need to unite rather than succumb to counter-productive infighting.

“pick battles small enough to win and big enough to matter”

Well, they missed it. Mercifully, it wasn't done by a trans person, POC, or a leftist; but by a generic white man who was likely a centrist.

Biden finally stepped out of the re-election. Took him long enough.

Now the future of Amerika will be either Trump for the second time or Kamala, whose status as a black woman will become the new weapon to paint an illusion of the "black progress/power/pride" in settler-Society.

Why does this video have such high downvotes? Feels like its hate downvotes.

It’s silly to those who have the privilege to say that.

My family did not have that privilege.

Can someone tell me what's wrong with the PSL in the US because I cannot find anything.

Your commentary on socialism is mindnumbingly stupid. We wont have restaurants?

It was good up til around the “restaurants won’t exist under socialism” take🫣 Literally just not true. This is shit people have had for hundreds of years that have become part of their culture. Saying these things is only gonna make people not want socialism and that’s one thing but the other is the fact that it’s not ever true. We don’t know what a future socialist society will look like yet but it will contain elements of the old society. Especially the good parts. The abolish restaurants take already made us look insane when people on twitter said it.

voting still helps people, you are just lazy :/

I don't agree with everything said here but great analysis and I love the new animation style

I'm very surprised you didn't bring up gramsci and the idea of dual power

This video took nearly 2 years to make 😆 but oddly now seems like the best time to have released it.
Apologies for the sound issues here and there, I'm at a bit of an itinerant time in my life and finding good places to record is a rare find.
Anyway, if all goes well I'll be responding to some grievances in the follow up video as usual.