LOS ANGELES, CA, November 3—Don’t Vote, Revolt! This was the theme for a gathering of workers and students in Los Angeles at a forum the weekend before the election. This message was not only received by our base, but embraced. Participants were already open to the ideas of voting as a big con, but were thoroughly convinced by the end of the evening. These workers will be needed to help build a worldwide, multiracial fightback for a communist world under the Progressive Labor Party (PLP).
Liberals will kill our class
The L.A. PLP education club, including two brand new members, developed and led the event. We created four sections, starting with the idea that liberals are the main danger for the working class. In this section participants were able to read about different policies and quotes from the most recent and popular liberal politicians. The gallery walk included information about Clinton’s assaults on social welfare programs, Obama’s droning in the Middle East and mass deportation policies, Biden’s support of the genocide in Palestine and his push for profit over the climate, and finally Harris’ support for police and “tough-on-crime” policies. Everyone circled through the gallery and took note of their notices and wonders. During the share-out, base members pointed out that the same groups of workers who Democrats claim to represent– Black and Latin, LGBTQ, immigrants – are the same groups against whom the liberals launch the sharpest attacks.
Workers fought for bosses’ reforms
In the second section of the evening, we discussed the CHALLENGE article “Elections: Capitalist myth vs working-class truth” in small groups. Each breakout was responsible for reporting back to the collective on dispelling one common myth. These included the working-class victories of Social Security commonly attributed to Franklin D. Roosevelt, but actually won by the Communist Party, the Civil Rights Act giving credit to LBJ when Black workers led years of fightback to attain it, as well as the Vietnam War and South Africa. The share outs ensured all participants had a new perspective on these four common myths.
Then we shifted to a discussion on the truths about propositions. In states like California, the bosses convince the working class that they have power through legislation because anyone can put forward a proposition for the state to vote on and that is how we can make change. Workers truly believe in these propositions, so this wasn’t going to be an easy struggle to win. Through a PowerPoint presentation, we were able to address the reality of how the propositions work and who they really serve.
Like all other forms of electoral politics, the ruling class uses them to keep workers tied to the system. Yet, they are often funded and promoted by billionaires and serve the interests of the ruling class. Even in cases where the working class has been able to create propositions and get them passed through the popular vote, they have eventually been overturned through the bosses’ courts as “unconstitutional”. Our presentation helped convince our base members there that even propositions won’t bring about the change they want to see.
Join PLP to fight for the world we deserve
In the last section we led a whole group share out on the possible alternatives to voting. We didn’t want people to leave the forum depressed, but rather empowered. Our base focused on the importance of education – sharing what we learned with their friends and families. Party members added that we can organize through mass organizations to spread the message of “Don’t Vote, Revolt” with more members of our class. All participants left the event convinced that we could change society through communist revolution, albeit a long-term solution, but truly the only one that will bring about the world that they want to see. Moving forward, we will continue to struggle alongside our base to choose the Party for this fight.
