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IN THE words of the late U.S. socialist Peter Camejo, "The enormous success of the two-party, pro-money political system developed in the United States is in getting about half the people simply not to vote, and forcing those who do--even when they disagree with corporate domination--to vote in favor of what they oppose."
By contrast, readers of this website will have a lot in common with Stein's radical political vision, though we do have some disagreements. For example, while opposing U.S. intervention in the Middle East, Stein has sometimes downplayed the role of other imperialist forces, such as Russia, which is intervening to uphold its own interests.
Stein's newly announced running mate Ajuma Baraka is a dedicated fighter for Black liberation, opponent of U.S. imperialism and supporter of the Palestinian struggle. But he has written articles minimizing the scale of repression carried out by the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria against the revolutionary opposition, while reinforcing the myth that the Assad regime represents an expression of "national sovereignty" against U.S. imperialism. These mistaken views will only alienate people drawn to Stein's vision of a democratic struggle for change in the U.S.
In general, the Stein platform is clearly left wing, and she represents an independent alternative to the two-party duopoly. Stein has no realistic chance of winning the presidential election in 2016 and putting her program into action. But she deserves the vote of those who support it--because if they vote for Clinton instead, their agenda will be set back.
full: https://socialistworker.org/2016/08/03/can-you-vote-for-what-you-want _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
