The theme for this issue is Democracy and Elections.
Our readers will find a conversation —conducted from different angles — on the upcoming midterm elections and their impact on the political life of our immediate community and the nation. On November 6, 2018 all seats in the United State House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate will be contested. Given the oppressive political context created by the Trump administration, and the complicit silence of the Republicans, both in the House and the Senate, the upcoming elections offer the possibility to alter the right-wing scenario dominant in the American Congress.
We think that most Americans are alert to the desire for social changes that will steer public policies, through the actions of government agencies and elected officials, away from being in the exclusive service of big corporations and the super-wealthy, to the clear detriment of working people’s life conditions and the wellbeing of the planet. We believe that the midterm election offers the opportunity to replace some nefarious figures with progressive and radical candidates willing to protect, maintain and expand important social policies and programs that are products of hard-fought struggles by the people.
Being aware of the potential that elections have to shape our public and private lives, we are at the same time aware of their limitations. Elections in this country work in one of two ways: through them, advanced forms of capitalism are protected and strengthened at the expense of the public good or, and this is a big or, elections promote more egalitarian forms of social organization. Ultimately, we, the people, must go from being allowed every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressor class are going to ‘represent’ and oppress us, to supporting genuine left-wing candidates and corresponding political actions, promoting independence from the corporate-dominated traditional party system and endorse an ideological message for the nation, one that strives for equity and social justice.