When I originally heard of the Red Libertaria of Argentina's plans to run an Anti-Electoral Campaign, I simultaneously agreed with the idea and thought it useless. I generally agreed with the premise that electoral politics are so fully corrupt and so lacking authentic representation that they have become useless in the struggle for a just world. Direct organization of the rank and file of society into resistance movements seems the route to achieving any sustainable justice. It was precisely this belief in organized resistance that made any focus on the elections seem reactionary. If elections are only the illusion of choice and power than why react to them at all? Instead why don't we propose and organize our alternatives while ignoring the charade?
I was also concerned with some strategic logistics of the campaign. What exactly defined victory? From experience in the US it's clear that low voter turn out doesn't dissuade politicians from acting as if they have some grand mandate.
After around 2 months of discussions, parties, postering, and literature distribution I came to realize that the campaign had more value than I had previously thought. A valuable critique was added to this electoral discourse that is so often missing in the US -- a systemic critique. The discussion made the left clearly distinct from liberals. It called into question all of those things that elections don't even claim to change. It provided arguments for why unions and community organizations shouldn't allow themselves to be swept into the electoral arena. More than anything it fought to dispel the illusion that elections can offer a road to serious change.
However, what truly helped me to see the value of the campaign was that it was consistently used as a call to action. In only dispelling the illusion of elections it would seem a campaign to remove what little sense of their own power the people currently have. But instead the campaign offered an alternative that social organizing will bring change. It provided an opportunity to call into question the system before us while offering a vision of direct democratic possibilities and of a society of greater equality. As elections approach in the US a dialogue of this nature should help to remind our movements of how to truly build power.
