In 2020, Vote For A Movement
In 2020 I will not be voting for any politicians.
Yes, you heard that correctly. I am not voting for any of the individuals running. An unpopular position when so much is at stake, I know.
That said, I definitely will be voting and what I will be voting for is not any individual with an ego massive enough to believe they should be president, but for a mass movement, because nothing short of a mass popular movement is going to be able to confront the deeply entrenched forces that need to be overturned if we are going to build a more just society and, frankly, survive as a species.
Personally, I am not interested in the changes these individuals proclaim they will enact once they are in office. If they are not authentically used to working as part of or building popular political movements with enough power to actually impact the system, then there is little that they are actually going to achieve. What’s more, I think they know it. Empty promises are easy to make.
So this election season I won’t be paying much attention to individual personality traits, haircuts, gaffes, fashion choices, infighting, pundits, scandals, choice in pets, dietary habits, religious affiliation, leaky emails or even recently adopted policy positions.
What I will be looking for is whether any of these folks have a clear strategy for helping to build a movement of millions of people who are willing to go knocking on people’s doors before the election, and then kick down the doors of power after the election.
If any one of these candidates are doing THAT, then I will not only use my vote to build that movement, I will spend my days before and after my vote working my butt off for it.
I have no interest in giving power to people who want it but don’t know how to build it.
In 2020, don’t vote for a candidate. Vote for a movement.
Gan Golan is an artist, cultural organizer and New York Times bestselling author.
Photo (top): Fast food workers striking for a union and a raise in Milwaukee last fall. Credit: Joe Brusky.