This past election, I was one of many Oberlinians who showed up to the voting booth to reluctantly cast a vote for Kamala Harris, among other local elections. In turn, I became one of the many Ohioans who watched in horror as Democratic Ohioans not only lost the election, but many other local elections, including — but not limited to — the Senate race and Issue 1. But more than this, what was frustrating to me were the misguided intentions behind the movement to not vote in the 2024 election. Even after the results, students continued to believe that their decision to not vote was the right decision, since the election itself was reflective of a systemic problem within America.
A disclaimer is necessary — I do not believe the election loss is to be blamed on third-party voters, or people who abstained altogether. However, I believe that choosing not to vote was and is a selfish decision, a refusal to participate in a problem that affects millions, if not billions, of people. To not vote, whether in this past election or in general, is an insidious decision, antithetical to organizing and social justice as a whole. I am not aiming to argue about the validity of the United States democracy or the Constitution, nor am I attempting to say the Democrats employed a perfect election strategy. But this oddly popular opinion in favor of abstaining from elections reflects a political culture at Oberlin that is steeped deeply in black and white ideas of morality, and refuses to acknowledge the complicated nature of fighting for a future that provides justice for all.
Theoretically, through a democracy, we should be able to vote for a candidate that most closely identifies with our stances. Theoretically, I would have never voted for Harris because of her explicit desire to make America into a military superpower. Theoretically, we should have never found ourselves in a position where we were meant to “vote” out fascism. But we don’t live in theory. We do not have a perfect democracy, nor do we have a perfect candidate. Real politics are messy, and a refusal to engage does not make you the savior you think you are.
If you were someone who refused to vote for Harris because of her stance on the genocide, I want to ask: what did that accomplish? Donald Trump is friendlier with Benjamin Netanyahu, recently rescinded a Biden-era order that required allies using U.S.-supplied weapons to disclose potential violations of international law, and has explicitly said he desires to remove all Palestinians from Gaza. Has that helped Palestine in any substantial way? More than that, has that made organizing for Palestine in America any easier?
We are in a real-life trolley problem. We are in the trolley, hurtling toward five people, and you refuse to participate because you find the dilemma itself fundamentally problematic, . But people don’t desire to find themselves in the trolley. Your refusal to participate in the problem at hand does not change the fact that five people will get run over. Nor does it make you a nonagent; in fact, you are now merely a passive bystander.
Where did your confidence come from? From a background that allows you to feel safe in a Trump administration, a background that allows for protection despite the fiscal consequences, despite the disastrous effects we are currently feeling? If you thought voting for Harris directly conflicted with your leftist beliefs, where did that come from? If Angela Davis, one of the most revered left-wing political thinkers, said voting for Harris would allow space for more radical change, then where did your belief that the outcome of this election did not matter come from?
Virtue-signaling about the dangers of democrats has not changed the sheer amount of overwhelm facing the global community because of the Trump administration. Organizing is going to get harder, because what problem do we focus on? In the month out from Trump’s inauguration, we’ve pulled out from the World Health Organization, defunded the National Institute of Health, and completely culled USAID. The National Suicide Hotline is now down. Israel is looking for excuses to break the ceasefire — despite Hamas following through on returning the hostages — something that they can only do with a green light from Trump.
How do we begin to help anybody when we can’t even rely on our food to be safe? How do we begin to know what to fight against when we might not even know what the administration is doing? How do we begin to protect other communities when we don’t know if we are safe? If you were someone who chose not to vote in this past election, I want to ask, what did you achieve?
