From: John Holloway (johnholloway@PRODIGY.NET.MX)
Date: Thu May 26 2005 - 10:35:51 EDT
> Jerry, > > I do not support López Obrador, or indeed any other professional > politician. To engage in professional politics is to dedicate oneself to the > construction and consolidation of a sphere of politics separate from society, > that is to the exclusion of people from the processes of social > decision-making. López Obrador in particular is a left-of-centre politician > dedicated to the pursuit of political power. > > I marched against his desafuero (exclusion from the political process) > because it represented a sharp turn towards an even more authoritarian state > in Mexico. I marched in Puebla but did not go to the march in Mexico City > because López Obrador¹s campaign was based upon converting the very widespread > opposition to his exclusion into support for him. > > Although I do not support him, I may possible vote for him, because I > think there are some exceptional cases where it makes sense to vote and > because I think he would probably be significantly less bad than either of the > alternatives. I assume that many of the people who voted for Kerry in the last > US election did so to exclude Bush and not because they supported Kerry. > > I do not see why this argument should be considered inconsistent. > > John > > > > > Hi John: > > A quick question. > > Yesterday you wrote: > >> > [...] Firstly, I do not support Lopez Obrador. I said I opposed his >> > exclusion (desafuero), a very different matter -- if all politicians >> > had been excluded, I would have been delighted, but obviously that >> > was not the case. > > Last Thursday (the 19th) you wrote: > >> > I think that the reduction of poverty is desperately urgent, especially >> > and palpably in Latin America (elsewhere too, but more obviously here). >> > For that reason I would probably support any government that I thought >> > was seriously committed to achieving this. I marched against the exclusion >> > of López Obrador and I may possibly vote for him next year. At the same >> > time, I recognise that any government that does not seek to eliminate >> > capitalism will probably achieve very limited results in the reduction of >> > poverty and will be forced to take part in promoting conditions favourable >> > for the accumulation of capital, with all the very real violence that that >> entails. >> > If, then, I decide to vote for López Obrador, it would be very much on the >> > basis of supporting the lesser (but possibly significantly lesser) of two >> evils. > > > I don't understand how your comment yesterday was consistent with what > you wrote last Thursday: aren't you suggesting in the latter that you > *might* support Obrador in the election by voting for him? The reason you > are suggesting (that he might be a lesser evil) is different from saying that > you oppose his exclusion, isn't it? > > In solidarity, Jerry >
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