Re: [OPE-L] a comment on John's answers

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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