I understand people voting Green — or not at all:

Republicans are of course repugnant, and Democrats have at best a suspect history.

Sadly, electoral power at the federal level is polarized and we are stuck with a) someone who questions the need for GND/M4A and b) Trump.

Yes. It is difficult to convince folks who feel neglected by this electoral process to turn out on behalf of persons who do not emphatically talk about confronting the roots of our profound emergencies.

Also yes. It is detrimental and unproductive to exist under a duopoly.

And yes. It is an exercise in cynicism to exploit and Shock Doctrine ourselves into planetary life-or-death electoralism, retraumatizing voters one election after another.

“The most important election in our lifetime” was ‘92, ‘96, ‘00, ‘04, ‘08, ‘12, ‘16, and now ‘20.

Yet we somehow remain on ALL the edges of ALL the precipices. People are understandably exhausted.

Why?

Because living conditions have still worsened,

indigenous peoples still lose sacred lands to pipelines,

women’s rights are still in peril,

trans rights are still lacking,

mortgages and rents are still climbing,

wages are still stagnant,

bank executives still own all of the economy,

polluters are still drilling 80 million barrels of fossil fuels every day,

colleges are still gouging students,

hundreds of thousands of people are still homeless,

millions are still going bankrupt over medical bills,

police forces are still brutalizing minorities,

corporate lobbyists are still drafting self-serving legislation,

gerrymandering is still eternalizing dynasties,

punditry is still about horse races instead of a common good.

And all along, the partisan duopoly methodically serve the donor class, give lip service to their respective bases, and deplatform outside challengers whenever they cannot be assimilated into a particular brand of The Borg.

The higher rungs of the ballot are a closed loop.

A reimagining and application of dual power must occur if we are to change this fucked up paradigm, and the first step is realizing that voting is an intrinsic part of a series of steps — and that every election is THE most important of ITS particular moment, in a long chain.

Greens and Socialists and Workers and the myriad other Left parties DO HAVE a right to play a role in our country’s say-so, but precipice theory befalls them every cycle.

Concentrated efforts at hyper-local offices are their only recourse, but it’s a valid call to action.

Without a doubt, in 2020’s electoral panorama the consequences of Trump’s re-election will be ghastly.

The consequences of Republicans holding on to a Senate majority will be catastrophic.

And so, in solidarity, we urge all on the Left to support the available viable choice.

But also, we urge those on the Left to mount future campaigns at the local level, campaigns that can be won with 1,000 votes, races that can be won by forming alliances, and thus build base power through work that lifts the voices of communities that today are hurting.

The Dem/GOP duopoly won’t be dissolved in one cycle, and it’s counterproductive to believe that a second Trumpian victory would land a “decisive blow” to Democratic hegemony of a Center-Left universe.

The only real pain will be to the vulnerable communities we purport to defend.

Live to fight another day. Together.

Electing Biden and flipping the Senate is the sacrifice fly deep to center field that will bring in a tying run at the bottom of the ninth. We still will have a lot of work to do in extra innings.

The good news? We have a planet to win.

If you made it this far, please know you too can join us in turning out the one key constituency in the crucial states at play:

Latinx voters. https://twitter.com/icaito/status/1307344852028256257