Election night 2012 will probably pass just like any other. The talking heads talking, predictable campaign rallies, candidates posing for cameras, political parties spinning and whole lot of people ignoring the whole thing completely. Of course, there are other options. We all know the lessons from Spain over the past few years. Extreme anti-electoral sentiment has created a movement which now challenges and shakes the fabric of society. We know the politicians will never solve our problems: are we ready to truly break free from this system? Can we harness enough power to really shake it all up? Will there be a time in the future where the phrase “if you don’t vote you don’t matter” is never uttered again?

#VoteStrike: Push for abstention, normalize the NO vote, help us shake the status quo

What we can do right now and up until election night to create an anti-electoral pro-direct action reality

From Beers Not Ballots

Election night 2012 will probably pass just like any other. The talking heads talking, predictable campaign rallies, candidates posing for cameras, political parties spinning and whole lot of people ignoring the whole thing completely. Of course, there are other options. We all know the lessons from Spain over the past few years. Extreme anti-electoral sentiment has created a movement which now challenges and shakes the fabric of society. We know the politicians will never solve our problems: are we ready to truly break free from this system? Can we harness enough power to really shake it all up? Will there be a time in the future where the phrase “if you don’t vote you don’t matter” is never uttered again?

We are not advocating abstention to scold the parties and politicians, or to get more boxes to check off in the voting booth. We are advocating abstention as practice, an act of delegitimation. It’s a statement of the obvious — that direct action is our only option at this moment in history. No meaningful change can come from the electoral system. We are calling for a solution that rejects compromise. It’s as easy as Yes or No. “Yes”, meaning that we still have faith in the political system to solve the mounting problems. Or “No”, meaning that the political class does not have the answers and that direct participation from the neighborhoods, workplace and the street will be our stronghold against the the current hardships and the coming attacks aimed at us from all sides.

We ask you to participate on the ground, spread propaganda, talk to friends and neighbors, social network this into oblivion, go to campaign rallies, be at the conventions. We have the election night parties covered and we hope you join in. But we truly want you to do whatever you can to end the mass delusion that voting is the answer. The time is now, what election night 2012 looks like is up to you.

We want every city and every town to pick up this call and by doing so creating a clear split between those that have no real interest in change outside the halls of power and those that understand that the fight ahead is against those very power structures.

7/5 2012
Your gracious editors,
beersnotballots.com