The Revolution Isn’t Coming
By Anne Gregg
The revolution is not coming.
Or rather, the proletariat revolution of online leftist dreams is not going to happen. If there were to be a revolution in the United States of America it would be by the same people who have already stormed the capitol.
Tensions are high going into this election season, especially if you are a member of the democratic party which has been prone to disagreement between its neoliberal and socialist factions. Many people, myself included, are not thrilled with the democratic commitment to the status quo and neoliberal capitalism. In fact, Joe Biden’s response to Israel/Palestine spawned the “uncommitted movement” a movement that encouraged democrats to vote uncommitted in the primaries in hopes that the uncommitted delegates might sway Biden’s policy — now Harris’s on Israel. This movement was a wonderful example of democrats using their voting power in an attempt to get the leaders of their party to change policy. Unfortunately, the DNC did not listen and refused to let a Palestinian representative speak at the democratic convention.
The United States’ political system is broken. In addition to the electoral college system, rampant gerrymandering, and voter suppression laws that target black and brown communities, there are lobbyists who make our democracy a semi-aristocracy. Protests — our First Amendment right to free speech — are frequently met with armored police forces. A president, who is just a person like you or me, has the power to authorize a drone strike and never face any real personal consequences. So what do we do? Some leftists would suggest revolution. Soon the people will refuse to live in this unfair system that exploits their labor for the gain of the rich and powerful. If I know anything about the online left waiting for revolution, its that they do not have the cooperative attitude to do so. Everyone wants to be an individual hero, morally superior to those around them — they’re very Byronic in a way. They know better. They are better. This self-aggrandizing attitude is the opposite of a collectivist mindset. Their solution is to not vote because voting doesn’t matter and things will only get worse and soon the revolution will rise and the system will be burned to the ground. I get the appeal. It’s very romantic when you forget that any revolution of the ‘burn it down to the ground’ variety would result in the deaths of thousands of people — with a majority of those deaths being marginalized people.
The revolution must be slow, and it must be completely unromantic, and it does, unfortunately, require your vote. Even if you do not vote for president (although you should) you need to vote for your state representatives, for your county representatives, for your city council, whether or not to retain judges, and for your localschool board. There is a lot at stake this election including any chance we have at changing the system of governance.
Because of my status as a privileged middle-class white lesbian I’m not as worried about how this election will affect me — although there are some extreme ways it could — I’m concerned about my community and the people who do have my privilege. If I’m going to practice what I preach as a socialist that means I cannot leave my community to fend for itself.
Some leftists have labeled Project 2025 as a political dog whistle — but it’s not. Trump has actively distanced himself from the plan, but a lot of its policies and suggestions for legislation are already being implemented across individual red states. It’s not a stretch of an imagination that these policies — including book banning, transgender discrimination, and restrictions on afab bodies — will continue to flourish under a Trump presidency. Project 2025 promotes a complete ban on pornography. However, pornography is not clearly defined and seemingly encompasses ‘transgender ideology.’ The ban would be a violation of free speech and potentially ban representations of queer people — whose existence many conservatives think to be inherently sexual. Our existence as queer people could be censored. I will admit this seems extreme. But if these policy suggestions are in a plan that directly addresses a Trump administration we must take these extreme possibilities seriously.
I have to worry about who is elected in the red state I live in. Who will use recent rulings from a conservative majority supreme court to their advantage to further push harmful legislation. My right to choose what I do with my body has already been taken away. I have to worry about my friends’ access to life saving care. Voting for your state legislators and local legislators is just as important, if not more important, than voting for president. You are voting for the people who will lead your community.
Finally, voting is a privilege, it was a right we had to fight for. I can and do believe that America’s political system is fundamentally broken. But we all live in that broken system and have a chance to have our voice say something in a sort of democratic way. I will always vote, because I want my voice to be heard in the bureaucracy. However, my activism does not begin or end with voting. If we want a better system we have to protest, engage with people who are different from us, support grassroots organizations, put our dollars where it counts, and we have to actually be in community with our neighbors.
About the Author
Anne Gregg is a poet and writer from Northwest Indiana. She is an English Writing major at DePauw University and is the editor-in-chief of her campus’s literary magazine, A Midwestern Review. She is a Media Fellow at her university and loves dissecting how LGBTQ+ people are portrayed in film and tv.
