Bullets v. Ballots ... or?

Do we have more options to start the revolution than we realize?

Feb 20, 2024

Day X is here…

This blog will post just before Julian Assange goes before the court in London for his extradition hearing on February 20-21. To keep up with the latest news on him, please tune in to the Indie News Network for updates:

An update on the Ceasefire in Gaza resolution that Toledo City Council has dragged its feet on for the past several months: It has finally passed! It passed “unanimously” (or at least the council members who were actually there all voted for it). This is a huge relief to all the people who have put so much time and energy into seeing it pass.

It’s probably no coincidence the resolution's passage happened after Biden’s poll numbers took a huge dive because he couldn’t give the correct names of the presidents of Egypt and Mexico. The Democrats on council might have felt now was the time to divert away from their party’s stance on refusing to acknowledge that a genocide in Gaza is actually happening and that a ceasefire is necessary. Rest assured, politicians don’t do things out of the goodness of their hearts without first checking in with local party leaders for their okay to vote yes. But a win is still a win, and it was well-deserved. Power to the People!

Now onto this week's topic.

Bullets v. Ballots or … ?

by C.A. Matthews

After the third online discussion on pretty much the same topic within a week, you start to notice a pattern: Folks are fed up.

The revolution isn’t happening quickly enough or at all. The same corrupt puppet-politicians are still in power. The workers are being oppressed by capitalist bosses who don’t give a damn about the harm they inflict upon their employees or the earth itself. Endless war is waged to line the pockets of Big Oil and MIC CEOs. Genocide is openly practiced and applauded by sycophantic politicos and celebrities alike. A human life is only worth whatever a billionaire says it is.

Get the picture?

What are we to do about it? There are two major schools of thought on this topic that can be summarized as follows: The revolution will come about through either 1) bullets or 2) ballots.

That’s it. It comes down to fighting our way out of this oppressive, corrupt system by using good ol’ fashioned firepower, that is, guns and ammo, or by using the power of the vote or ballot box.

Tempers have been strained these past four months watching innocent children and civilians being slaughtered in Gaza. Palestinian homes and refugees have been pulverized. Most Americans are heartsick and angry, totally at a lost as to how to stop the killing. If there’s anything positive to come from this horrendous loss of life, it’s that most Westerners don’t see their governments as the “good guys” any longer.

Eyes have been opened. They don’t like what they see. Those brainwashed into thinking they live in a “democracy” now know better. “Freedom and democracy” cannot be created though military strikes and conquests. Military excursions are just that—a use of deadly force to take what another country or people possess. If you want the land itself, you bomb the inhabitants into rubble or push them into someone else’s backyard. (In Gaza’s case, this means Egypt.)

“Freedom and democracy” are imaginary constructs used to manipulate Westerners into cooperating with their imaginary democratically elected governments. The so-called “major parties” in any Western country are about as genuine as a $3 bill. The partisans work for the same bosses everywhere, the billionaires (oligarchs), and not for their lowly constituents.

Sure, on occasion our elected officials might throw us a bone to get us off their backs. This happened this past week when the Toledo City Council finally passed a Ceasefire in Gaza resolution after three months of tortuous protests, intense email and phone call campaigns, and painful public statements made by individuals who have lost family members in the genocide. Not passing the ceasefire resolution could have very well spelled an end to the council members’ political careers at this point. Pro-Palestine protests have exposed politicians for the sociopaths they are, breaking the illusion of “freedom and democracy” and “justice for all” Americans supposedly enjoy.

We the People are “free” to live in the falsehood of a “democracy” that allows 60,000 Americans to die each year due to lack of health care. Westerners are “free” to live in a “democracy” that ethnically cleanses a whole population in order to steal their oil and land resources while allowing white settler-colonialism to flourish. Or we are free to rise up and take out the puppet-politicians and the billionaires by use of force.

A lot of folks online think that force or the “bullet” is the only effective solution to bring about revolution. Obviously, the ballot has failed us—just look at the example of Toledo City Council. But I’m not convinced the bullet is anymore effective than the ballot. Consider this: Western governments have bombs and nuclear weapons and large organized military forces called “Armies”. We the ordinary people have nothing close to approximating their firepower, and we never will.

A bunch of angry citizens running around with shotguns and pistols will not be able to take out a professional military force using the latest in weaponry and tactics. Sorry, but it won’t work. We can’t do it because we will not lay aside our differences with our fellow citizens in order to organize and train sufficiently to be able to take on a professional army. Governments have endless bombs to drop on any uprising that occurs. Plus, they have friendly fellow governments to help out when they need it. Just look at how readily the US helps Israel in conducting its genocide against the Palestinians.

Sorry for the cold splash of water in the face, revolutionaries. In the bullet v. the ballot argument, we are not organized enough, and we are not on the same footing weapons-wise as the corrupt government we wish to do away with. But the ballot? It has problems, too. We just have to look at our elected officials and see how they do as their wealthy donors tell them to do. Billionaires rule.

Neither the bullet nor the ballot alone are able to bring about the revolution we seek. Could combining them be effective? Possibly if the government we wish to overthrow doesn’t have a professional military. We’re screwed if it does. Violence is never the answer.

The “major parties” only nominate candidates they’re assured will do the bidding of their billionaire donors. Voting under these circumstances isn’t the answer. It’s time to add another “B” to the bullet/ballot scenario of revolution: Brains.

We the People may be poor and lacking firepower, but we’re not stupid. Our corrupt governments run by puppets of the wealthy assume we’re mentally deficient because we’ve allowed their corrupt politicians to take power. But what the billionaires and their puppets don’t realize is how frustrated ordinary folks have become. They don’t seem to realize that desperate people are not afraid to try new tactics and learn new skills in order to survive and thrive.

Using our brains, we can bring about the revolution we desire.

The BDS Movement (Boycott, Divest, and Sanction) is one example of using brains and not bullets or ballots to make a point. We pressure the real power behind the politicians—the corporations—to stop doing business with people and countries we don’t like and want to see go away. McDonald’s has experienced huge losses because of the boycott of their restaurants worldwide by those who support the Palestinian cause.

We could kill off the military-industrial-Congressional-complex this way if we really worked hard at it. McDonald’s and other corporations stop doing business with Israel and wham! Israel is too broke to keep buying armaments from Western nations. The Israeli government is weakened and overthrown by those who want to end the genocide and bring about a true democracy in that part of the world.

Along with the BDS, the power of the strike could be wielded as a weapon of brains. Workers organized and striking could bring down major corporations and industries that have harmed our planet with their endless wars for oil and their insistence on building nuclear weapons. A nationwide General Strike or, even better, a Global General Strike is the power of the people on steroids. We’re talking millions or billions or human beings striking against corrupt governments everywhere on the globe at once. Yes, there is the risk of bullets—mostly coming from the weakened corporations-governments who want to terrify the workers back into the factories—but possibly if we’re organized enough to run a Global General Strike effectively, we can effectively organize militia units to protect our fellow workers on the picket lines.

Brains and ballots can be used effectively together when we organize ourselves to support candidates and issues that take out the corrupt government. One recent example in the US is the “Abandon Biden” movement. Arab Americans are not going to reward Genocide Joe Biden with their votes, and they’re not making any promises that they ever will support his party ever again. This organized method of creating a massive voting bloc can wake up the powers-that-be and prove to them that we’re not stupid. We’re not cooperating with their evil intentions, and we’re not afraid to deny them power.

If a General Strike and the BDS tactics are added to this massive voting bloc to take out the “major parties” in the US, then We the People could become stronger than any army in history. But we will need to be united on whom we will support in order to prevent Biden or his evil twin Trump from taking power again. My suggestion is to support a strong alternative party candidate who will have wide ballot access and is clearly on the people’s side. And there is one such individual who is currently rising in the polls that fits this definition: Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. (The Green Party US does not accept money from corporations or PACs.)

I know there are those who will still moan that the ballot box is ineffective—especially in the US where rigged voting machines are not unheard of—but give me a chance to explain this tactic further. By voting in large numbers for Jill Stein, Americans will be making a very strong message that we’ve caught onto the major parties’ crooked methods. We’re not playing along with them and their billionaire donors any longer. Throw in a General Strike or a series of wildcat strikes, BDS tactics, teach-ins, sit-ins, protests and other outpourings of anti-oligarchy sentiment, and we will have seriously messed with the minds of the powers-that-be. The use of our collective brain power will cause confusion and panic in the ranks of the elites and their puppet-politicians.

Mistakes will be made by our oppressors that We the People can take advantage of to our ultimate benefit. If the government resorts to rigging the election, we can up our strikes, protests and other tactics to expose their treachery. That's what independent media and journalism is for, helping the people tell their side of things.

If the government resorts to violence, then we can return the same with a clear conscience that we didn’t instigate it. We are only protecting ourselves from tyranny. We are true patriots, and they are despots. Who would blame us for standing up to evil?

What have we got to lose by exposing the corrupt puppets and their billionaire donors in such a fashion? Propaganda is meant to keep the people in line. When we’re in control of making the headlines through indie media, then the propaganda narrative of Western governments will cease to exist and so will they. We will become the story.

Bullets v. Ballots doesn’t quite give us the credit we’re due. We the People have brains, too. If we organize and use them wisely, the future is ours.

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