On Not Voting and Anti-Electoral Attack
Posted: May 4th, 2017 | Author: THI | Filed under: Broadsheets | Comments Off on On Not Voting and Anti-Electoral Attack
Two texts from Blasphegme #4, a mural journal that started appearing around Paris on April 4. The first text is an individualist rejection of electoralism and the society that goes with it and the second is a brief round up of attacks against electoral infrastructure in the month before its publication.
I don’t vote!
Source: https://blasphegme.noblogs.org/2017/04/je-ne-vote-pas/
I don’t vote. Because I don’t want to choose a master, to choose who will decide in my place what’s right for me, who will force me to respect their choices, who will present those choices as my own. I don’t want the majority to determine the conditions of my servitude, I don’t want to the cattle to build the fences that enclose them and select those who will rule over me as well, regardless of what I think.
I don’t vote because I don’t want the world they force on us. I don’t recognize the idea of the nation, of peoples, or of citizenship, because states always manage to construct identities that give the illusion of a unified population. My nationality, the language I speak, and the colour of my skin in no way determine who I am, and I don’t recognize the borders of the state in which chance saw me born. In the same way, I don’t want to hear about any “common good”, because I don’t want to be part of any community – I don’t want to be bound to anyone and I want to choose those with whom I build my life.
I don’t vote because I don’t want to give power to the hypocrites who present themselves as something they’re not, trying to nourish our illusions to the point where waking from them is painful. I don’t want a world where I’m just a pawn in a chess game played between cunning strategists who use my credulity to trample my individuality in service of their sly interests, in their frenzied quest for power and domination.
I don’t vote because I want to live in a world without masters or slaves. And such a desire will never fit into a ballot box. Instead, I want to take charge of my life and push myself to create it while revolting against the existing order and the misery it imposes on lives everywhere.
I will never abdicate my freedom!
Rather revolt than the passivity of the vote!
Warming up
Source: https://blasphegme.noblogs.org/2017/04/echauffements/
Just like how some good citizens have the tradition to go put their ballot in the box every five years, there’s also an enduring tradition of attack against the sad electoral circus. Here’s a summary:
Talence: The Médoquine centre, where Emmanuel Macron was scheduled for March 9, was vandalized in the night. Several windows, notably the entryway, were destroyed. The damage was serious and slogans were written on the walls of the concert hall.
Alençon: On March 18, at the windows on the National Front office were broken using a metal barrier that typically serves to “hold back the crowd” and the office was seriously damaged by a fire.
Grenoble: The office of the Republican party received a little night-time visit on March 21. Its front windows were broken, the furniture and electronics damaged, and slogans were painted in red on the walls. On January 21, the Socialist Party’s had their turn for a nocturnal visit.
Montpellier: At the end of March, the offces of the Socialist Party and the National Front showed the signs of how they’re despised.
Nantes: The regional assembly was repainted in grey by the Laughing Painters Network in time for François Fillon’s visit.
Rennes: During a political meeting of the Republicans in a bar on March 30, those in attendance were sprayed with urine and fish soup.
Bordeaux: In response to a meeting by the National Front, a demonstration took place on April 2nd. Windows were broken along the route and tags were left on the walls. One particular tag’s stood out for this announcement:
April 23 riots everywhere
[And there were…]