There is no lesser evil

FOR REVOLUTIONARY CHANGE

“Never open the door to a lesser evil, for other and greater ones invariably slink in after it.” - 17th-century Spanish philosopher Baltasar Gracián y Morales

There is a recognisable political cycle. We have been through it before, over and over again. It is the cycle of lesser evil.  For instance, it is argued, isn’t it worthwhile just to reduce (just for the sake of debate, remember) the probability of an increased attack on welfare benefits to get Corbyn into office so to ward off a greater evil. But once in office, Corbyn comes under irresistible pressure from his capitalist masters to break his “populist” promises, to disappoint, disillusion and betray the working people who placed their trust and hope in him. Some supporters sink back into apathy and despair, while others fall prey to the populist-type backlash. These reactions give the Tories their chance to return to political power. Those who support the lesser evil play an essential role in constantly reproducing the cycle. They share the responsibility for its persistence. Support for the lesser evil also entails support – indirect and delayed, but support nonetheless – for the greater evil. The outcome of the General Election carries one truth: namely that whichever party assumes office, it has but one remit once in office – to further the interests of the UK's corporate elite. It’s just not a feasible option for any newly elected prime minister to entertain any idea other than guaranteeing a safe playing field for the domestic profit-machine.

Politicians knowingly market themselves to lesser evil voters by constructing phony sales pitches, making themselves look more progressive than they really are. Voting is a sacred cow. Popular slogans such as “if you don’t vote, you have no right to complain”, or “it is your duty to vote” are repeated ad nauseum. It is almost impossible to watch the news without the classic platitude from celebrities, to public intellectuals: “Whatever you do, just make sure you get out there and vote”. They ask “How do we bring the non-voters into our political process?” or “How can we engage voters?” but rarely do they question “Why are these voters not engaged” and never “Is their disengagement correct?” and “Should we join them in solidarity?” The lesser evil invariably paves the way and makes inevitable the greater evil because people cease to vote when they have been betrayed by the lesser evil. What lesser evilism is about is supping with the devil, but with a longer spoon. 

The Socialist Party is convinced that workers' cannot be defended by an adoption of the 'lesser evil', that is, a policy of concessions to and compromise with elements of capitalism. We do not unite with non-socialist organisations which claim to be defending our fellow-workers. A worker that has been robbed is like a cow that has been milked. The poor dumb animal is incapable of worrying about what becomes of the milk, but the so-called “intelligent” worker takes sides in the quarrel which goes on over that which has been taken from him. When sections of the capitalists, who exploit the working-class milch-cow squabble over their share of the surplus value, workers who line up and take sides in this quarrel are in the same position as the worker who has been robbed by thieves who then later fight over the division of the booty. It would be funny if it were not so sad and tragic to see the workers take sides, as they often do, with one gang of robbers that has plundered him as against the bunch of thieves.

No matter what the outcome of the election no matter who wins, the continued existence of capitalism is guaranteed. The problems of capitalist society have been described by journalists, novelists, historians, economists, sociologists, and even many politicians. But only socialists recognise that these problems cannot be solved until capitalism is replaced by a social system in which people throughout the world will work harmoniously together to produce and distribute wealth to satisfy society’s needs.

Where the choice is between one capitalist politician and another, the defeat comes in accepting the limitation to this choice. The lesser evil has proven wrong in practice. We are tired of being blackmailed into voting for our enemies. We should realise that voting for one crooked politician to stop another, backfires on the working class. Your vote does count in elections. It counts for capitalism. It becomes the mandate for all the actions of government over the next four years. Of two evils, choose neither. Abstention from voting, but more importantly spoiling your ballot, is a valid legitimate expression of a person’s political position. It is an opting out from the system and declares, to a degree, dissatisfaction in the system. There is nothing more dangerous for the workers than a socialist endorsing a class enemy. The idea of supporting any capitalist candidate is unspeakable. Our goal is for the working class to become conscious of itself and become a power in society. Genuine socialists understand that all political consciousness begins with the recognition of the fundamental class division: the working class versus the ruling capitalist class. Success in the class struggle demands working-class independence from all capitalist parties. The Socialist Party uses electoral campaigns to promote socialist consciousness among workers and it cautions that social change cannot be achieved by electing a capitalist candidate. But too often political activists on the Left feel a desperate need to offer a “pragmatic” electoral policy. But all they are doing is giving a “radical” cover to capitalist reformism and offering a diversion from the necessary task of making socialists.  There is no such thing when the choice is between measles and German measles. The “lesser evil” fallacy serves only to underestimate the danger of the poison you opt for.  

Too often the media appraises candidates on the basis of what they say about themselves, not by their actual deeds and real class role. For any organization claiming to be socialist to endorse a capitalist party is a shameful betrayal of principles they allegedly stand for. The reason real socialists never support candidates of capitalist parties is that there is nothing more dangerous for the workers than endorsing a class enemy. The Socialist Party seeks that fellow workers become conscious of themselves as a class and of their power in society. Genuine socialists understand that political consciousness begins with the recognition of the fundamental class division: the working class versus the ruling capitalist class. Success demands the working-class to be independence from all capitalist parties.

In the conflict between Tweedledum and Tweedledumber, our advice is to spoil the ballot paper and abstain from voting for either evil. The only way we can prevail is by offering an alternative – don’t play the game, don’t be forced into a false and hypocritical “choice”. The only way to save democracy is to expose the falsity of the choice at hand. Reformists are Judas goats, helping to lead the working class into the slaughterhouse. Well-meaning, good-intentioned reformers have nearly obliterated one of the fundamental principles of socialism, that the independent working class must create its own revolutionary party and put an end to class collaboration. A genuine working-class party would tell the truth about the system.  The Socialist Party is intent upon using the electoral arena for its long-term struggle for socialism, not to gain immediate amelioration by a reform platform of palliatives. The ruling elite uses the line of opting for the lesser of two evils as a way to divert and detour the working class into a dead-end, a way to politically disarm people and demoralize them, a way to keep the working class chained to the treadmill of capitalist politics. By not voting working people will register their rejection of pro-capitalist candidates. The enormous success of the lesser-evil political system is in getting about half the people simply not to vote and forcing those who do to vote, in favour of what they oppose.

We want an anti-capitalist party, an anti-war party, a party for the environment and mankind. We want a World Socialist Party. We must start now to build a party that will speak for the workers. We cannot wait for ‘ideal’ conditions which never come. We believe capitalism must be overthrown. Socialist revolution is the only way to end capitalism. Socialists say to our fellow workers don’t lend your support to the capitalist election circus! The solution to the lesser evil/bigger evil is to build the independent activity and consciousness of the working class. It is to unite the working class in the fight for socialism! Our job is to hasten this process, our job is to break with the idea of a ’lesser’ evil. Capitalism offers no future for any worker. There is no choice for workers on June the 8th election. Sadly, there will be no genuine socialist party to offer a real alternative. Until we form a mass socialist party we are accepting the rule of the capitalist parties. The working class must make use of democratic rights under capitalism to build their own organisations of struggle and in doing so we shall acquire the ability to bring down this wretched system of exploitation, oppression, and sham democracy. The working class needs a political alternative, a socialist party dedicated to overthrowing both the capitalist economic system and the state that defends it.

When the General Election is over and done with, the struggle still continues. Join us in the Socialist Party.