vote for peace, not just anti-war

with the media whirling into a pre-election frenzy, and the rest of the populace stolidly resisting as far as i can tell, various anti-war peeps have been compiling lists and strategies about how best to punish MPs and parties for the iraq atrocity. perhaps most intelligent of the articles i've seen is milan rai's extensive piece for uk watch. rai's conclusion, it seems, is to strategically vote in line with the media perception of an anti-war vote. that is to vote lib-dem if you have to, even tho rai admits their anti-war credentials are not very real. rai is in favour of supporting anti-war labour mps on the basis that if labour do get back in, it's best that this small element remains in parliament. not voting is a mistake, rai argues, because the specifically anti-war message will be indistinguishable from a whole host of other complaints and protests against the government, electoral system, and ruling party.

whilst i do have reservations about playing the corporate media's game, i think mil is right to treat voting as a strategy and not getting on the "if you don't vote labour the tories will get in" bandwagon, favoured by such radicals ;) as robin cook and perennial blair-apologist polly toynbee. to make a specifically anti-war message this seems to be the best way to do it. however, along with most of the population, the iraq war is not the only issue of pertinence during the election campaign. whilst those of us who feel very strongly about the destruction that has been wreaked by the blair government we also feel very strongly about other social and envirnomental issues. i think it would be wrong to vote for, for example, a politician who voted against the war but has a very poor record in defending asylum seekers, demanding environmental sustainability, protesting draconian anti-terror laws, etc. voting to punish the government for iraq is tempting, but it must not obscure all the other objectives we have for building a peaceful society.

ultimately, electoral politics is a red herring in the business of getting peace on the agenda, as rai demonstrates through his admirable actions and campaigning with justice not vengeance. the political system is a corrupting force and although we can hope to curb its worst excesses the future will be shaped from outside rather than inside the walls of parliament. let's vote tactically on the broad issue of peace, in all spheres of international, domestic, and local politics, get it out of our systems, then get back to the work that really matters: making peace a reality without the middle men.

update (19/04/05)
george monbiot has written a similar piece in today's guardian, urging the electorate (or the very small minority of it that reads the guardian) to protest vote. monbiot comes to similar conclusions as rai about ignoring scaremongering about "letting the tories in" etc, but suggests voting lib dem only as a very last resort, for some of the same reasons i would discourage it, i.e. the lib dems' decidedly dodgy stance on the war, their support for pfi, their distinctly capitalist policies. like rai i'm sure that monbiot would agree that real politics in this country will have to be determined away from the ballot box through the work of activists and campaigners. just one catty note though: i saw monbiot speak at the esf in london at the end of last year, and in a surprising take for someone so apparently 'bookish', he urged campaigners for world development to take direct action to acheive their aims. whilst mil rai is frequently to be found spending time at her majesty's pleasure for his repeated anti-military activity, we're yet to see monbiot locked on to the entrance of the department for international development... ;)

On The Poverty of Student Life

And I thought student politics in this country was complicated...