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The Occupy movement does not need to run candidates for office to gain legitimacy. Although I have nothing against those who wish to try to change things from within, I distrust any effort to take power over others.
The movement's legitimacy comes from the needs of the whole world, and it cannot give that legitimacy to the state, or to any other violent/hierarchical institution. And the defenders of the kleptocratic status quo would love for the movement to get into electoral politics. If the movement did so, it would direct organizing effort away from useful projects into electoral dead-ends, and it would undermine occupiers' critiques of the electoral system.
If you vote, people tell you that your vote meant agreeing to abide by the results. If you refuse to vote, people tell you that your refusal makes your opinions worthless. But with this kind of double bind, neither bind can hold truth.
The movement's legitimacy comes from the needs of the whole world, and it cannot give that legitimacy to the state, or to any other violent/hierarchical institution. And the defenders of the kleptocratic status quo would love for the movement to get into electoral politics. If the movement did so, it would direct organizing effort away from useful projects into electoral dead-ends, and it would undermine occupiers' critiques of the electoral system.
If you vote, people tell you that your vote meant agreeing to abide by the results. If you refuse to vote, people tell you that your refusal makes your opinions worthless. But with this kind of double bind, neither bind can hold truth.
