#52: An Ex-Voter's Guide to the 2016 Presidential Election

The Ex-Worker

We know you’ve been on the edge of your seat, waiting for see which candidate will receive the Ex-Worker’s endorsement for president this year. In Episode 52, we offer an Ex-Voter’s guide to the 2016 election, including an analysis of the risks we anticipate in its aftermath titled After the Election, the Reaction. There’s lots of listener feedback to discuss, including advice for a young anarchist on less illegal or risky forms of anarchist action, updates about conflict between the Turkish state and the forces of Rojava, and a nuanced discussion of what “solidarity” really means, or should mean, in concrete terms. On the Chopping Block, we undertake a work of fiction for the first time, Nanni Balestrini’s Vogliamo Tutto, or We Want Everything. There’s also an announcement about some upcoming CrimethInc. developments, along with prisoner birthdays and more. We released this episode in tandem with an audio zine exploring anarchist critiques of voting, elections, and representative democracy, which you can download as Episode 51. {November 7, 2016}

-------SHOW NOTES------

• Our discussion of the 2016 Presidential election and its likely aftermath centered around After the Election, the Reaction, the recently published text from the CrimethInc. blog. It also included clips from Wavy Gravy, George Carlin, the Las Vegas Trump/Clinton debate, Trump’s advisor Roger Stone, and Public Enemy.
• On the Chopping Block, we reviewed Vogliamo Tutto, or We Want Everything, by Nanni Balestrini.
• In our listener feedback discussions, we mentioned a wide range of less-risky ways to get involved, including organizing Really Really Free Markets, helping start a Solidarity Network, researching polluters and prison profiteers like CCA, the Geo Group, Enbridge, and VINCI, learning about electronic security and encryption and how to beat surveillance, screening video from SubMedia, raising money for political prisoners, solidarity groups in Rojava, or the occupation resisting the Dakota Access Pipeline, and lots more.
• We also referred to writings by anarchist people of color and writings about black anarchism, such as the work of Ashanti Alston, Black Anarchism: A Reader, Anarchism and the Black Revolution by Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin, Anarchy Can’t Fight Alone and other writings by Kuwasi Balagoon, African Anarchism by Sam Mbah](https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/march–2012-interview-with-sam-mbah), Anarchist People of Color (APOC), and the zine Our Culture, Our Resistance.
• In our discussion of Turkey and Rojava, we mentioned this grim picture of the city of Nusaybin from occupied northern Kurdistan. The Noam Chomsky excerpt came from the 2001 CD “An American Addiction.”
• In our discussion of solidarity, we referred to Gabriel Kuhn’s book Turning Money into Rebellion on solidarity-motivated Danish communist bank robbers - also check out the interview with Gabriel about the book on the Stand Up Fight Back podcast (their website is down, but you can find it via iTunes). We also mentioned our discussion of radical martyrs and martyrdom in Episode 50, Rojava Solidarity NYC, the Weather Underground, the George Jackson Brigade, Luciano “Tortuga” Pitronello’s prison letters - we reviewed them in Episode 5, and interviewed Tortuga in Episode 30 - Oso Blanco, and the Phoenix Project.
• Prisoner birthdays last month:
• Justin Solondz #98291–011 FCI Oakdale I Post Office Box 5000 Oakdale, Louisiana 71463 {October 3rd} Joshua Stafford #57976–060 USP Tucson P.O. BOX 24550 Tucson, AZ 85734 Please address card/letter to Skelly, envelope to Joshua Stafford {October 3rd} Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin #99974–555 USP Tuscon Post Office Box 24550 Tuscon, Arizona 85734 {October 4th} David Gilbert #83-A–6158 Auburn Correctional Facility Post Office Box 618 Auburn, New York 13021 {October 6th} Michael Davis Africa #AM–4973 SCI Graterford Post Office Box 244 Graterford, Pennsylvania 19426–0244 {October 6th} Meral Smith Seguro Correctional Center 1252 East Arica Road Eloy, Arizona 85131 Please address card/letter to Malik, envelope to Meral Smith {October 8th} Robert Seth Hayes #74-A–2280 Sullivan Correctional Facility P.O. Box 116 Fallsburg, NY 12733–0116 {October 15th} Anthony J. Bottom #77A4283 Attica C.F. P.O. Box 149 Attica, NY 14011–0149 Please address card/letter to Jalil, envelope to Anthony Bottom {October 18th} Edward Goodman Africa #AM–4974 SCI Mahonoy 301 Morea Road Frackville, PA 17932 {October 31st}