为何投票？ 怎么投票？-一个华二代的公开信
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亲爱的读者们，
今天我步行到市政厅，提前为哈里斯-沃尔兹投了票。我鼓励你们也为他们投票！今年的选举充满了波折，是一个艰难的选择，所以我在这里解释我的理由。如果你对投票感到犹豫或失望，也许这会帮助你重新思考这个问题。
我认为投票不是自我表达或意识形态纯洁的问题。我们投票的对象并不总是我们钦佩的候选人，而是我们希望进行的下一场斗争。投票只是众多战术之一。有时当你在多个方面失利时，你不得不投票以遏制局势恶化——而我们无疑正处于这样的情况中。我也认为我们应该愿意为了拯救生命而做任何事。毫无疑问，特朗普和哈里斯在环境正义、仇外心理、移民和生殖正义方面的政策差异将会导致或预防成千上万人的死亡和痛苦。安伯·瑟曼和坎迪·米勒本该还在这里。我愿意做任何事来防止更多女性死于这种无谓的死亡，至少花十分钟去投票。
我在思考加沙的毁灭是否应该影响我的投票决定，也知道你们中的许多人也有同样的挣扎，因为为什么我们要为一个在持续种族灭绝中有责任的政府投票？我的选择是基于巴勒斯坦领导人告诉我们的：特朗普对巴勒斯坦人、穆斯林和所有移民来说会更糟；加沙的巴勒斯坦人宁愿选择任何人也不愿再经历特朗普的总统任期；我们应该为那些无法再承受特朗普总统任期的人投票。我认为以巴勒斯坦人的政治诉求为中心比表面上的自由派美德更重要。
那么关于第三方投票或象征性的不投票呢？我理解其中的原因，但我认为这种策略已经失败，继续在这次选举中投资于它将带来更多的危害而非好处。
最终，我认为我们必须阻止一个将“巴勒斯坦人”作为污辱的候选人入驻白宫，他谈论破坏停火协议，鼓励以色列“走得更远”，完成“任务”。我们现在知道，以色列正在等待选举结果，甚至考虑停火的可能性。我们应该对此极其警惕。
我们的指示很明确。做最低限度的事，去投票，因为我们应该尽可能地挽救每一个生命。而选举之后，继续组织和斗争。投票箱应是我们政治参与的开始，而不是终点。
爱你的，
丽贝卡英文原稿：
Dear readers,
I walked to City Hall today and voted early for Harris-Walz. I encourage you to vote for them as well! It’s a fraught election and a shitty choice this year, so I’ll explain my reasoning here. If you’re on the fence or disillusioned about voting, maybe this will help you think about it too.
I don’t think voting is a matter of self-expression or ideological purity. We don’t vote for candidates we admire so much as we vote for the next fight that we want to have. Voting is one of many tactics. Sometimes you have to vote to stem the bleeding when you are losing on multiple fronts – which we undoubtedly are. I also think we should be willing to do almost anything to save a life. It is factually unquestionable that the policy differences between Trump and Harris on environmental justice, xenophobia, migration, and reproductive justice will cause or prevent the death and suffering of thousands. Amber Thurman and Candi Miller should still be here. I would do anything to prevent more women from dying such senseless deaths, least of all take ten minutes to vote.
I struggled with how the destruction of Gaza should influence my vote, and I know many of you have too, because why should we vote for an administration complicit in an ongoing genocide? My choices are guided by what Palestinian leaders have told us: that [Trump would be far worse for Palestinians, Muslims, and all immigrants; that Palestinians in Gaza would prefer anyone over Trump, that we should vote for the people who cannot survive another Trump presidency. And I think it matters more to center the political demands of Palestinians than to perform liberal virtue-signaling.
What about third-party voting or symbolic non-voting? I am sympathetic to the reasons, but I think this tactic has failed and that continued investment in it during this election will lead to more harm than good.
Ultimately, I think we must keep a candidate out of the White House who uses the word “Palestinian” as a slur, who has talked about sabotaging a ceasefire deal and who has urged Israel to "go further" and "finish the job.” We now know that Israel is waiting for the results of the election to even consider a ceasefire. We should be extremely wary of what that means.
Our instructions are clear. Do the bare minimum and vote, because we should seek to save every life possible. And after the election, keep organizing and fighting. The ballot box should be the start, not the end of our political engagement.How to vote
Know your voting rights
Love,
Rebecca Kuang
October 29, 2024
