# tl;dr - The article, written in 2016, before the Trump/Clinton election, argues that while "lesser evil voting" (LEV) is not ideal, it is a necessary strategy to prevent greater harm. - The LEV strategy, which involves voting for a third-party candidate or abstaining in safe states, and voting for the Democratic candidate in swing states to prevent a Republican victory. - The left should briefly focus on pragmatic voting in swing states, without being distracted from continuing to build movements and challenges to the corporate-dominated political system. >Conclusion: by dismissing a “lesser evil” electoral logic and thereby increasing the potential for Clinton’s defeat the left will undermine what should be at the core of what it claims to be attempting to achieve. # Eight points for LEV 1. Voting should be seen as an act judged by its likely consequences rather than as a form of personal self-expression or moral judgment against major party candidates who do not reflect one’s values. 2. The primary consequence of voting in a contested swing state is to marginally increase or decrease the chances of one of the major party candidates winning. 3. Trump's presidency imposes a significant, potentially catastrophic, threat: denial of global warming, support for fossil fuels, hostility towards immigrants, openness to using nuclear weapons, and other extreme policies. 4. Trump’s policies would pose significantly greater threat than that resulting from a Clinton presidency, particularly for marginalized and oppressed populations. 5. The potential harm caused by Trump’s policies should be enough to justify voting for Clinton in contested swing states. 6. If Trump wins due to the left’s failure to support Clinton, the left will face accusations of indifference towards those most likely to be victimized by a Trump administration. 7. Establishment operatives will use these accusations in bad faith to justify maintaining corporate hegemony within the Democratic Party and to discredit challenges to the status quo. 8. By rejecting lesser evil voting, the left risks increasing the likelihood of Clinton’s defeat, which would undermine the core objectives of the progressive movement. ![[chomsky_an-8-point-brief-for-lesser-evil-voting.pdf]]