Moral Compromise

Post by Joshua Wrolstad

[Editor’s Note: NWTRCC is a big tent organization that is composed of people with various political beliefs. We welcome blog post submissions on war tax resistance from many points of view. The publication of personal opinions expressed in these posts should not be construed as an endorsement by NWTRCC, which makes decisions by consensus. Readers are always invited to post comments to continue the discussion.]

The “worse genocide” hypothetical is the dangerous new “lesser evil” iteration, obscuring the truth regarding the genocidal duopoly in the United States, and points to a dangerous precedent of previous moral compromise.

It was during the November 2024 National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee Conference that I was able to confirm a suspicion: many of my fellow War Tax Resisters default to the “lesser evil” rationale. I was shocked to learn that there was at least a sizable contingent of WTRs who voted for Kamala Harris.  This revelation should be concerning to our group. Perhaps the ONLY irrefutable truth I feel I do understand about War Tax Resistance is that it places war, imperialism, capitalism, environmental destruction, and yes genocide, above any single issue. For me this truth is the moral essence of our activism and without it we are lost.

From the onset let me emphasize that I am in no way implying that the potential dangers represented by Donald Trump are either lesser or greater than what would have been a Kamala Harris Presidency.  My criticisms are based off of the Biden/Harris administration which fomented, armed, and funded the genocide of the Palestinian people through the state of Israel.

Mandate for genocide

The portion of the public that chose to vote for Kamala Harris represents a position mandating this genocide. Those forces which are profiteering from said genocide have embedded themselves within the duopoly. Those millions of votes for Kamala are a confirmation for the continued and future sale of weapons under a Democratic Administration. The military industrial complex clearly understands that the terms, targeted drone strikes, proxy wars, and astonishingly now genocide, are not barriers to the continuation and expansion of militarization. The United States is leading with 40% of the total global arms trade.

This act of voting became an irrefutable indication of our willingness to compromise on a subject as unthinkable as genocide and war. Can we then assume that many within our ranks have been voting for Democratic Presidential candidates for multiple election cycles? If voting for Neocon Democratic Candidates like Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and most recently Kamala Harris has taken place within the WTR community, for me this compromise has the larger impact of diluting our morality on war and with it the conversation.

A new generation of War Tax Resistance

For a new generation of WTRs, trying to find the inspiration to alter their lives forever, to live to the extent possible outside the compromise of war (and genocide) they will see this as a contradiction. For me it would be a contradiction to explain to them that during this bold step we take when we begin our WTR journey, we can and do still vote for Democratic war mongers, possibly even for multiple elections. Why should we push this hypocrisy that yes, we are emphatically and empirically against all forms of war and genocide, unless Donald Trump is running for president?

There cannot be a political range within the WTR movement from liberal to conservative when it comes to war and genocide. We cannot avoid talking about the dangers that voting for both Republicans and Democrats pose to life on this planet. We have to foster a community where compromise on genocide, war, imperialism, and the very real possibility of total ecological collapse are never contemplated especially in the very trivial act of voting. Those people protesting and putting their bodies on the line for the Palestinian people do not and will not understand this compromise. As the lines continue to be drawn this false bargain is and will continue to be a barrier to solidarity.

A plea for discussion

Hopefully this can be a continued discussion, which is the only way I have been able to formulate my position on this matter. I cannot be around what I can only describe as gas lighting by people willing to dilute the definition of genocide with clever apologies and false equivalencies. I get plenty of that from friends and family who fight tooth and nail to convince me that genocide and war abroad are comparable to other social problems we face in the United States today. I hear the exact same apologist rhetoric from supposedly radical WTRs as I do from “vote-blue-no-matter-who” liberals and it gives me an actual sick feeling in gut.

Are we going to be a group forever aging out? Unwilling or unable to get in touch with the radical dialogue of our day? Can we cultivate an environment where the most difficult questions are asked and discussed? Can we approach the truth that there is not going to be meaningful change within the two-party duopoly and that those supposed individual saviors like Bernie Sanders, have and will only continue to sow confusion within our ranks. We must reject the allure of the Blue MAGA exceptionalism, as comforting as this false dream might be. I will hold out hope for the NWTRCC, but the truth is there are a wealth of groups that reject the lesser evil compromise completely and ultimately this is where you will find me.