#UFTElections: Busy Work for Caucus Members as Einstein Def of Insanity is Met

Despite my anti-election stance, as I said the other day on this blog,  I will sign all petitions- if asked. I'm not volunteering unless someone asks me. Well, actually, there are a few petitions I won't sign if they were among the people who I've witnessed stabbing people in the back. (But that story is for another time.)

I was asked to go to a petition signing party by a caucus and I will be doing that. I signed a few petitions at the DA the other day.

But let's face it -- what a waste of time.

The amount of emails and social energy and physical energy going on is over the top.

And boy are they all so excited to actually have something to do that seems productive. Wow. Petitioning. Something we can get people to do and make them think they are making a difference.

As I said - busy work.

They have the illusion that they can get people who have not been active to get involved in the election and stay involved after the election as a way to build up a caucus. In every election I've seen maybe one or two people come floating along and stay active. For a bit. Maybe. At that rate, by the 2031 election they will have a dozen.

With all the oxygen in the room having been sucked up by the minutia of the UFT elections over the past few months, the opposition caucuses, MORE, New Action, Solidarity have descended full bore into the black hole of the 4 week petitioning process which will end on the eve of the mid-winter break in mid-February.

Then, when they return from the break they can spend the next 6 weeks campaigning to split the anti-Unity vote in reality, in competition more with each other than with Unity. (I will make my election total predictions before the vote count on April 17.)

I made my pitch to MORE at a meeting in November to not run due to the futility and wasted hours that could be used to actually doing organizing and building up capacity for the future.

But the experienced hands who had been with the old and defunct TJC caucus of the first decade of the century wanted to run and sold the election to the many newbies in MORE who had never taken part in an election before - and with the same election line TJC used to get so few votes in the 2004, 07 and 10 elections. (Full disclosure -- ICE was also part of the slate with TJC and didn't do any better - but at least I learned my lessons.)

History, unfortunately, does repeat itself. 

As Einstein (may have) said ----- insanity.

Afterburn

The other day I was chastised by a few people in MORE for being too "negative" on the elections. Well, for them here's a

Feel better?