The Pains and Joys of Voting

I voted twice in the past week. One vote made me feel dirty and as if I compromised my moral principles. For the other, I voted for a song about teen girls proclaiming their school uniforms are getting in the way of learning about adult love. I felt good about this second vote- not like I had compromised important values.

AKB48 placed in their initial run of 'Beginner' ballots for their annual elections for best song. This was my first opportunity to vote in such an election and it was a difficult choice. I was deeply torn between voting for one of the two Majisuka Gakuen related songs or Seifuku ga Jama wo Suru (制服が邪魔をする). I have to say I did not put much thought into my final decision. I was much too excited to be voting in a pop culture event in far away Japan. It was great that IXA Ready-First On! provided me with the information I needed to vote over the internets. (Found here. Voting continues for some time yet.)

On Tuesday, I almost didn't bother to vote in the US midterm elections. Statistically, my one vote has little chance of making any difference. I also absolutely hate how the moronic pundits try to read some significance into the votes of the US public. The political class makes me sick to my stomach. The only class more vile in the world is the capitalist class that buys the politicians and pays for the political campaigns with the moronic press that covers them. I voted for one of the parties, and it made me feel gross. I only voted for them because there is a significant chance things will be marginally worse if the other idiots get back into power. The entire business makes a good red blooded AKB48 loving anarcho-syndicalist feminist like myself feel dirty and compromised.


Voting for Seifuku ga Jama wo Suru, by sharp contrast, was exciting and fun. Majisuka Rock 'n' Roll was my first favorite AKB48 song, but I was quickly enticed by the bold sexuality of a group of teen girls singing about their uniform getting in the way of their quest for adult love. I think the song is mostly harmless fun that successfully plays to the fantasies of some young women and many more lonely older men. The dance is also pretty kewl. But more important than that- it was just awesome to vote in an official AKB48 election.

Many deeply mistaken people conflate the wage slavery of capitalism with democracy. While limited consumer choice does exist in a market economy dominated by the commands of capitalists, there are moments of enjoyment and beauty, even for those of us looking for a more human existence. AKB48 has a peculiar relation with their fans. Certainly there is more involvement with the fans through such polling, and the theater in Akihabara, at least in the early years, provided a higher level of democratic participation for the fans, but at its heart AKB48 management remains another top down dictatorship controlled by capital. AKB48 shows that capitalism can be marginally more or less democratic, so long as capital is still ultimately in control.


While voting in an AKB48 election was much more wholesome and enjoyable than choking back the vomit to vote in US elections, the underlying structure of both systems is the same. Capital first selects the limited choices (candidates or songs, as the case may be) before the masses are permitted to participate. And if, by some miracle, the outcome of the election does not sufficiently uphold the interests of capital, those that retain the real power in a capitalist system will act to remedy the situation.

I don't mean to be a negative Nelly. No rational economy would have created AKB48 and we are deeply blessed that such a horrific system produced such divine beauty. So, while we live in a world dominated by the interests of capital, at least we can enjoy AKB48 singing about their uniforms getting in the way.