> All kinds of people say they're anarchist these days,
> from well-off folks in academia, to scroungey
> ragamuffins going dumpster diving, to pagans doing
> rituals to earth goddessess, to folks somewhere in the
> middle of all that.
I see this as a positive development, although it does lead to lots of hair-pulling. Thank god I'm not prone to male pattern baldness.
> I just think of myself as an "independent social
> critic with very strong anarchist sympathies."
>
> That way I don't have to enter some boxing ring and
> duke it out with gatekeepers to the Holy Domain of
> True Anarchism, those who insist you must do X-Y-Z to
> merit the prestigious, honorific label. I voted in the
> last election. That broke what for many is a serious
> anarchist commandment: Thou shalt not vote! Oh well,
> kick me out of the club, then.
People know that I'm very vocal about the anti-voting thing. The beef I have with "voting anarchists" concerns the ones who argue that voting is
an acceptable anarchist tactic. It is not, since voting in elections contradicts basic anarchist ideas about direct action. Most anarchists who vote will point out that they do so for personal reasons and acknowledge that their actions contradict their anarchist beliefs.
I will abstain from voting to kick you out of the club.
Chuck
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