"I've really never met anyone on the left, whether they describe themselves as anarchists or socialists, who doesn't support the extension of democratic rights and social measures under capitalism pending the deeper change in class power and property relations they are seeking..."
B.: I have. Welcome to America's take on what it means to be an "anarchist"! The AK Press-released documentary "Anarchism in America," filmed in 1979, covers a broad swath of Americans who identify themselves as "anarchists," and some are basically "I hate paying taxes"-type libertarians who don't think there should labor laws, etc. The makers of the film admitted they were just surveying the land and not necessarily supporting any one position in the documentary, and obviously AK Press, who reissued the docu on DVD, are left-anarchist, not Libertarian Party types.
Marvin Gandall continues: "What essentially distinguishes anarchism is its refusal to participate in bourgeois democratic electoral politics, to organize political parties, to run in elections and seek office - even if only, as Marxists believe(d), as a platform for disseminating radical ideas and organizing the masses for what they expect will ultimately lead to a decisive, probably armed, confrontation for state power."
B.: Dunno if this gets me out of the anarchist club, but I believe in voting strategically. I don't think it's an either/or thing: that is, I don't think either you do the noble thing of grassroots community organizing OR you "support the system" by voting. I think you can vote strategically to hopefully stave off the worst of the lot of ruling bastards while at the same time doing necessary groundwork. Many anarchists hate this view and will try to kick you out of the clubhouse for doing it. "You VOTED!? YOU SON. OF. A. BITCH! Now I will write an article outing you for bing a poseur," etc.
-B.