[lbo-talk] Anarchism, was Cuba

Chuck chuck at mutualaid.org
Wed Aug 1 07:28:17 PDT 2007


B. wrote:


> 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.

Many anarchists? Try MOST anarchists!

The anarchist case against voting and participation in statist political systems is not some kind of hipster attitude about politics. It is a fundamental political stance that is based on our political beliefs and POLITICAL PRACTICE.

See *direct action* for one thing anarchists do instead of voting.

Yes, some anarchists do vote in elections. That is much more the case since the turn of the 21st century. There are many more anarchists out there these days, including a few who are really social democrats but want to call themselves anarchists because they think that anarchism is a spikier version of social democratic politics. Other anarchists who vote do so out of bad habits brought on by years of educational indoctrination and social conditioning. Others tail after leftists and want to fit in, so they vote. Others, including B. here, probably vote because they see it as some kind of pragmatic form of political practice.

But voting anarchists are a minority in the movement. We have no way of kicking them out of the movement, but I've come to conclusion that these confused souls should be urged to adopt a more appropriate political label.

I'm not going to review the history of anarchist opposition to electoralism, but it goes back to Bakunin vs. Marx.

What boggles my mind is that these voting anarchists would advocate participating in something that: 1) is completely against their interests; 2) supports the statist system; and 3) is opposed by most non-anarchists. Most Americans don't vote. They clearly reject the current political system and see through it. Approval rankings for the U.S. Congress are at all time lows. It's even gotten to the point where LIBERALS, of all people, are cynical about the political system. (See Doug's comments about his cruise discussions).

Yet, some anarchists see something of value in voting?

Or look at the system in another way. What kind of significant social change has been achieved through voting in the past 30, 50 years?

Bueller? Bueller?

I'm just astounded that a bright guy like B. would argue that through voting, we can "stave off the worst of the lot of ruling bastards."

Come on, B.! Do you really think it would make a difference if the Democrats were in power instead of the Republicans? Sure, Bush may be the worse case scenario, but let's remember all of the things that Clinton did to make Bush II possible.

And which major party cares if anarchists (or leftists) for that matter, vote?

Chuck Infoshop.org



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