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107a OP wrote

Just don't want liberals to shame everyone into moving the goalposts to redefine electoralism so they can continue turning every anarchist space into r/vote_blue_no_matter_who.

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Basil wrote

My personal stance is that I can see both sides of the argument. I won't shame anyone for voting, or for not voting. I personally don't vote, partially because where I live it wouldn't make any difference. But hey, if it makes people feel better about their life, or feel safer, I'm not gonna judge them for it.

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107a OP wrote (edited )

The act of voting isn't the issue, it's making statements that voting for a political party "has a tremendous impact intersectionally" and is "the difference between life and death". This is a liberal posing as an anarchist to campaign for a neoliberal, imperialist politician.

I checked their post history and they only had a couple other comments on anarchist subs. And one of the comments was again shaming people to vote dem.

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zephyr wrote

anarchists are diverse and i doubt anyone would ever attempt to codify all the specific beliefs necessary to define anarchism. that 'anarchists reject electoralism' is just one person's opinion.

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107a OP wrote

No it isn't. The moment any anarchist puts their faith in the state, they've stopped being an anarchist. State socialists aren't anarchists.

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BeanFormat wrote

Personally I think saying someone isn't an anarchist for failing to satisfy some kind of anarchist orthodoxy seems kind of inconsistent with anarchism.

There are elements of existing heirarchies that i think communities are unprepared to replace in the short term, and for some voting looks like a way to try to manage those elements for erstwhile survival. I sure as hell don't like to be told that I should be out voting for Democrats, and it's in no way anarchistic to do so, but I wouldn't fault anyone who felt that voting a certain way was connected to their survival - unless it manifestly wasn't - and i think anarchism is doomed if we restrict it to people who pass a purity test

Going to work and participating in capitalism is inconsistent with anarchist orthodoxy but I do it because currently it serves for my survival better than any alternative I have access to. My survival and security & that of the people in my community is more important to me than meeting the criteria for being an anarchist

That said, the subject of this post posted in an anarchist sub urging people to vote blue. That's unequivocally electoralism and electioneering. It's also fucking gross and stupid. I won't say they're not an anarchist out of hand but for fuck's sake read the room.

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