So I should start by saying I'm not a Communist (albeit many of my ideas are technically "socialist", and I took a quiz once to make sure) but that I don't disrespect Communists as the stereotype shows. There are several mindsets and Communism is just another mindset. For me, the "feeling" of red scare doesn't come from their ideas, it comes from the pushiness experienced. I have been on the receiving end of several difficult times simply because I had even minor disagreements with Communists, such as whether anyone should be advocating assassinations (I don't think so). When I see a whole swath of people cheering for some guy who travelled to NYC to eliminate someone who was actually himself trying to fix a system he was put in charge of, it is without any doubt in the world that I'm going to have serious misanthropic contemplations. Even though, yes, some seem to be veiling themselves in some way to escape the fear factor, often with emphasis on anarchist elements as you say, that doesn't solve the issue. You're all potential friends, and I just want peace between us.
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I tell people im an Anarchist all the time if I think they are likely to be the type of person to be affected by the mind terminating cliche of marxist=tankie=fascist.
I dont feel bad about it, im an Communist-Anarchist and an ML anyway, (I know its a lot but shit, its just the range of ideology where im like, yeah core principles are good) I could work with either and would be fine with either ideology getting us past the finish line. I have issues with anarchists who are anti-communist, but if they havent got an issue with me I havent got one with them - we want the same thing after all.
In the West it's a lot more culturally acceptable to be an anarchist than it is to be a socialist and especially more acceptable than being a communist. It's like how the 90s Geo Prizm and Toyota Corolla we're the same thing but to laymen the Geo had a bad reputation and the Toyota was considered the best vehicle of the era. Anarchism is when Toyota Corolla, Communism is when Geo Prizm
Sorry, I still don't understand. Can I please get this analogy but with burgers?
I haven't encountered this phenomenon myself, but I think it's likely that if you're an ML in an area where the only communist orgs are reactionary like the RCP and ACP, or full of sex pests, you'd opt to just stick to anarchist orgs. That might mean that anarchist orgs are getting new ML members and the ML members introduce ML ideas in a subtle enough way that the ideas get adopted.
What do you mean by ML? You mean they unconsciously reproduce democratic centralism and anti-imperialism?
Marxist-Leninist? Or do you mean which features?
I mean that some agitators use similar rhetoric (as in strong focus on class, pointing out state propaganda, militant tendencies, etc.) some even show anti imperialist patterns. I'm glad they exist. I just wonder because IRL, the anarchists I know have zero understanding of the capitalism-fascism contingency for example. The agitators mostly do know it and point it out imo which I like.
Anarchists are also socialists after all, so you will hear a similar rhetoric from them. The main difference is that for anarchists, state is the primary contradiction, rather than class.
Isn't the primary contradictions hierarchies in general, rather than the state specifically?
That is the reason mostly why i went from anarchism to classic socialism.
I read about anarchism and found huge hierarchies in local groups which were really aggressive when I pointed that out. That gave me the impression that its the same thing but less transparent and easily abused.
I'm sure that is not the case everywhere but thats when I noped out and went classic socialist, etc.
Read Tryanny of Structurelessness by Jo Freeman
It is all about the exact phenomenon you describe, written by an anarchist
With pleasure! Thanks, comrade. :)
i have no idea what you mean by classic socialism
As in not libertarian socialism (which anarchists are described as in the anarchcist faq). The "dictature of the proletariat" thing. Maybe I'm mixing up terms here. Not sure.
You might mean Scientific Socialism, but someone else can correct me.
No I don't think that is happening.
What is more likely is that they are anarchists who just have a couple good takes about specific things. Most anarchists have their own boutique version they follow and there isn't as many set "lines" as there are with MLs. So there are a lot of anarchists who haven't moved passed anarchism because they are overloaded with anti-communist programming, but still come to some correct conclusions that align with ML