Comment by iamnothere
3 months ago
I agree that the neoliberals listed are not anarchists, but individualist anarchists and ancaps certainly are some form of anarchist. Not according to the left-anarchist definition, sure, but a broader “anarchist” label certainly fits in the sense of abolishing the state, and if those people use the label to refer to themselves, then it doesn’t make sense to just say “no you can’t do that”. To do so makes discussion impossible.
Left-anarchism is more prominent and more developed, sure.
Abolishing the state isn't the definition of anarchism. If it were, then Marxists would also be anarchists.
You’re dancing around the issue. Some groups you disagree with use the word “anarchist” to refer to themselves. They fit with the colloquial term for anarchism and ordinary people are going to refer to them by that term. Like it or not, they are now some kind of anarchist just based on how language is used.
Nobody except left-anarchists accept the narrowly politicized definition of the term “anarchy”. Attempting to impose this definition against consensus is decidedly non-anarchist.
You should stick with bespoke terms like mutualism and syndicalism that have a distinct meaning.
(It is annoying how humans do this with language, especially when it’s forced, but I guess that’s just how it goes.)
> Nobody except left-anarchists accept the narrowly politicized definition of the term “anarchy”.
Can you find me a single example of a sizable anarchist community that doesn't explicitly reject capitalism? Try actually familiarizing yourself with anarchist spaces
- https://old.reddit.com/r/Anarchism/
- https://raddle.me/forums
- https://itsgoingdown.org/
- https://libcom.org/
- https://theanarchistlibrary.org/
Hell, even try asking an LLM. The acceptance of "ancap" as anarchism is an extremely niche and disingenuous position.
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The attempt to co-opt language is not just typical language evolution. It's purposeful. Here's, Murray Rothbard in The Betrayal of the American Right
> one gratifying aspect of our rise to some prominence is that, for the first time in my memory, we, 'our side,' had captured a crucial word from the enemy
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