This has been a topic on my mind a lot recently, but I've been afraid of asking it here since I thought I would be being accused of/banned for being sectarian. While I am more on the ML side of things, I really have no qualms or issues with Anarchists and mostly consider our political differences insignificant in the face of global capitalism as it is now. In my eyes, we're a long way off from the reality of needing to debate how a new society will be structured/governed, so, at the end of the day, whether someone is anarchist or ML is not really a major issue to me. As long as they're against the current status quo and understand the need from change, they're cool by me.

Maybe I'm wrong, but that feels like the prevailing belief, in so many words, I've seen other MLs express as well. However, it feels like the majority of sectarianism I've seen pop up is always Anarchist accusing MLs and communists of being as bad as fascists, or supporting genocide, or being evil, etc. I feel I never see it the other way around. At the most, MLs just tease and rib anarchists, but don't view them as evil or reactionary, as some Anarchists see to view MLs. I'm basing this off of things I've seen/experienced online, and from IRL friends who consider themselves anarchists, but who've recently started espousing anti-communist talking points (ie: using the word tankie, saying communist dictators are/were as bad as fascists, etc.)

So why does it seem to come to this most of the time: Anarchists more often being unwilling to work with MLs and accusing them of being fascists, and not the other way around? Is this just a flawed perception on my part? A bias or point of propaganda I've had seep in and need to try and overcome? Is it a valid observation? If so, why does it play out like this?

I'm really sorry if this is still considered sectarian. I really just wanted to express these feelings/observations and seek input/correction from others on them, rather than bottle them up and potentially form prejudices. As mentioned, I personally don't have issues with others having different beliefs among the left, as long as they're fighting capitalism and imperialism, and being supportive of their fellow, diverse comrades.

EDIT: I just wanted to thank everyone who's commented for their thoughtful responses. You've given me a lot to think about, both in challenges to my bias observations/experiences, and in explanations more clearly articulated and knowledgeable than what I understood. Thanks for understanding my intent and keeping it civil.

  • LeninsRage [he/him]
    ·
    3 years ago

    Leaving aside my personal opinion of what post-1920s anarchism stands for today...

    Its very likely the radlib entryism that has only accelerated. Speaking as someone who went through that cycle myself, when you first begin explicitly identifying as an American leftist, you'll almost always start first as a "democratic socialist" or "anarchist" and learn the typical early shibboleths like "the USSR wasn't real socialism it was state capitalism" or "i oppose all hierarchy thus I oppose all states including ones that identify as socialist" or w/e. It becomes very easy to internalize and uncritically repeat anti-communist and pro-imperialist propaganda, punching left against "tankies", because you don't yet have a coherent understanding of the nature of imperialism and as a result try to fence-sit by saying shit like "i oppose both sides because they're both bad/both states"

    Some who go through this phase will eventually graduate to a more radical, Marxist level, but not many. These tendencies become especially bad as more radlibs start explicitly identifying as more left than merely "progressive"; you get "anarchist" online spaces ever-more-disproportionately stacked with radlibs; an echo chamber forms and these people start mutually reinforcing each others' shit takes and exchanging anti-communist propaganda to own the "tankies"; this becomes especially bad in online spaces because it substitutes for actually reading theory and history

    IMO just ignore them, they're irrelevant. If you meet some in real life its easier to sway people in person through repeated interaction.