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[Discussion] Are you pro or against electoralism?
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A404 lemmy.dbzer0.com A404@lemmy.dbzer0.com
Joined: 2026-04-11
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21   Original
kbal fedia.io kbal@fedia.io
Joined: 2023-11-03
#2 · Quote Reply

Eh, not really.

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Takapapatapaka tarte.nuage-libre.fr Takapapatapaka@tarte.nuage-libre.fr
Joined: 2025-06-18
#3 · Quote Reply

Really depends on for what purpose and what are the means of control afterwards. Overall against it, but not purist about it.

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Doc_Crankenstein slrpnk.net Doc_Crankenstein@slrpnk.net
Joined: 2025-01-08
#4 · Quote Reply

Against.

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Eldritch piefed.social Eldritch@piefed.social
Joined: 2025-06-04
#5 · Quote Reply

People that seek power are those that generally should have none. That said, if others are going to force you to be subject to it. There's no reason not to make your voice heard. Working to keep the worst possible candidates from office. All while working to abolish electoralism ultimately.

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Mandarbmax lemmy.world Mandarbmax@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-08-03
#6 · Quote Reply

Elections aren't going to fix everything, not even close. But I think it is an important part of a complete strategy. Getting voters basically comes free with building community and messaging anyway, no reason not to vote a few of your guys into power to run interference on any substantial attempts to crackdown on the main work you are doing.

People who say not to vote are either idiots or conservative trolls wearing masks

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PM_ME_VINTAGE_30S [he/him] anarchist.nexus PM_ME_VINTAGE_30S@anarchist.nexus
Joined: 2026-01-09
#7 · Quote Reply

Against, but I'm more against debating it, especially in anarchist spaces. As of writing this it hasn't exploded into arguments here, but debates on electoralism have a habit of reactivating liberal tendencies, in particular the notion that the system has a chance of saving you, and the emotional baggage that liberalism drills into our heads about how the current election is the most important thing ever and you're a monster for not giving the system your time and attention.

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Andy_R feddit.uk Andy_R@feddit.uk
Joined: 2026-01-15
#8 · Quote Reply

Against.

I will do it because it’s not a big deal, but I don’t think it’s fixing anything. At best I may get a less worse outcome, which is still not desired.

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alapakala quokk.au alapakala@quokk.au
Joined: 2026-03-16
#9 · (edited) Quote Reply

This is more of a “I haven't read theory enough ” kind of post.

The neolibs showing up uninvited the last few threads did so because they are ready to kill the last few anarchists left.

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pupupachu24 lemmy.dbzer0.com pupupachu24@lemmy.dbzer0.com
Joined: 2026-04-29
#10 · Quote Reply

Against, but I'm more against debating it, especially in anarchist spaces. As of writing this it hasn't exploded into arguments here, but debates on electoralism have a habit of reactivating liberal tendencies, in particular the notion that the system has a chance of saving you, and the emotional baggage that liberalism drills into our heads about how the current election is the most important ...

100% agree. Great example are the influencer "socialists" (cough cough hasan) who basically spend 90% of their day discussing electoral politics and watching CNN.

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pupupachu24 lemmy.dbzer0.com pupupachu24@lemmy.dbzer0.com
Joined: 2026-04-29
#11 · Quote Reply

To be quite honest, after going through an entire year of being gaslit that there wasn't a genocide occurring... yeah I'm not going to vote anymore.

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A404 lemmy.dbzer0.com A404@lemmy.dbzer0.com
Joined: 2026-04-11
#12 · Quote Reply

I only started voting because of the facists.

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punkisundead [they/them] slrpnk.net punkisundead@slrpnk.net
Joined: 2023-06-25
#13 · Quote Reply

Electoralism means more than just voting, its about using elections, representative democracy and the state as means to influence the world. It means using elections and the current goverment as primary focus of your activities.

I rarely meet anarchists that do something like that. Many vote, many dont vote, but really only a few actually embrace electoralism.

I am against in the way, that I dont want to participate in it and dont want to work closely together with groups / people that do.

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punkisundead [they/them] slrpnk.net punkisundead@slrpnk.net
Joined: 2023-06-25
#14 · Quote Reply

Elections aren't going to fix everything, not even close. But I think it is an important part of a complete strategy. Getting voters basically comes free with building community and messaging anyway, no reason not to vote a few of your guys into power to run interference on any substantial attempts to crackdown on the main work you are doing. People who say not to vote are either idiots or cons...

People who say not to vote are either idiots or conservative trolls wearing masks

One of the most successful anarchists projects, revolutionary Catalonia, was done by people that actively campained for voting boycotts. Calling those people idiots in an anarchist community is a choice. But its also concerning to me that this comment is the most upvoted currently...

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Mandarbmax lemmy.world Mandarbmax@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-08-03
#15 · Quote Reply

People who say not to vote are either idiots or conservative trolls wearing masks One of the most successful anarchists projects, revolutionary Catalonia, was done by people that actively campained for voting boycotts. Calling those people idiots in an anarchist community is a choice. But its also concerning to me that this comment is the most upvoted currently...

This is like looking at a red car smashing itself flat into a wall and thinking that if only you paint your car red you can go that fast too (nevermind the crash). Perhaps you should focus less on the red paint (taking civilian government positions by force rather than election) and more on dismantling the wall before you get going (dismantling the fascists' power) so you don't crash (battle of ebro).

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punkisundead [they/them] slrpnk.net punkisundead@slrpnk.net
Joined: 2023-06-25
#16 · Quote Reply

This is like looking at a red car smashing itself flat into a wall and thinking that if only you paint your car red you can go that fast too (nevermind the crash). Perhaps you should focus less on the red paint (taking civilian government positions by force rather than election) and more on dismantling the wall before you get going (dismantling the fascists' power) so you don't crash (battle of ebro).

Yeah sorry your analogy doesnt make any sense to me.

Also

taking civilian government positions by force rather than election

This has nothing to do with anarchism

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Mandarbmax lemmy.world Mandarbmax@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-08-03
#17 · Quote Reply

Yeah sorry your analogy doesnt make any sense to me. Also taking civilian government positions by force rather than election This has nothing to do with anarchism

But it has everything to do with Catalonia! Because that is what they did. It was quite successful for a few years. It is unfortunate that it didn't last longer.

The analogy isn't that important if you don't get it, basically I'm arguing that Catalonia was cool but it wasn't flawless and if you try to perfectly replicate an autonomous state that was crushed within 3 years then you will also be crushed in 3 years or so.

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mrdown lemmy.dbzer0.com mrdown@lemmy.dbzer0.com
Joined: 2026-04-23
#18 · Quote Reply

I will always blame the polititians and who treat them like cult leaders. I don't have problem with people who vote and people who don't. If politicians abandonned certsin people, tbose people can't be blamed for not voting

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alapakala quokk.au alapakala@quokk.au
Joined: 2026-03-16
#19 · Quote Reply

I only started voting because of the facists.

Voting, or electing populist leaders?

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punkisundead [they/them] slrpnk.net punkisundead@slrpnk.net
Joined: 2023-06-25
#20 · Quote Reply

But it has everything to do with Catalonia! Because that is what they did. It was quite successful for a few years. It is unfortunate that it didn't last longer. The analogy isn't that important if you don't get it, basically I'm arguing that Catalonia was cool but it wasn't flawless and if you try to perfectly replicate an autonomous state that was crushed within 3 years then you will also be ...

Still not agrreing with calling those people idiots, but i get where you are coming from. Of course we should learn from the past, we shouldnt repeat unnecessary mistakes

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Mandarbmax lemmy.world Mandarbmax@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-08-03
#21 · Quote Reply

Still not agrreing with calling those people idiots, but i get where you are coming from. Of course we should learn from the past, we shouldnt repeat unnecessary mistakes

With the knowledge they had at the time I don't know if I would call them idiots, I'm not enough of a historian to know. In modern times though I think it is clear that you should vote too. Abstaining from voting gets you nothing.

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A404 lemmy.dbzer0.com A404@lemmy.dbzer0.com
Joined: 2026-04-11
#22 · Quote Reply

Voting, or electing populist leaders?

Just voting. Electoralism has a poor track record.

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alapakala quokk.au alapakala@quokk.au
Joined: 2026-03-16
#23 · Quote Reply

Just voting. Electoralism has a poor track record.

Voting doesn't really stop fascists whatsoever. But it's a good tool when not balloting populists.

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