The (big L) Libertarian Party - especially those Free State Project weirdos - all but completely tainted everything to do with that scene over the past 20-ish years.
FWIW, I think you’re right. All those people who were attracted to it because it was the closest publicly acceptable thing to real anarchism, or did not even think to describe themselves as anarchists, are now largely ideologically stranded. DSA and PSL are acceptably close in ideology, but lacking in diversity and breadth of thought.
Unfortunately, that level of tolerance and openness may have been the Achilles heel allowing all those weirdos to take the reins. It honestly reeks of psyops, but could go either way. Nowadays, I avoid even the small “L” term entirely for fear of being associated with fash freaks, even when I’d be technically correct to use it.
The (big L) Libertarian Party - especially those Free State Project weirdos - all but completely tainted everything to do with that scene over the past 20-ish years.
FWIW, I think you’re right. All those people who were attracted to it because it was the closest publicly acceptable thing to real anarchism, or did not even think to describe themselves as anarchists, are now largely ideologically stranded. DSA and PSL are acceptably close in ideology, but lacking in diversity and breadth of thought.
Unfortunately, that level of tolerance and openness may have been the Achilles heel allowing all those weirdos to take the reins. It honestly reeks of psyops, but could go either way. Nowadays, I avoid even the small “L” term entirely for fear of being associated with fash freaks, even when I’d be technically correct to use it.