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Books or papers I should read on Anarchism that would challenge my bias towards Marxism/Leninism? (hexbear.net)
submitted 2 years ago* by to c/anarchism@hexbear.net
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On the internet I don't see too many Anarchists give arguments past "communism doesn't work because communists are doomed to repeat the same exploitative power structures of the capitalist state" and "we dont know what an anarchist society will look like we gotta wait til we get there!" Which like...is not convincing to me at all. I've engaged in what was supposed to be consensus based decision making systems and there were a ton of flaws, though that's purely anecdotal.

So, I'd really like to have some suggestions on what to read that you think might really challenge where I stand/take anarchism more seriously. It might take me 5 years to get to them bc executive dysfunction but I really want to see if my mind can be changed on if it would be a better system from the get go than communism.

I think it would be super interesting to hear from anyone who shifted into anarchism from Marxism on why it made more sense to you

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[–] 5 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 child)

whose primary functions include reproducing itself

Mind expanding on that since it seems like in the us its doing a piss poor job of it. In fact I'd say that a capital dominated state wants to do away with itself via privatization.

Engle's makes a pretty convincing argument that the state arose to mediate class conflict in favor of capital and that it cannot be destroyed until that class conflict is resolved.

Take the landlord tenant relationship. In order for this to exist then the landlord must exercise their property right through state mediated violence and the tenant is offered some rudimentary protections. If the state simply no longer recognized the property right of the land lord the state would wither and class conflict would resolve a bit.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago

    in the us its doing a piss poor job of it. In fact I'd say that a capital dominated state wants to do away with itself via privatization.

    That's not how i see it. From what i see capital still needs and will need in the future the state there to be an enforcer. IMO the ultimate dead end of right wing libertarian theory is this, even when the market's hand is the least tied by the state there will be a need for a force to beat down slave riots. And that's what the state's ultimate power lies in and i don't see it privatized in the future.

    So Engels is half right about that, but i'd rather say that negotiating class conflict with violence is one way the state can be used and it doesn't negate that it reproduces it's power itself. The state pulling the rug from under landlords is a good step but in this context imo it's not necessarily withering it just oversees the conflict in a different (better) way - would a tenant yeeting their landlord be arrested? Would landlords have their properties violently seized? These are all good things imo but they don't contribute to the withering of the state, only give it another role. And under communist parties - at least until they get to the point where capitalist forces aren't a threat - it's necessary to have the state as an official enforcer.

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