I know that anarchism, specifically anarcho-communism and marxism are very different. People always talk about their main difference being that they have a different means of achieving their goals but the same end goal , but that’s definitely not true. So what are some of the ways they are different?

  • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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    19 hours ago

    Figured I’d answer as a Marxist-Leninist that used to be an anarchist. Marxists and anarchists have similar, but distinct visions of what future society will eventually look like:

    Anarchism is primarily about communalization of production. Marxism is primary about collectivization of production.

    When I say “communalization,” I mean anarchists propose horizontalist, decentralized cells, similar to early humanity’s cooperative production but with more interconnection and modern tech. When I say collectivization, I mean the unification of all of humanity into one system, where production and distribution is planned collectively to satisfy the needs of everyone as best as possible.

    For anarchists, collectivized society still seems to retain the state, as some anarchists conflate administration with the state as it represents a hierarchy. For Marxists, this focus on communalism creates inter-cell class distinctions, as each cell only truly owns their own means of production, giving rise to class distinctions and thus states in the future.

    For Marxists, socialism must have a state, a state can only wither with respect to how far along it has come in collectivizing production and therefore eliminating class. All states are authoritarian, but we cannot get rid of the state without erasing the foundations of the state: class society, and to do so we must collectivize production and distribution globally. Socialist states, where the working class wields its authority against capitalists and fascists, are the means by which this collectivization can actually happen, and are fully in-line with Marx’s beliefs. Communism as a stateless, classless, moneyless society is only possible post-socialism.

    Anarchists obviously disagree with this, and see the state more as independent of class society and thus itself must be abolished outright.

    Hope that was okay to post here!

    • Smookey4444@anarchist.nexusOP
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      8 hours ago

      This was a good response. What about marxists that support council communism? I don’t know much marx theory but I feel that council communism is different than a traditional state

      • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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        2 hours ago

        Thanks! Council Communism is a bit fringe among Marxists, and really is differentiated most by having a particular desire for organization structure. Most oppose the existing socialist states for not having the structure they believe is best. There are also just genuine flaws with the way they percieve labor unions and councils, which is why there has never been a successful council communist revolution thus far.

        If you want to read a bit more into the basics of Marxist-Leninist theory, I made an intro reading list. It might be helpful, just to get more familiar with terms, if you check out some of the earlier works. Don’t worry, I’m not assigning homework, haha.