If anarchism has actually developed a framework for tackling state power, why has it never, ever seen lasting success in doing so?
Even in cases of abject state failure, it only sneaks in at the edges, never holds ground well, and is eventually crushed when state strengthens.
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Anarchism has better humanist principles than most extant ideologies, but it just. keeps. losing.
It's bizarre in this context that anarchists are so fucking smug about holding the "correct" views. Does that *help*?
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Seems the concept of “winning” only meaningfully applies to rationally or emotionally coherent systems. In a way, the anarchist stance is to resist genocide and ratcheting inequality by opposing “winning” (defined as totalization of system) in favor of ecosystem.
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This works right up until the point where a bunch of statists kick down the door and shoot everyone inside.
Which they are wont to do.
That's the crux of my point. How do you prevent *that* in an anarchist context? I haven't seen a good answer. It always ends in state violence.
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And much as I love a good last stand, I just don't see the merit in getting a bunch of good people killed for very small gains that don't last.
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It doesn’t always get you killed. Sometimes you just get fired or lose status. Either way, it’s usually a question of preserving dignity or refusing complicity with a specific injustice, not seeking some ultimate victory. Yes, it should matter to someone—even if not to everyone.
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I should clarify that even after many years I’m not perfectly clear about my relationship with anarchism. My replies part of an attempt to clarify that relationship for myself.
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When it comes to assessing social gains of disobedience and resistance, there are a few broader considerations. First, when have we ever seen states reduce the power of the ruling class in favor of the masses without major unrest, mass protests, strikes, desertions, riots etc?
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Pretty sure the answer is: zero. Mass resistance of this kind is produced by enough people sticking their necks out that wave upon wave of new groups join them.
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