I gave that first FAQ link a read. I don't think any serious critique of anarchism as political theory rests on "anarchists want total individualism without any organization" (now, anarchist activists on the other hand do often have that issue). The critique is that the goal anarchists want to achieve - a truly non-hierarchical and voluntary society - can't be reached in a single step, and hence coercive state mechanisms lead by working-class socialist democracy are a necessary intermediate stage. For example, pulling a Bakunin quote from the piece:
"At the moment of revolution, in the midst of the struggle, there is a natural division of functions according to the aptitude of each, assessed and judged by the collective whole: Some direct and others carry out orders. But no function remains fixed and it will not remain permanently and irrevocably attached to any one person. Hierarchical order and promotion do not exist, so that the executive of yesterday can become the subordinate of tomorrow. No one rises above the others, and if he does rise, it is only to fall back again a moment later, like the waves of the sea forever returning to the salutary level of equality..” [Bakunin on Anarchism, pp. 414–5]
Here isnthe main issue: the moment of revolution itself creates the new world, the new order of absolute equality and abolition of all hierarchy. This is totally unrealistic - huge swathes of society will still be embedded in hierarchical mindsets. The physical infrastructure and supply lines will depend on uneven distribution of resources and knowledge that can't be instantly turned over. The operation of industrial society is os so vast and complicated that it can't simply ve rewritten in a single day - very few people and systems are prepared to so radically change without dramatic decreases in production and output.
The egalitarian society must be constructed through hard work across the whole of society with many opposing classes and groups who do not want to build socialism and will work actively to undermine it. How do you deal with the fascists and capitalists who will scheme to tear down the new society and restore their old exploitative privileges? How does the moment of revolution change them such that they cannot carry out those goals? You need capacity to repress those people.
And the ideas of the masses will still be influenced by the old capitalist order, so we must also do the hard work of convincing billions people to live in accordance with free and equal association, which takes a constant and improving demonstration that socialism is worth building and fighting for. What will you do if after the revolution, 40% of people just don't want to live that way? Will you give up, because it would take the exertion of authority to advance society? I hope not, or the gains of the revolution are wasted.
And of course, what if the revolution doesn't sweep the whole world all at once? How will you defend your revolution from the massive military machines of the imperialists, which wield their coercive and exploitative systems as an industrial holocaust against you?
I know these aren't new questions to anarchists, so please direct me to the standing answers.
the other is whether one accepts that anarchist revolutions were actually successful on anarchist terms countless of times
Ok, I'm genuinely not sure what you're referring to here. Can you give some examples?
The post wasn't made on Hexbear, I assume specifically for complying with the left unity rule. But it's also a thoughtful critique of anarchism, or at least trying to be - that's perfectly permissible within left unity. We can criticize each other.
Sorry, what's the appropriate response to that high quality comment I was replying to? I made a very basic critique of anarchism after they made a direct accusation of being "traitors".
I'm really loving the Absolute stuff so far, and of what I've read, Superman is the best. Kal-El gets a whole childhood with his working class family on Krypton, and the depiction of environmental devastation is very tightly wound with the explicit class politics of the series.
Absolute comics start from the basic premise of heroes reimagined without class advantages, and they take dramatic swings with the characters that have been paying off consistently.
Looking forward to reading Flash and Martian Manhunter next.
Another banger from a comrade of mine. Our Akron unit has been doing aggressive works on multiple fronts in the city. Excerpts below, but there's much more in the article.
Akron’s mayor Shammas Malik often says, “Safety is the number one priority for our administration.” He said this as recently as Oct. 17, 2024, while announcing a decline in violent crime rates while standing alongside police chief Brian Harding. This was just a month after a chemical plant hidden in the middle of a residential neighborhood caught fire, forcing residents to evacuate. One month later, the Akron Police Department chased down high school freshman Jazmir Tucker and killed him with three shots to the back. The mayor has also offered no resistance to the venture capital takeover of the city’s non-profit health care system.
Police Violence:
Malik’s first city budget, passed in 2024, provided a massive funding increase to the APD. The new police budget totaled $92 million, up from the $78 million it wa
For decades, most Black political commentary has expressed solidarity with the Palestinian people. Recently, a new phenomenon has appeared, particularly on social media platforms, which accuses all Palestinians of being anti-Black racists, and asserts that aligning with them is either of no use to B...
Link Actions
Great article from BAR. It goes in on Afropessimism and connected right-wing Black politics.
Connected to that was in the emergence of this philosophical political framework referred to as Afropessimism.
This framework has been one of the most detrimental frames that I think has ever emerged among Black folks, because using this frame, where, as you said in your intro, everyone is supposed to be anti-Black, including other colonized people. And so therefore the ability to empathize with other colonized people, to stand in solidarity with them, to build the kinds of coalitions we used to build as a normal part of the Black radical tradition has been undermined by the popularity of this frame. Emerging first in academia, where most of this backwardness develops, it then bleeds into our movement spaces.
Written by a comrade of mine! The healthcare industry is politically and economically dominant in Cleveland. It's also very closely connected to the zionist entity, and workers are organizing against it.
The expansion of passenger rail service in Ohio will soon be a reality. The Amtrak is being expanded, and Ohio has four routes prioritized for the railroad's expansion.
JERUSALEM—Noting that he had been feeling pretty down lately and this was just the pick-me-up he needed, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters Tuesday that he didn’t know about them, but the tragic attack that killed Israelis couldn’t have come at a better time for him. “Personally, while...
NEW YORK—Claiming that the humanizing of occupied peoples is not what the newspaper stands for, The New York Times issued an apology Tuesday for reporting on Palestinian deaths. “Our thoughtful and accurate coverage of the Palestinian death toll in no way met our editorial standards for obfuscation,...
A Shaker Square landlord wants Cleveland Judge W. Moná Scott removed from a lawsuit after her comments about New York property investors.
Link Actions
In a legal filing, an attorney for the landlord wrote that remarks Scott made in a TV interview and an unrelated court hearing are evidence of bias against his client. In the hearing, Scott accused a pair of Shaker Square landlords – both based in New York City – of having “incestuous” business connections with one another.
Following on the heels of a Supreme Court ruling in Sackett v. EPA in May, the Biden administration recently approved an amendment that weakens Clean Water Act protections for wetlands. The EPA regulation language on wetlands was amended — while excluding the standard public review process — with EPA administrator Michael Regan stating there was “no alternative” due to the court’s ruling.
Despite claims from the Biden administration and the EPA that their hands are tied, the Sackett ruling — along with any other Supreme Court rulings — could be overturned by Congress if the political will existed to do so. While many individual states could pass their own protections for wetlands that supersede the EPA regulations, 20 U.S. states have statutes in place that prohibit them from having regulations that are more stringent than federal regulations. Environmental organizations, Native tribes and others are opposing the Supreme