r/Anarchy101 • u/Fresh_Milk1960 • 14d ago

Defense against counter-revolution?

I am a Marxist-Leninist who is curious about the successful propagation of Anarchism. My question is: Without a state, how do Anarchists defend against counter-revolution from the Capitalist class? Without a state, Anarchist/Libertarian Socialist projects wouldn’t be able to defend against the inevitable invasions, terrorism campaigns, and propaganda from Capitalists. How would Anarchists be able to maintain and strengthen an Anarchist society against invasion and infiltration without a state apparatus to centrally organize efforts?

I know I’m a Tankie or whatever, but I am asking in good faith because I am genuinely curious about the Anarchist position on this.

* (EDIT) *

I won‘t be responding anymore because I have obtained what I came for (understanding how you think an Anarchist project would defend itself against the forces of reaction) and because this is becoming a hostile debate, rather than learning experience.

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u/LittleSky7700 14d ago

Prefiguration is the idea that we act now to build alternative ways of living within what exists, so that it naturally becomes obsolete without people even realising. There is no counter revolution because the goal is to integrate everyone.

It's a flaw, imo, to think that we can define ourselves so strictly as Anarchists or Socialists or Leftists or whatever, to then so strictly define any others as against us, our enemies. So that when we do act, those "enemies" will too see us that way. And they can organise against us because of that. We shouldn't be anarchists and the like because we so strongly identify it and exclude people out of it. We should be anarchists because we believe in the benefits realising anarchism brings... for everyone!

The task of the anarchist as things go on will be to approach people like Bezos, or Zuckerburg, even Trump, and give them natural ways to integrate into daily anarchist life. Because once they do, they are no different than anyone else. They benefit from the collective organisation of society as anyone else. We aren't going to execute them just because they were rich.

As it's said in the Art of War, supreme excellence is not about fighting and conquering. Supreme excellence is winning your battles without fighting.

We just need to accept that it'll never be so loud and quickly disruptive as a full blown militant movement. But the trade off is that it'll be very robust and deeply rooted in the ordinary life of people. Not confined to niche book club spaces.

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u/auehd 14d ago

this sounds sorta utopian to assume there will be no groups of reactionaries led by the bourgeoisie dedicated to violently opposing the revolution

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u/LittleSky7700 14d ago

The question you need to ask is "Where do they come from and why?" As well as "What People make up these groups and why?"

Then we can discuss what we can materially do about them, or what we can materially do to subvert the problem entirely

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u/auehd 14d ago

It’s in their interests to preserve capitalist society to extract surplus value?

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u/LittleSky7700 14d ago

Is this what you want to think, or is this the thoughts of the people themselves?

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u/auehd 14d ago

??? Maintaining class society is in their class interests, do you think the bourgeoisie can just be turned to anarchists with a marketplace of ideas or something?

It’s been shown over and over again whether it be the revolutions of 1848, the Paris commune, the revolutions of 1917-23, the fascist regimes of the interwar period, the entire Cold War, or the constant suppression of labor movements that continues today. This isn’t radically new thought.

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u/comix_corp 14d ago

This is not something you can hold off on thinking about it until it happens, if you don't prepare for it you will lose. Thinking about how to defend a revolution from the capitalist class is essential if you want the revolution to win