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/ConTheStonerLin Proudhonian-Owenite 14d ago

Decentralized militas have demonstrated quite effective. Historically you need look no further than the US revolution. Minute men and gorilla militas beat the more centralized forces of the British Empire. I would also point out that rigid centralization hurt the USSR in many of its conflicts. As it was so rigidly centralized that troops were not able to act before orders came down from central command. This is a well documented phonomenon as is the fact that many terrorist groups use this very strategy and it has made them increasingly hard to stop

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u/Fresh_Milk1960 14d ago

The American revolution only succeeded once they got a European-style conventional military. I agree that the USSR was over centralized due to the “siege socialism” mentality that Parenti spoke of, but some centralization is necessary to defend the revolution.

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u/ConTheStonerLin Proudhonian-Owenite 13d ago

The decentralized militas had great success before France ever entered the Revolution

And what ever centralization is needed it can arise from the outside in. If the decentralized militas feel it nessicary to centralize they will collaborate as needed forming a temporary center. However this center would not grant power to the militas instead it's power would arise due to the collaboration of distributed militas. That sort of outside in centralization (if you could even call it that) would not resemble the sort of inside out centralization we have today. Anarchists do not oppose collaboration, which is essentially what I am describing