| the major flaw of the faq is its insistance that the false "socialism" / "communism" represented by leninism (and its various off-shoots: stalinism, trotskyism, maoism, ad nauseum) has anything to do with a creature called "marxism". if marxism means anything, it must mean "derived from marx"... and while marx made a lot of mistakes and said lots of disagreeable things, he was not politically authoritarian, and by the 1850s had rejected statism (see the grundrisse, the 1872 introduction to the communist manifesto and the civil war in france, amongst others). this highly unethical behavior on the part of the authors of the anarchist faq represents, i think, a purposeful attempt to dogmatically present anarchism as the only true and pure revolutionary theory... blanketing over the histories and theories of anti-state / anti-authoritarian marxism. these histories include (but are not limited to) the practical and theoretical work of the council communists, the situationists and the autonomists, all of whom anarchists have routinely barrowed from in the last 70+ years (just as council communists, situationists and autonomists have barrowed from anarchists). i do not say this to begin a "merry war" with anarchists. most members of turn around norman would call themselves anarchists. i say this to try to provide a point of view that is missing from the very unfortunate white wash job of the anarchist faq. it is important for us, as revolutionaries who agree that capitalism as a whole (including all of its various social relations: the state, economics, racism, sexism, etc.) must be done away with, to learn to engage one another and work together openly and honestly. in my mind (anti-state / anti-authoritarian) marxism and anarchism represent two, complimentary theoretical expressions of the "communist movement", which marx defined as the movement to destroy alienation and re-build community. for more on anti-state / anti-authoritarian marxist histories and theories, see the vital texts section of the commie00 page and (the) mechanics for disrepair document, as well as the john gray, aut-op-sy and antagonism websites... all accessable from our links page. also see the work of the midnight notes collective. |