The Difference Between Communism, Anarchism and Anarcho-Communism

[Marshal of the People]

Hello comrades. Could anyone please tell me the difference between communism, anarcho-communism and anarchism. To me they seem quite similar, so if you know the difference could you please tell me.

Thanks comrades.:grin:

[BIXX]

All communism is anarcho-communism (often anarcho-communism is used to denote the fact that anarchist techniques were used to get there).

All communism is anarcho-communism, and all anarcho-communism is anarchism. Anarchism has various forms, including anarchist-individualist communism, etc... But all anarchism, to be TRUE anarchism, must be communism, but not necessarily in the normal sense. But there must never be any hierarchies. That is a fact.

[Marshal of the People]

All communism is anarcho-communism (often anarcho-communism is used to denote the fact that anarchist techniques were used to get there).

All communism is anarcho-communism, and all anarcho-communism is anarchism. Anarchism has various forms, including anarchist-individualist communism, etc... But all anarchism, to be TRUE anarchism, must be communism, but not necessarily in the normal sense. But there must never be any hierarchies. That is a fact.

Thank you, so you are basically saying they are all the same (or to put it better they all have the same end goal), am I right?

[BIXX]

Not exactly. I'm saying that some (particularly myself) have an incredibly different view as to what anarchist existence might look like.

I admit, I was not entirely correct in my previous post. Communism is inherently anarchistic. You can have hierarchical communism. Communism simply refers to the idea that everyone has equal access to capital/opportunities (I have a different concept of this but it isn't really the standard answer so I won't clutter your thread with it). Anarchism means there would be no hierarchies (and thus there would be communism).

The goals can be very different, but we all agree we want some form of communism or another (however, what I see as communism and what others see as communism may be different).

I'd be better at explaining in person, sorry. But I hope I helped :P

[Marshal of the People]

Not exactly. I'm saying that some (particularly myself) have an incredibly different view as to what anarchist existence might look like.

I admit, I was not entirely correct in my previous post. Communism is inherently anarchistic. You can have hierarchical communism. Communism simply refers to the idea that everyone has equal access to capital/opportunities (I have a different concept of this but it isn't really the standard answer so I won't clutter your thread with it). Anarchism means there would be no hierarchies (and thus there would be communism).

The goals can be very different, but we all agree we want some form of communism or another (however, what I see as communism and what others see as communism may be different).

I'd be better at explaining in person, sorry. But I hope I helped :P

You did help, thank you.:grin:

[BIXX]

If you want any more clarifications on my ideas (I tried to hint at them in my posts without making it biased, I may or may not have succeeded) then shoot me a PM.

[Marshal of the People]

If you want any more clarifications on my ideas (I tried to hint at them in my posts without making it biased, I may or may not have succeeded) then shoot me a PM.

Okay, thanks again.:grin:

[tuwix]

Hello comrades. Could anyone please tell me the difference between communism, anarcho-communism and anarchism. To me they seem quite similar, so if you know the difference could you please tell me.

Thanks comrades.:grin:

The greatest difference is double meaning of communism. Communism is both ideology and economic system. But anarchism is ideology only.
As an ideology communism, from Marxist perspective, is an aspiration for world without money and private property divided into two phase. In first one: the means of production are property of workers, but money exist still. In second one: money disappears.
In anarchism: the first phase is divided by different streams of anarchism: mutualism, anarcho-collectivism, anarcho-syndicalism. They differs slightly but differs undoubtedly. Anarcho-communism is the second phase. However, Anarcho-communists advocate entrance into communism without transition (the first-phase).

And the mot important thing: Anarchism assumes dismantling a state first, but Marxist communism later.

[Bala Perdida]

The way I see it communism is a stateless, classless, moneyless society where things like factors of production, property, and resources are held in common at least. Marxism is a popular path to communism. So Marx said that communism can be summed up by saying "abolish private property" as the first priority. Anarchism in the same way can be summed up by saying "abolish the state" as the first priority. Other forms of anarchism that are not communist are either paths to a communist society or emphasize individual self sufficiency. Anarcho-capitalism, needless to say, is just a fallacy and a contradiction.

[consuming negativity]

Are you talking about the end goals or the means by which they are wanted to be achieved? Marxist-Leninists, anarchists, and pretty much everybody on the radical left all want the same end goal. The differences in ideology are based on how to get there.

[Marshal of the People]

Are you talking about the end goals or the means by which they are wanted to be achieved? Marxist-Leninists, anarchists, and pretty much everybody on the radical left all want the same end goal. The differences in ideology are based on how to get there.

Thanks, I was talking about end goals.

[Red Economist]

In the 19th Century Communism and Anarchism (and Socialism) were 'roughly' the same thing and were largely indistinguishable from one another. I believe Marx borrowed Ideas from Proudhon (the first self-described 'anarchist') in his early days and later critiqued them in the "poverty of philosophy". Marx and Bakunin were both Young Hegellians, and shared similar views of history (and the necessity of revolutionary social change) as a result.

Ideologically speaking, 'Communism' and 'Anarchism' parted ways in response to the failure of the Paris Commune (1871);

In 1872 at the Hague Congress of the First International, Bakunin (representing anarchism) and Marx (representing communism) fell out over the role of politics and the state in the revolutionary process and Bakunin was expelled from the International when Marx introduced the idea of the "dictatorship of the proletariat".

There was alot of personal animosity between the two of them, so it's not just 'politics' at work here but this is basically how they (and therefore the two ideologies they later came to represent) 'split'.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hague_Congress_%281872%29

Communism and Anarchism represent two distinct ideologies as the result of this split and went on to develop different paths in the 20th century. Anarcho-Communism represents the intellectual 'overlap' between the two ideologies from the 19th century, as well as the attempts to bring them back together since then.