Conditions met...

[D_Bokk]

This question is mainly directed at the Leninists. Since the end of Leninism is Communism, I'm curious exactly which conditions keep the Leninist from being an Anarchist.

From what Lenin I've read, I've come up with the following:

- Distinction between mental and physical labor eliminated.
- Suppression of the Bourgeois until their influence is so little that the Proletariat can stop them without the help of the state.

What else am I missing?

[Morpheus]

"The difference between the Marxists and the anarchists is this: 1) the former, while aiming at the complete abolition of the state, recognise that this aim can only be achieved after classes have been abolished by the socialist revolution, as the result of the establishment of socialism which leads to the withering away of the state. The latter want to abolish the state completely overnight, failing to understand the conditions under which the state can be abolished 2) the former recognise that after the proletariat has conquered political power it must utterly destroy the old state machine and substitute it for it a new one consisting of the organisation of armed workers, after the type of the [Paris] Commune. The latter, while advocating the destruction of the state machine, have absolutely no idea of what the proletariat will put in its place and how it will use its revolutionary power; the anarchists even deny that the revolutionary proletariat should utilise its state power, its revolutionary dictatorship; 3) the former demand that the proletariat be prepared for revolution by utilising the present state; the latter reject this." - Lenin [Essential Works of Lenin, p. 358]

Note that item number 2 is a partial distortion of the anarchist position; we do in fact have an idea of what to put in place of the state. However, the rest is basically correct.

[Dooga Aetrus Blackrazor]

I was about to lecture you about being biased Morpheus, but I saw that you were quoting Lenin. Obviously, his bias towards anarchists shines through with words like "recognize" and "leads to" as if Marxist-Leninist interpretations are proven. Regardless, the basics of what Lenin is saying are true. The fundamental difference is the state.

Leninists want to use the state to defend against counterrevolution activity and slowly establish a communist society. Anarchists, on the other hand, view the state as a corrupt institution in itself, unlike Leninists who believe it is used for corrupt means and not neccessarily evil. I am a staunch anarchist with little or no flexibility on this issue. I could go futher, but I am extremely biased (and right of course, but that is another matter).

In fact, I would be interested in writing a short article on the issue of the state, and I might do so once summer arrives. Go communism!