Communism...

[criminaltrap]

What exactly are the differences between 'state' communism and 'anarcho'-communism?
Excuse me if this seems like a stupid question.

[RedLenin]

What exactly are the differences between 'state' communism and 'anarcho'-communism?
State communism is a contradiction. Communism entails the absense of any form of state. However, marxists understand that the state will not be completely abolished on day one. The state is a product of class antagonisms and as such, it will continue to exist, at least in some form, until classes cease to exist. The key thing is that the state would be transient state, with all power in the hands of democratic workers councils. The state would be the armed proletariat organized as ruling class.

Anarcho-communism seeks the same basic thing as marxists, but they have some big differences. Anarchists don't beleive in a vanguard party, by which I mean a party that takes a leadership role and points the way forward to victory. They also don't believe in any form of state, not even a transient one. Typically though, the conflict between anarchists and marxists on the issue of the state turns out to be a semantic one. Both want communism; a classless, stateless society.

Though most of the time people will refer to countries like the USSR, China, and Cuba as state communist. As state communism is a contradiction, it would be more accurate to classify these states as examples of state capitalism.