A few questions I have to clarify what you guys believe, I might be interested?

[randomperson22]

A quick bit about me is I am member of the lower middle class or working class if you will, and I've heard all the stereotypes about you all, but I've lurked here in secret, and seen some good opinions. Alright enough about me! Let's get to the questions! Also I just want to say I am typing on a laptop that is hard to type on, so I apologize for mistakes in grammar.

(1) You are mostly anarchist/communists, right? What is the difference between the two, and why do you hate or just simply don't agree with capitalism/fascism/libertarianism/etc?

(2) Does gender, race, sexual orientation, country of origin, hair colour, eye colour, height, weight, age, etc, matter to you? Are we all just humans? If you can, tell me a bit about yourself and how you look (skip this question if you find it weird).

(3) In an Anarchist society, what stops me from robbing, raping, murdering, fooling, or just being mean to other people? What happens if I do something bad to someone? How is justice dealt with no law?

(4) Why are communists hated by poor working class peole? Sholdn't we love you guys if you are out help us? Why vote for Obama or McCain when they oth only care about rich folk?

(5) Who runs hospitas, prisons, roads, schools, business, etc? All the state or all indivually run in your ideal world? Also how do these work in an Anarchist society?

(6) Isn't communism just oppressive Statism like in China, North Kore, or USSR?

(7) How do you defend your little Anarchist society from foreign invaders or prevent capitalists or rulers from coming up and taking over?

(8) Basically do youknow that most inventions were under oppessie socieites? Why invent wen everything is Communist free?

(9) Is it wrong to vote in your opinion?

(10) What if you are wron and people are just evil by nature and meant to rule or be ruled? History shows us Anarchy/Communism don't last long.

Thank for educating a worker . :thumbup1: Please no mean commets, just trying to learn.

[The Idler]

1. Communists like the state, anarchists don't.
2. No, why should it?
3. There are three types of crimes, property crimes, crimes against the state and crimes against other people. The first two wouldn't exist. Numerous proposals have been made to deal with crimes against people, communal assemblies is one of them. See the AFAQ (http://www.infoshop.org/faq/secI5.html#seci58) section I.5.8.
4. Communism in the United States has received a sustained campaign of hatred against it from the government and media for around 50 years.
5. The people
6. Marx said the state would wither away.
7. Popular militia. See the AFAQ (http://www.infoshop.org/faq/secI5.html#seci514) section I.5.14.
8. Enterprise and initiative would still exist, but for the benefit of everyone.
9. No, though I might be wrong.
10. Modern capitalism didn't appear till around the 1700s. See the AFAQ (http://www.infoshop.org/faq/secA2.html#seca215) section A.2.15.

[Sam_b]

1. Communists like the state, anarchists don't.

That isn't true. Communists are against the state as well, (for example, look at Lenin's lecture on The State). Where anarchists and communists disagree is on how we get to a classless, stateless system. Once a worker's revolution has taken place, communists would support the takeover by the working class of the state institutions and structure, a state of democratic worker's control of the means of production. This is what we understand as the 'dictatorship of the proletariat'. To put it simply, once the state is no longer needed, then it is destroyed. I can't speak for anarchists, but they reject this idea and make the argument that by worker's taking control of the state, they become the state itself - which ultimately results in oppression. A good contrast, in my opinion anyway, is the debate at this years Marxism event between John Holloway and Alex Callinicos: look it up on YouTube.

Naturally, it takes much more than a paragraph to outline these ideals, but I hope this brief analysis suffices for now. What anarchists and communists have in common is that we reject the state, we simply have differing opinions on a revolutionary society and what is to be done to achieve our goals.

[Q]

A quick bit about me is I am member of the lower middle class or working class if you will, and I've heard all the stereotypes about you all, but I've lurked here in secret, and seen some good opinions. Alright enough about me! Let's get to the questions! Also I just want to say I am typing on a laptop that is hard to type on, so I apologize for mistakes in grammar.
Welcome onboard oh secret lurker! :)


(1) You are mostly anarchist/communists, right? What is the difference between the two, and why do you hate or just simply don't agree with capitalism/fascism/libertarianism/etc?
As noted earlier the difference between the communists and anarchists is mostly around the question of the state. While anarchists are against any form of state or centralisation of power, period, communists are of the opinion that a state (http://www.marxists.org/glossary/terms/s/t.htm#state) is in fact an apparatus of class oppression - of the ruling oppressing the others that is. As long as there is a society with different classes (http://www.marxists.org/glossary/terms/c/l.htm#class), then there will be a need for a state. Now, communism, like anarchism, is a classless and thusly stateless society, but communists realise that to get there we need a transitionary phase between capitalism and communism in which class society still exists, but is dieing out - we call that socialism (http://www.marxists.org/glossary/terms/s/o.htm#socialism). While class society still exists under socialism, in this society the working class (the vast majority in society) is in power and the capitalists are not. Therefore the state under socialism has a fundamental different character to that under capitalism, a workers state is far more democratic, due to soviets (http://www.marxists.org/glossary/orgs/s/o.htm#soviets).

Asto the second part of your question - why can't we just agree with the capitalists, etc - goes back to the question of class: under capitalism and its degenerate form, fascism, the capitalists - a tiny minority - are in power at the expense of the working class. We don't want that and want the vast majority to be in power instead. Thusly, socialism is needed.


(2) Does gender, race, sexual orientation, country of origin, hair colour, eye colour, height, weight, age, etc, matter to you? Are we all just humans? If you can, tell me a bit about yourself and how you look (skip this question if you find it weird).
Why should they matter at all? We are all just humans trying to live a good life. There are differences in cultures, sure, but they only enrich us in a global community in my opinion.

Why are you asking? It is a rather odd question in a revolutionary leftist forum...


(3) In an Anarchist society, what stops me from robbing, raping, murdering, fooling, or just being mean to other people? What happens if I do something bad to someone? How is justice dealt with no law?
No state does not mean there is no law or justice system. It is just implemented completely differently. For instance, there wouldn't be a police, but a workers militia consisting of chosen officers on a community bases. Similarly all judges are also democratically chosen, earning a normal workers wage and under recall by those who chose him/her at any given time.

However, under socialism the material basis for crime (poverty, racism, unemployment, backwardness, etc) disappears as the democratically planned economy seeks to provide in the needs of all. This doesn't just solve crime (for a huge part anyway) but brings humanity on a higher cultural level aswell. You might find Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs) interesting in this regard - where capitalism pushes people "down" the hierarchy to securing the basic needs, socialism on the other hand covers the basic needs so people can explore and develop more "higher" needs.


(4) Why are communists hated by poor working class peole? Sholdn't we love you guys if you are out help us? Why vote for Obama or McCain when they oth only care about rich folk?
Don't underestimate the power of the media. Day in and out the hacks of capitalism pour down a flood on capitalist propaganda and against anything that resembles workers taking their own initiatives and fighting for a better life. As for Obama, he effectively utilised the mass desire for change in his campaign. If he's able to keep true to his promises though is an entirely different question. If anything, the mass vote for Obama signified the hatred amongst whole layers of working people for this system.


(5) Who runs hospitas, prisons, roads, schools, business, etc? All the state or all indivually run in your ideal world? Also how do these work in an Anarchist society?
In my ideal world the state no longer exists. That is not to say there is no centralisation in the economy. Basically the economy is run in a recursive federation of soviets (or workers' councils): the local city-soviet handle whatever they can. These city-soviets work together in a regional fashion to solve regional issues, like for example bigger infrastructural projects. On a national or worldscale the soviets could handle issues like macro-economic policy or environmental questions.

Each representative in a soviet is chosen, earns a normal workers wage and can be recalled at any given time by those who chose him/her.


(6) Isn't communism just oppressive Statism like in China, North Kore, or USSR?
No, far from it. The USSR initially saw a genuine socialist revolution in 1917, but due to: 1) a long period of war (effectively from 1914 to 1922) which destroyed most of the (already tiny) industrial base and killed a large chuck of the most militant and politically aware layers of the working class (which we call the vanguard (http://www.marxists.org/glossary/terms/v/a.htm#vanguard)); 2) the isolation of the revolution in this backward (mostly feudal at this time) country; the revolution degenerated in which a bureaucratic stratum arose and consolidated power, killing off the young direct democracy. This is what we know today as Stalinism (http://www.marxists.org/glossary/terms/s/t.htm#stalinism). You can also read an excellent analysis of Stalinism in the book "The Revolution Betrayed (http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1936/revbet/)"


(7) How do you defend your little Anarchist society from foreign invaders or prevent capitalists or rulers from coming up and taking over?
By workers militia's. Besides, anarchy (or communism) cannot exist as a local entity, but only as an international federation.


(8) Basically do youknow that most inventions were under oppessie socieites? Why invent wen everything is Communist free?
I would argue the very opposite, pointing to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs that I talked earlier about. Because humanity "grows" into higher echelons because the basic needs are covered, the full creativity of the human is unleashed. Incidentally, in every revolution, 1917 included, a period of experimentation was unleashed. Also, despite the Stalinist dictatorship, the USSR was well known for its top notch science.


(9) Is it wrong to vote in your opinion?
No. To use the words of Trotsky: Democracy is to the economy (and society) as oxygen is to the body, absolutely vital if it is to survive.


(10) What if you are wron and people are just evil by nature and meant to rule or be ruled? History shows us Anarchy/Communism don't last long.
History hasn't showed us any example of communism just yet. Anyway, people aren't evil/selfish/whatever by nature, but by the environment they live in. Again, under capitalism people are forced to survive, thusly become selfish and narrowminded.


Thank for educating a worker . :thumbup1: Please no mean commets, just trying to learn.
You're welcome :)

[F9]

A quick bit about me is I am member of the lower middle class or working class if you will, and I've heard all the stereotypes about you all, but I've lurked here in secret, and seen some good opinions. Alright enough about me! Let's get to the questions! Also I just want to say I am typing on a laptop that is hard to type on, so I apologize for mistakes in grammar.

Welcome on board!:)



(1) You are mostly anarchist/communists, right? What is the difference between the two, and why do you hate or just simply don't agree with capitalism/fascism/libertarianism/etc?

Yes we are!I am an Anarchist-Communist!Anarchism is a political ideology, and Communism is the economical structure of society i find the better for the good of people!
But i believe you are talking merely about the ideologies, about libertarian communist(mostly Anarchocommunists) and authoritarian Communism(Marxists)!Now there,there are a number of differentials, generally we differ on the way getting to a stateless equal and free society where libertarians&Anarchists want a divert change from capitalism to Anarchist etc, and authoritarians are supporting a transitional stage between capitalism and "ultimate communism".Secondly, authoritarians are supporting a vanguard party which will be the vanguard to the revolution, and held the responsibility and big decisions as well as the coordination of the revolution, on the other hand libertarians are against any vanguard party, vanguard will be all the people, all the revolters!And finally(generally speaking) another main difference is that authoritarians are getting only to communism but we libertarians-Anarchists we believe that each one commune would decide the economical structure of themselves, this can be communism as other things too!


(2) Does gender, race, sexual orientation, country of origin, hair colour, eye colour, height, weight, age, etc, matter to you? Are we all just humans? If you can, tell me a bit about yourself and how you look (skip this question if you find it weird).

It depends on what occasions you are talking about!Of course and it matters to me the gender, if it didnt i wouldnt be a male, or being a heterosexual, i am attracted to females, so yeah basically gender does "matter" me!And some physical characters may i find better in my "eyes", but i dont see how this contradicts that we are all humans!That doesnt mean we are all the exact same thing!Each one of us has its own personality and look, thats not bad!


(3) In an Anarchist society, what stops me from robbing, raping, murdering, fooling, or just being mean to other people? What happens if I do something bad to someone? How is justice dealt with no law?


Nothing stops you!Just yourslef and your mind!Why would you want to do such thins?The mind of a free person dont contains the idea of murdering, the stomach of good food eater, dont want to steal, the person that has all he needs dont have to robber.Its just that as "common sense" you will find your "peace" and those things dont have even a point inside your mind to do them!
If your "crime" is really "bad" there is going to be proposed medical attention at you, where you will be taken care to understand what you did "wrong" as to some day reenter the society as a new wo/man who did absolutely nothing!The justice is dealed by the whole community, no laws need to take place!


(4) Why are communists hated by poor working class peole? Sholdn't we love you guys if you are out help us? Why vote for Obama or McCain when they oth only care about rich folk?


Workers dont hate real communism, they hate the "communism" media and state showed to them with huge lies about what communism is!If they knew what communism is they wouldnt hate it!
Communists dont vote for such arseholes!


(5) Who runs hospitas, prisons, roads, schools, business, etc? All the state or all indivually run in your ideal world? Also how do these work in an Anarchist society?

Those are run from the people!They run exactly the same as they are running now, with the difference that there wont be any "boss"!


(6) Isn't communism just oppressive Statism like in China, North Kore, or USSR?

Communism=/= state
And the 3 countries you named have NEVER been communists ones!


(7) How do you defend your little Anarchist society from foreign invaders or prevent capitalists or rulers from coming up and taking over?

With self defence!


(8) Basically do youknow that most inventions were under oppessie socieites? Why invent wen everything is Communist free?

Those inventions were invented mostly by free people, who loved their job and what they were doing!Those people will still exist in communism, they like their job so they trying to improve them, by making new inventions too!


(9) Is it wrong to vote in your opinion?

Yes


(10) What if you are wron and people are just evil by nature and meant to rule or be ruled? History shows us Anarchy/Communism don't last long.

We arent!People dont want anyone to supress them,Thats just crazy talk!
None real Anarchist/Communist society has being anywhere so far, so history didnt show that they dont last long!


Thank for educating a worker . :thumbup1: Please no mean commets, just trying to learn.

You are welcome!:)


Fuserg9:star:

[F9]

Q-collective (http://www.revleft.com/vb/../member.php?u=12488)

Why should they matter at all? We are all just humans trying to live a good life. There are differences in cultures, sure, but they only enrich us in a global community in my opinion.

Why are you asking? It is a rather odd question in a revolutionary leftist forum...They dont matter at all Q for you?Is a male and a female the exact same thing for you?Not to be misunderstood, we all are the same,same freedoms, same beings,same "thing" same ,same,However every persons individuality is important!We dont want people the exact same thing, some people may want to change their hair colors, should we prevent them, and all have the same hair color?You see what i mean?They play some matter those things, but you know, not "big" matter, is every persons individuality and some people may like it and some people dont!Didnt happened to you, to get a haircut and have a bunch of different opinions?
I think though the question was a bit confusing, you may get it as if it matters and "judging" people from their physics and look and put them in different "categories" of human beings, and there you "could" say no(as i would say no too)!

Fuserg9:star:

[Q]

Q-collective (http://www.revleft.com/vb/../member.php?u=12488)
They dont matter at all Q for you?Is a male and a female the exact same thing for you?Not to be misunderstood, we all are the same,same freedoms, same beings,same "thing" same ,same,However every persons individuality is important!We dont want people the exact same thing, some people may want to change their hair colors, should we prevent them, and all have the same hair color?You see what i mean?They play some matter those things, but you know, not "big" matter, is every persons individuality and some people may like it and some people dont!Didnt happened to you, to get a haircut and have a bunch of different opinions?
I think though the question was a bit confusing, you may get it as if it matters and "judging" people from their physics and look and put them in different "categories" of human beings, and there you "could" say no(as i would say no too)!

Fuserg9:star:

Well, to be honest I do carry over cultural prejudices as I'm of course influenced in the way I'm raised in my family, society, etc. I do try to work on it. But politically I think it shouldn't matter whatever color, gender or other difference you might feature for your goals in life. In fact, I think that equal opportunities for all are vital for each individual to be fully able to develop him/herself.

[F9]

Well, to be honest I do carry over cultural prejudices as I'm of course influenced in the way I'm raised in my family, society, etc. I do try to work on it. But politically I think it shouldn't matter whatever color, gender or other difference you might feature for your goals in life.

Yeah but, what if you set a goal to get a family, make or adopt some childrens?Wouldnt a heterosexual choice his/her partner and wife/husband from the opposite sex, and same a homosexual from the same sex?If gender didnt play any matter, then sexuality wouldnt be playing too? but sexuality isnt something that it gets "fixed", it might change during the years, but at a particular moment you may like one gender specifical or you may have no problem at all with gender!Sexuality is something "natural" and you cant "work on it"!;)


In fact, I think that equal opportunities for all are vital for each individual to be fully able to develop him/herself.

Of course!!


Fuserg9:star:

[Q]

Yeah but, what if you set a goal to get a family, make or adopt some childrens?Wouldnt a heterosexual choice his/her partner and wife/husband from the opposite sex, and same a homosexual from the same sex?If gender didnt play any matter, then sexuality wouldnt be playing too? but sexuality isnt something that it gets "fixed", it might change during the years, but at a particular moment you may like one gender specifical or you may have no problem at all with gender!Sexuality is something "natural" and you cant "work on it"!;)
We don't disagree here.

[ZeroNowhere]

(1) You are mostly anarchist/communists, right? What is the difference between the two, and why do you hate or just simply don't agree with capitalism/fascism/libertarianism/etc?
There's no difference, necessarily. Most anarchists are communists (unless they are nationalists as well), not all communists are anarchist (Blanquists, for example, as non-anarchist socialists).


(2) Does gender, race, sexual orientation, country of origin, hair colour, eye colour, height, weight, age, etc, matter to you? Are we all just humans? If you can, tell me a bit about yourself and how you look (skip this question if you find it weird).
Matter in what sense? In basketball, height matter a fair bit. Country of origin never matters. I don't judge a person's personality by their eye colour, etc, certainly. Well, at least not consciously.


(3) In an Anarchist society, what stops me from robbing, raping, murdering, fooling, or just being mean to other people? What happens if I do something bad to someone? How is justice dealt with no law?
No rulers does not mean no rules.


(4) Why are communists hated by poor working class peole? Sholdn't we love you guys if you are out help us? Why vote for Obama or McCain when they oth only care about rich folk?
Have you ever gone to school? Watched the news at election time? Had a history class?


(5) Who runs hospitas, prisons, roads, schools, business, etc? All the state or all indivually run in your ideal world? Also how do these work in an Anarchist society?
...People? What do you mean 'runs'?
I'm for free skools, if that has any relevance to the question.


(6) Isn't communism just oppressive Statism like in China, North Kore, or USSR?
No.


(7) How do you defend your little Anarchist society from foreign invaders or prevent capitalists or rulers from coming up and taking over?
Weapons? What 'little anarchist society' are you referring to?


(8) Basically do youknow that most inventions were under oppessie socieites? Why invent wen everything is Communist free?
...What?


(9) Is it wrong to vote in your opinion?
No.


(10) What if you are wron and people are just evil by nature and meant to rule or be ruled? History shows us Anarchy/Communism don't last long.
If we're evil by nature (whatever the fuck that means. If I don't kill you, is that my human nature?), what gives anybody the right to rule over another and thus mess things up? If we are meant to rule or be ruled, we tell God to go and fuck himself, probably.