this post was submitted on 23 Apr 2026
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I think it's a good thing for the working classes to wield the state against fascists, landlords, capitalists, etc. This is called "authoritarian" by non-communists yet it increases personal liberty for the working classes, who no longer have to worry as much about housing, employment, healthcare, education, and more, and can democratically run society.
Calling it an "authoritarian" position makes it seem like this is not the norm, but even anarchists wish to build up structures Marxists would recognize as a state in order to combat the former ruling classes. See what they built in Catalonia, for example.
I understand the frustration of seeing the criticisms of liberals seemingly echoed here, but I assure you that I am a communist, and I call it authoritarian when you wield the power of the state. It is a violent thing, and violence cannot be controlled. It will inevitably harm the working class, even with the best of intentions.
With that said, I would still vastly prefer a dictatorship of the proletariat to the current system we have. I just think there are better alternatives to a transitional state.
This is an Animal Farm fairy tale liberalism tells us, and there's a very good short essay about it: https://redsails.org/the-swerve/
Complete pacifism isn't really compatible with being a communist
There are 2 major points here:
How do you believe it's possible to end the state without ending class struggle? Alternatively, how do you end class struggle globally overnight? One of these two must be possible to even begin speaking of a stateless, immediate communism. Socialist states in real life, as well as attempts at anarchism, have both affirmed the Marxist position thus far.
Why do you believe the working classes controlling the state will inevitably harm the working classes, just because it has the capacity for violence? Experience has shown that this isn't the case, and instead dramatic uplifting of working class life metrics has happened.
I don't really see how you can either speedrun class struggle or believe a class will work against itself when running the state in its own interests.