I suppose I understand, but I don’t see why refusing to formalize and democratize whatever vanguard arises naturally is a better strategy, nor do I see any benefits of communalization over collectivization of production and distribution, especially because large scale industry already prepared the groundwork for this at great scale.
maybe youre right! we all don’t really know until it happens yeah? My lived experience has found that local grassroots community based collectives that try and veer against anti authoritarian stances has brought me the most joy and have been the most formative to me. I have been very in awe of the horizontal based mutual aid networks ive been apart of or my friends have. i have seen a lot less beauty when things have become more top down. Maybe there are opportunities for a natural vanguard party! I dig a lot of Tiqqun stuff that is sort of like that. Ultimately though, i still am thinking about the here and now, and how my values can inform how i move about the world. For me anti authoritarianism and anti capitalism is the best fit for me. Whether things turn out to be a vanguard party or not.
I do think mutual aid in the context of filling in the gaps of capitalism works well, and both anarchist groups and Marxist parties tend to do that well. About the vanguard, though, all it is is the most politically advanced of the revolutionary class, it exists whether formalized into a party or left disorganized and informal. The Marxist argument isn’t about whether to have one or not, but to formalize and democratize it. It also isn’t really top-down so much as it is driven from the bottom-up, steered by the top. There are also several socialist countries where we can see this in action, and the tremendous results it has achieved for the working classes.
I suppose I understand, but I don’t see why refusing to formalize and democratize whatever vanguard arises naturally is a better strategy, nor do I see any benefits of communalization over collectivization of production and distribution, especially because large scale industry already prepared the groundwork for this at great scale.
Good luck on your doctorate!
maybe youre right! we all don’t really know until it happens yeah? My lived experience has found that local grassroots community based collectives that try and veer against anti authoritarian stances has brought me the most joy and have been the most formative to me. I have been very in awe of the horizontal based mutual aid networks ive been apart of or my friends have. i have seen a lot less beauty when things have become more top down. Maybe there are opportunities for a natural vanguard party! I dig a lot of Tiqqun stuff that is sort of like that. Ultimately though, i still am thinking about the here and now, and how my values can inform how i move about the world. For me anti authoritarianism and anti capitalism is the best fit for me. Whether things turn out to be a vanguard party or not.
I do think mutual aid in the context of filling in the gaps of capitalism works well, and both anarchist groups and Marxist parties tend to do that well. About the vanguard, though, all it is is the most politically advanced of the revolutionary class, it exists whether formalized into a party or left disorganized and informal. The Marxist argument isn’t about whether to have one or not, but to formalize and democratize it. It also isn’t really top-down so much as it is driven from the bottom-up, steered by the top. There are also several socialist countries where we can see this in action, and the tremendous results it has achieved for the working classes.