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this post was submitted on 14 Mar 2026
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As I said in my other comment, can you define authoritarianism in your own words? The overwhelming majority of communists support socialist states, and support the working classes having the authority of the state to suppress capitalists and fascists. I do have legitimate criticism, the problem is that in the west people are so off-base to begin with.
Authoritarianism is using power, whether military, economic, influence, etc. to dictate the status quo.
This can be done beneficially, as is often done in China.
The problem I take is, it is impossible for any reasonable person to look at the brutality and violence perpetuated by that same government and not just go "oh ew", and so when the response is "yeah but america worse" instead of something like "yeah, that is bad" (like a normal person and not a propagandized robot who has been brainwashed not to articulate wrongthink opinions when it might be inconvenient for the regime), it makes me go "oh, you're a propagandized robot who has been brainwashed not to articulate wrongthink opinions when it might be inconvenient for the regime"
Propaganda doesn't work that way, and brainwashing does not exist. I recommend reading Masses, Elites, and Rebels: The Theory of "Brainwashing" when you've got a spare hour.
Either way, I support states controlled by the working classes, which sounds to be authoritarian by your view. In that sense, all Marxists are authoritarian, so I again assert that "tankie" is just a pejorative for communist. The problem I see is that too many people fall for Red Scare propagandizing, and are allergic to contextualization, preferring to analyze everything metaphysically, ie in the abstract, rather than dialectically, ie within its real, existing context. That's why dialectical materialism is so useful.
I understand not having a lot of time, it's optional. I do recommend it though.
So anarchists defending the existence of their commune would be authoritarian
Yes, correct, anyone can perform authoritarian actions. Someone who insists upon it is an authoritarian. That simple enough for your pea brain?
So anarchists are authoritarian.