Rabble on Nostr: The left has always had a struggle between authoritarian and anti-authoritarian ...
The left has always had a struggle between authoritarian and anti-authoritarian views. Anarchists in the 1860's... Claude summarizes it better than i can.
"Mikhail Bakunin led the key anarchist critique of Marx in the First International (1864-1876), centered on several main points:
Marx advocated using state power to achieve socialism, which Bakunin saw as inherently authoritarian and likely to create a new ruling class of bureaucrats and party officials. He predicted Marx's "dictatorship of the proletariat" would become simply dictatorship.
The conflict also had organizational dimensions. Marx pushed for centralized leadership through the General Council in London, while Bakunin favored decentralized federalism. Bakunin's followers opposed mandatory political participation by workers, which Marx required.
The split crystallized at the 1872 Hague Congress, where Marx succeeded in expelling Bakunin and moving the International's headquarters to New York, effectively ending it. The anarchist sections formed their own "anti-authoritarian International" that continued until 1877.
This schism established the fundamental divide between authoritarian and libertarian socialism that persists in leftist movements today.
Bakunin's 1873 critique of Marx's "dictatorship of proletariat" was remarkably prescient. He predicted a new class of bureaucrats would become the real rulers, using state power to create an authoritarian regime - exactly what happened under Stalin. The split between libertarian and authoritarian socialism in the First International basically previewed the next 150 years of leftist politics."
"Mikhail Bakunin led the key anarchist critique of Marx in the First International (1864-1876), centered on several main points:
Marx advocated using state power to achieve socialism, which Bakunin saw as inherently authoritarian and likely to create a new ruling class of bureaucrats and party officials. He predicted Marx's "dictatorship of the proletariat" would become simply dictatorship.
The conflict also had organizational dimensions. Marx pushed for centralized leadership through the General Council in London, while Bakunin favored decentralized federalism. Bakunin's followers opposed mandatory political participation by workers, which Marx required.
The split crystallized at the 1872 Hague Congress, where Marx succeeded in expelling Bakunin and moving the International's headquarters to New York, effectively ending it. The anarchist sections formed their own "anti-authoritarian International" that continued until 1877.
This schism established the fundamental divide between authoritarian and libertarian socialism that persists in leftist movements today.
Bakunin's 1873 critique of Marx's "dictatorship of proletariat" was remarkably prescient. He predicted a new class of bureaucrats would become the real rulers, using state power to create an authoritarian regime - exactly what happened under Stalin. The split between libertarian and authoritarian socialism in the First International basically previewed the next 150 years of leftist politics."