this post was submitted on 22 Jan 2024
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marxism
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For the study of Marxism, and all the tendencies that fall beneath it.
Read Lenin.
Resources below are from r/communism101. Post suggestions for better resources and we'll update them.
Study Guides
- Basic Marxism-Leninism Study Plan
- Debunking Anti-Communism Masterpost
- Beginner's Guide to Marxism (marxists.org)
- A Reading Guide (marx2mao.com) (mirror)
- Topical Study Guide (marxistleninist.wordpress.com)
Explanations
- Kapitalism 101 on political economy
- Marxist Philosophy understanding DiaMat
- Reading Marx's Capital with David Harvey
Libraries
- Marxists.org largest Marxist library
- Red Stars Publishers Library specialized on Marxist-Leninist literature. Book titles are links to free PDF copies
- Marx2Mao.com another popular library (mirror)
- BannedThought.net collection of revolutionary publications
- The Collected Works of Marx and Engels torrentable file of all known writings of Marx and Engels
- The Prolewiki library a collection of revolutionary publications
- Comrades Library has a small but growing collection of rare sovietology books
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I'd say the common definition of a state is an entity with a monopoly on violence within a particular geographic area, and this is not something Marxists generally disagree with as it's a surprisingly materialist understanding of power. The function of a state according to Marxism is to use this monopoly to enforce class relations, which is part of the reason that Leninists view the state as a tool for class struggle, as a socialist/communist state can enforce pro-worker class relations and eventually end the class distinction (this is why Lenin theorized the state would "wither away", because if there are no difference in classes there's nothing to enforce).
So to address your confusion between Marxists and Anarchists, both ultimately do not want the state because it is a coercive tool to enforce specifc class relations, but the Marxists view it as a neutral tool whereas anarchists view it as inherently oppressive and cannot be used positively. Some anarchists view that, rather than classes, the ultimate source of oppression is the state and that is why it must be abolished which is a break from the Marxist view as it either ignores class conflict or folds it into critique of the state.