no state has achieved the liberation of the working class, because the function of the state is to expand and perpetuate its hegemonic power and influence. state authority is fundamentally oppressive.
The state exists as an abstract entity meant to suppress one class of people to the benefit of another class of people. Ergo the state only exists in societies with classes. Communists seek to smash the current state and rebuild one that suppresses capitalists while working towards a classless society in which the state ceases to exist. So yes the state is oppressive, but whether it is good or bad depends on who wields state power.
What if class was to be determined by both economics (exploitation) and power (oppression), therefore in the USSR all the leninist reformists did was to exchange the wealthy upper class for the all powerful upper class. So at best Leninism is a bad reform of capitalism.
No state can ever achieve anything more than the liberation of the capitalist class. The only liberation for the masses is to seek alternative ways to self govern and abolish any centralized power structures from reforming again.
no state has achieved the liberation of the working class, because the function of the state is to expand and perpetuate its hegemonic power and influence. state authority is fundamentally oppressive.
The state exists as an abstract entity meant to suppress one class of people to the benefit of another class of people. Ergo the state only exists in societies with classes. Communists seek to smash the current state and rebuild one that suppresses capitalists while working towards a classless society in which the state ceases to exist. So yes the state is oppressive, but whether it is good or bad depends on who wields state power.
The State power- as a lesson of history- Cannot be wielded for good. It is a corrupting power with its own momentum and incentives.
This is precisely why any positive accomplishments of the Leninist states were undone by corruption, bureaucracy, and power-seeking.
Because the very structure of a state by itself makes it not only possible, but inevitable.
What if class was to be determined by both economics (exploitation) and power (oppression), therefore in the USSR all the leninist reformists did was to exchange the wealthy upper class for the all powerful upper class. So at best Leninism is a bad reform of capitalism.
No state can ever achieve anything more than the liberation of the capitalist class. The only liberation for the masses is to seek alternative ways to self govern and abolish any centralized power structures from reforming again.