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> Distributism views laissez-faire capitalism and state socialism as equally flawed and exploitative

This is also termed "anarcho-communism" within the academic literature and grassroots movements, just FYI (A common misconception of anarchism is that it is a 'lack of law and order' -- it is merely the lack of centralization). The Bolshevik implementation of Communism was called State-Capitalism for a long time by Lenin himself, and many Communist thinkers (I'm thinking of Tony Cliff, who was exceptionally progressive for his time) disagree with the Bolshevik implementation of Communism.



> A common misconception of anarchism is that it is a 'lack of law and order' -- it is merely the lack of centralization

Thank you

Anarchism is not chaos

But neither is it a recipe

These days, with anarchist ideas deeply ingrained in many places, anarchism is a way of thinking


I'm not knowledgeable enough to debate on Communism. I was somewhat aware that many of the proponents have pointed out that the major failings were partially because they were implemented incorrectly. The common counterargument is that despite the very real and good intentions that they would all end up the same as an elite group perverts the goals and makes the entire system self serving. Is that too simplistic though? I'd love to hear your thoughts.


> all end up the same

for which, see Goldstein, The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism (appearing in [Orwell49])

> "The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which." —EAB


A state of affairs totally unlike the ones we have in the West, to be sure.


> ....an elite group perverts the goals and makes the entire system self serving

That sounds about right. Any system that concentrates power seems to go the same way in a generation or two.




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