Socialism

I think the confusion here might be in the qualities of what anarchists mean when they say "state." It is commonly remarked that anarchists are against the state. But as you can probably imagine, they are not opposed to, say, libraries. Or emergency services. Or sewer lines.

What "the state" represents, what anarchists are opposed to, is the upholding of the status quo. The reproduction of the system that murders people, pollutes the environment, enforces the necessity of wage slavery, protects billionaires and punishes the homeless.

That giant system of oppression (capitalism) is not something these small groups can or want to do. Forming councils is very different from the prison industrial system. Kicking out a member is very different from arresting someone for stealing bread to feed his family. And scuffles with neighbors is hardly a war. These are the actions (right or wrong) of groups of friends. This is human-level drama.

What anarchists oppose is the giant machine that is not human-sized; the unstoppable Leviathan that does not think or feel but rather lumbers eternally toward ever greater destruction and madness. It is the worldwide money monster that cuts the trees, turns farmland into parking lots, treats chickens like factory parts, and ensures there are more empty buildings than there are unhoused people.

"The state" is the nation-state, yes. But it is also (and more importantly), the "state of things." The awful, joyless, depressing, inescapable state of things. That is what anarchists really oppose.

Caveats: 1) Not all anarchists feel this way. 2) I speak mostly from a North American perspective. 3) I didn't read the article. 4) I'm a lemmy noob.