WHAT A STATE TO BE IN...
Saverio Craparo
Introduction
One of the basics of Anarchism throughout its history is without doubt its anti-Statism.
We do not wish to fall into the excesses of those anarchists who hate the state even when the word is used to mean condition and who reject the Welfare State simply because it includes that little word, allowing them to fall victim to the worst that neo-liberalism has to offer. However, the need for a stateless society too often produces distortions in Anarchist Communist thinking, the origin of which lies in a hurried acceptance of the historical baggage of Anarchism.
This baggage needs contextualizing and careful analysis, particularly at a time when capitalism in its exuberance is advocating the dissolution of the State as an administrative, bureaucratic apparatus for the collection of taxes and the provision of services.
Next section: The birth of the State and what came before it