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It’s incredibly easy to be an anarchist if you just imagine the state’s coercive power never has or had any benefit, and was exclusively and intentionally maliciously created to hold power over others. While there may be a great deal of truth to that explanation, and that there
Are alternatives, sometimes people just categorically rule out that the state can have any positive impact. This isn’t to say that a state is necessary, but pretending doesn’t do any good. You’ll give lackluster responses to important questions and that everything will just work
Out. I can agree that morally speaking anarchism has incredibly strong foundations, it’s just a matter of working (wink) to discover the best approaches to achieve those ends. Ultimately in some cases the practical reality may preclude the idealism, but there must be a constant
Effort to strive towards liberation.
(Btw example of state having some positive effect: keeping serial rapist out of community. We can do lots to alleviate material conditions preventatively, but things like that will still occur. There can be solutions to this without being as cruel as prison, and it would be more
Effective at rehabilitation and restoration. However, it cannot be denied that the state can handle this niche case by at minimum preventing further cases. Don’t pretend like “it just won’t happen lol” or “self defense lol” - deal with the challenge)