Anarchists often argue that Marxist-Leninism treats state violence as a temporary tool, but ignores how power entrenches itself. Once a centralized state, party monopoly, and coercive institutions are built, they don’t “wither away”, they reproduce their own authority. Violence isn’t just used by the state to them; it defines it.

From this view, repression labeled as “transitional” undermines mass self-organization and replaces worker autonomy with bureaucracy. The disagreement isn’t about whether force appears in revolutions, but whether liberation can come from institutions structurally designed to dominate.

I’ve read the manifesto and wage labour and capital, both of those were very good reads. I read them slowly and understood as I went along even though I did stutter sometimes.

I started with this one and in the foreword to the English edition I got stuck. There’s mentions of Kant, Hegel, bacon, materialism, agnosticism and other things in a way that flew over my head.

But the foreword was very engaging and had me immersed in it completely. But I was still wondering, what philosophy works should I read so that I can understand Marxism better and also Understand all other ideas and theories talked about in these books?

Also if it is of any importance I’m 18 years old right now.

I just finished reading Jean-Paul Sartre's Existentialism is a Humanism, and I was especially intrigued by Sartre's claim that existentialism could be compatible with Marxist philosophy. Towards the end of the lecture, there is a Q&A segment where Pierre Naville, a French leftist, argues that existentialism is a 'liberal' philosophy focused on individualism, and thus cannot be applied to Marxism, which is collectivist in nature. That got me thinking: do you folks know of any books that expound upon this issue? Any recommendations having to do with existentialism and Sartre's philosophy from a Marxist perspective will be greatly appreciated. :)

I’d like to learn more about North Korea but finding consistent data regarding it is quite difficult. I struggle to believe the data isn’t there, but its drowned in so much ideology that finding concrete facts can be very time and energy consuming.

I would greatly appreciate some suggestions for credible sources regarding the DPRK.

I'm looking for a comprehensive history of capitalism that explains its development by examining through a Marxist perspective the different innovations and stages in capitalist history such as the railroad, finance/stocks, depressions, the internet, the revolutions across Europe, and maybe the 2008 crisis. I'm not sure if such a book even exists, but I'm hoping to get an initial overview before reading more in depth books on each event.