Both the Communists and Anarchists works are centered around the following questions.
- Why are there miseries in this world?
- What causes these miseries?
- How can humans be truly human and develop themselves to full potential thus expressing themselves in whatever way they prefer?
- What is the condition of current setup we currently live in and how does it prevents us from being human?
- How to get rid of current situation and transition to next level?
Every domain out there in this world, can be brought inside these few questions. That is why both of their works focus on
- Philosophy & Science.
- Political Economy and Social Relations.
Not all, but religion also tries to answer most of these questions.
Religion itself is not bad, but religion that maintains status quo by giving temporary relief through false promises (opium) and a religion that denies equality is bad. Don't forget that it was Lenin who announced that the citizens should have the freedom to practice religion and it has to be a private affiar.
As Buddha said, religion should not be centered around the idea of God or the self (soul), but it has to put around humans and the society at it's center.
Religion first has to come out of the subject of God. It is in this name of this authority they justify all destructive things and consider them holy or sacred which punishes people when questioned.
Humans need to get rid of the labels of the religion they subscribe to and instead should mix the constructive elements of each religion. Constructive as not to sustain that religion, but constructive towards a free society.
It is the collective understanding & actions of the people currently living at any given moment that determines the outcome for next century. That is why today's capitalism also wants to control our thoughts and actions by engaging in mass surveillance. It serves 2 purpose for them.
- Controlling our thoughts and actions (consumerism and consent) like how a drug keeps people forget their real sufferings and be in a fantasy world.
- Reproducing itself. Capturing value from our actions and using that capital to reproduce itself.
What most people attribute to the failure of communism is actually the experiments of 20th century State Capitalism / State Socialism / Centralization towards State. Just 1 century of experiments and they claim failure. It took 2 centuries for what is today's Capitalism.
If one has to stay truly scientific and rational, then one can understand that failure of few experiments doesn't mean the objectives listed cannot be achieved at all, and at the same time, not repeating the mistakes of previous attempts and failures.
When it comes to re-inventing itself, Anarchists have been very open to new experiments and practices. This is where the traditional communists (20th century communists in today's context) needs to catch up. This is also the reason why I find anarchists critique on the traditoinal left to be meaningful. If I have to take a stand on what principles I subscribe to, it would be Anarcho-Communism, because the objectives of both anarchism and communism are same, and the anarchists methods are lively (federation, solarpunks, cyberpunks, etc.,)
Supporting Capitalism doesn't make you a Capitalist. On the contrary opposing capitalism makes you Anti-Capitalist.
For More Detailed reading:
- http://theoriesofmarxism.pen.io/
- https://roarmag.org/magazine/anti-capitalist-politics-21st-century/