war and the state (was milton, etc.)

[Joe R. Golowka]

Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:
>
> It seems that Nestor Makhno was opposed to neither hierarchical 
> authority nor a monopoly of legitimate use of violence:
> 
> *****   From inhabitants of Elizavetgrad and neighboring villages, as 
> well as from some partisans from Grogoriev's units, I learned that every 
> time he had occupied the town Jews had been massacred. In his presence 
> and on his orders, his partisans had murdered nearly two thousand Jews, 
> including the flower of the Jewish youth: many members of the anarchist, 
> Bolshevik and socialist youth organizations. Some of these had even been 
> taken from prison for slaughter.
<snip>
> <http://www.spunk.org/library/writers/makhno/sp001781/chap6.html>   *****

I don't see anything in here indicating that Makhno intended to 
establish an organisation with a monopoly on the legitimate use of 
violence (a state) or to institutionalize domination.  There were more 
then a few flaws in the Makhnovist movement, most of which you haven't 
alluded to, but I'll take it over Lenin's one-party state any day.

Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:

 > Terms such as "authoritarianism" and "totalitarianism," in my opinion,

 > have no clearly defined meaning and hence of little utility in 

 >political analysis and explanation.

Telling an anti-authoritarian that "authoritarianism" has no clearly 
defined meaning and is hence of little utility in analysis is like 
telling a Marxist that class has no clearly defined meaning and is hence 
of little utility in analysis.  Perhaps the philosophy you adhere to has 
no clear understanding of that concept, but that just shows a weakness 
of that concept.  Anarchists have a clear definition and analysis of 
authority & hierarchy; there are numerous books, articles, etc. you can 
read about it.  Your claim just shows you to be densly ignorant of 
anti-authoritarian philosophy (or possibly dishonest).

Joe