this post was submitted on 15 Oct 2025
116 points (76.9% liked)
Memes
53548 readers
1270 users here now
Rules:
- Be civil and nice.
- Try not to excessively repost, as a rule of thumb, wait at least 2 months to do it if you have to.
founded 6 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Reversal:
The basis of the state is class struggle, so to eliminate it you eliminate class. The basis of class is differences in relation to the means of production, so the answer is to collectivize all production. Until we get there, classes will remain, thus elements like police are necessary to keep the proletariat in control and capitalists oppressed, and as production and distribution collectivizes then so too will the basis of the state itself become unnecessary as class struggle fades alongside class itself.
It isn't by magic, it's based in sound analysis of socialism and the economic basis of class and the state itself.
That is the main basis, but it is not the only one, and police are a good example of it. More often than not police enjoy the power that their position gives them. The job itself attracts people who enjoy having power over others, and that's not strictly a mechanism of classes existing.
The state backs up their power, and so they are influenced to protect the existence of the state. Anybody who commands the police will see the police as an extension of their power and will be similarly influenced.
Power corrupts and makes people want to retain power.
I'm not exactly sure what the question is, but if its that "power always corrupts", this might be true for capitalist countries, which allow private ownership of capital, and creates a system that encourages and incentivizes accumulation of power.
But In a socialist state, where the heights of the economy are controlled not by private capitalist dictators, but by collective decision-making, and production decisions are controlled at the collective political level, then no one person can accumulate that much power, and they would be (and are) punished when they try to subvert the collective authority.
Taking the example of police, the important question is who commands them, and for whose benefit? In proletarian states, police are commanded not by capitalists who use them to protect their private property, but by the socialist state who commands them to protect the people. Socialist states are going to be receptive to accusations of abuses, because that means they're harming the people.
That's a key distinction between proletarian cops and capitalist ones.
I haven't posed a question. And what I am trying to get at is that power itself incentivizes accumulation and retention of power.
It doesn't have to be one person, a council, committee, or other group of people can always be incentivized to retain and accumulate power.
The PRC regularly attacks citizens and journalists that criticize their government.