#+title: state as a tool of class struggle

[[file:20200611202011-marx.org][Marx]] originally put forward the idea that the [[file:20200713095729-nation_state.org][state]] was a tool of [[file:20200720100714-class_struggle.org][class
struggle]]. The idea that eventually came from Marx was the idea that the
[[file:20210310164827-bourgeoisie.org][bourgeoisie]] use the repressive nature of the state to foster [[file:capitalism.org][capitalism]] and to
keep workers in check.

[[file:20200706092541-karl_kautsky.org][Kautsky]] believed that workers could use the state to their own ends by having a
party that controlled sections of the government.

[[file:20200706092621-vladimir_lenin.org][Lenin]] and most ideological descendants of Lenin believed that the [[file:20200713095729-nation_state.org][state]] had to
be purged of all of its bourgeois elements and used against reactionary forces
in order to [[file:20210522190031-transition_to_communism.org][transition to communism]] during a [[file:20210522185957-transition_period.org][transition period]]. This lead to a
kind of [[file:20200707205002-state_socialism.org][state socialism]].

[[file:20210522185858-anarchism.org][Anarchists]] for the most part believe the assertion that the state is a tool of
class struggle but that it cannot be wielded for the benefit of the [[file:20200716135419-proletariat.org][proletariat]]
and that it must be destroyed at first chance.