• C Ⓐ T@mastodon.social
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    7 months ago

    @Cowbee
    I know that the strength of workers’ movements resides in unity, not individualism. Libertarian Communism, or at least Platformism, is an ideology of ideological unity first and any individualism is within the context of the greater working-class movement. It’s also important to note that the Catalonian anarchists were defeated for various reasons, including external military pressure, internal divisions, and the challenges of implementing radical social change amidst broader…

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      7 months ago

      @Cowbee
      …political turmoil and counterrevolutionary forces. It’s not correct to conclude that the Catalonian anarchist were defeated simply because their military was decentralized and that hierarchical organization is superior to non-hierarchical organization simply from this very narrow view of the conflict.

      • Cowbee [he/him]@lemmy.ml
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        7 months ago

        Of course they faced numerous other issues, my point is that it seems that by holding to their ideals over what is practicible, they opened themselves up to failure.

        On theory vs practice, it is important to test theory against practice and adapt theory to fit practice. What remains beautiful in theory must be measured by its practicality.

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          7 months ago

          @Cowbee
          But they didn’t hold their ideals over their practicableness, and in fact that may have been the reason why they were ultimately defeated. During the Spanish Civil War, the(CNT) and (FAI) were part of the broader Republican side, which included various leftist and anti-fascist groups. While the anarchists were initially wary of collaborating with the Republican government, they did participate in the anti-fascist coalition and the Republican government in Catalonia, known as the…

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            7 months ago

            @Cowbee
            …Generalitat. However, the relationship between the anarchists and the Republican government was complex and often strained. The anarchists sought to maintain their autonomy and implement their vision of a decentralized, self-managed society, which sometimes clashed with the goals and methods of the Republican authorities. There were instances of collaboration, such as the participation of anarchists in the government and the militia forces, but there were also conflicts and…

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              7 months ago

              @Cowbee
              …disagreements over issues such as the militarization of the militias and the centralization of power. It is completely possible that had the organization of the military been unified in a decentralized way they would not have been defeated.

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                  7 months ago

                  @Cowbee
                  I haven’t based a single thing on idealism or “vibes”. I examined the historical events and inferred a logical conclusion based on the facts, and the facts are that ideological unity was indeed lacking and necessary among the Spanish Revolutionaries, but nothing suggests that their unity had to be based on hierarchy and centralized planning, nor does anything suggest that the CNT-FIA’s methods of the organization were inferior simply because they lost because other traditionally…

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                    7 months ago

                    @Cowbee
                    …hierarchical Spanish military groups also lost to the fascist as well, including the Spanish Marxist backed by the Soviet Union.