Main differences between anarchism and Marxism

Anarchism and Marxism are two concepts that have often been confused. The reason is that both ideologies persecuted a society that, more or less, was similar but whose method was very different from each other. The one and the other wanted to abolish the capitalist system, restore freedom to the working class and destroy private property, but in order to achieve it, the Marxists believed in the formation of political parties to make the change from within and, nevertheless, the anarchists they did not believe in politics and they considered that change should take place from the outside, with actions designed to abolish power and thus create an anarchist state.

In this article we are going to discover the main differences between anarchism and Marxism in order to better understand both positions and see where they resemble each other and at what points they distance themselves.

Political differences between Marxism and anarchism

We begin by analyzing the main differences between anarchism and Marxism, talking about aspects related to political life. According to the ideology of Karl Marx, the people must participate in political life and, therefore, support the creation of political parties that are represented by workers and that come into play in the electoral life.

In this sense it should be noted that Marx considers that the political route is an optimal way for social change and that, therefore, through democracy and representation in power, the workers and the working class can achieve many benefits. In any case, it is somewhat pessimistic in the real change of society because it considers that the bourgeois class will always be in power defending its implacable authority.

However, anarchists do not participate or want to participate in political engagement . They do not want to create any party that defends their political ideas because they do not believe in politics. They consider that the politicians, sooner or later, end up favoring the bourgeoisie and, therefore, entering the electoral game would be to abandon their struggle.

Thus, the anarchists will never form a political party but their form of organization will always be through the creation of unions.

Capitalism seen by the two ideologies

Now we are going to evaluate the different conceptions that there are about capitalism by both ideologies of the left. On the one hand, Marxists defend coming to power through the ballot box and, when they get it, it is time to carry out the so-called "dictatorship of the proletariat" that will be responsible for destroying the system of capitalism and, thus, begin to work a society in which there is no class distinction or economic position. The search for equity is the basis on which Marxism looms, but this can only be achieved by winning the elections.

On the other hand, the anarchists consider that it has been the State itself, the very organization of society, which has created the social imbalances and, therefore, are totally against it. They consider that the authorities are to blame for the existence of capitalism and, therefore, the objective they have is not to come to power, because it is corrupt, but they want to destroy it in order to begin to build a reality from scratch.

The idea of ​​an ideal society, different between Marxism and anarchism

As we have already mentioned in the previous section, the Marxists consider that the social change that is needed is to establish the dictatorship of the proletariat that will equalize the rights of men without creating the tremendous inequalities that the establishment of capitalism has brought with it. Therefore, this dictatorship is inevitable for Marxists.

The anarchists are totally opposed to this conception because they do not consider that they have to come to power to be able to make the change they so much want, but that what they want is to destroy power in order to achieve a full egalitarian society. They do not believe that changing the bourgeoisie for the workers in positions of power is the solution, because in the long run this will also entail the appearance of new social inequalities.

So how do anarchists conceive society? They defend that society is divided into anarchist cells that would coordinate to reach agreements that are of general interest but that, in the first instance, would work in groups of people more concentrated and reduced.

Different ideas about the economy

We continue detailing the differences between anarchism and Marxism to focus now on the economic differences that were in both ideologies. For Marx, the economy is very important in society because it allows progress, change and improvements in living conditions. Therefore, Marxists consider that society has to be productive but, yes, that the media are in the hands of the workers so that they are the ones who enrich themselves.

On the other hand, the anarchists do not consider that the economy is so important in the future of society, for this reason, they focus more on providing facilities to the peasant and the development of agriculture since they consider that the man, the more linked to the nature and the simple life is, the better man will be and the less corrupt he will become.

However, both Marxists and anarchists do have the same plan for the future when they achieve their idealized society: they will abolish private property that will be changed by the collective one.

The way of acting, also different between Marxists and communists

We want to emphasize that both Marxism and anarchism have the same objective, that is, that the working class stops being oppressed and that the bourgeoisie disappears from power. However, the means to achieve this reality are different and, therefore, we have that the Marxists want to participate in political life to win democratically at the polls and establish their political system.

On the other hand, anarchists do not want to participate in political life but want to overthrow power. And how will they achieve it? Through violent and terrorist actions that are in charge of attacking the leaders and the representatives of this wealthy society. In fact, the anarchists defend the use of weapons to achieve victory, something that Marxists are totally against.

Marxism and capitalism: similarities

We already know the differences between anarchism and Marxism but, now, we believe it is important to dwell on the similarities between the two ideologies because they have many points in common and, in general, they want a free, egalitarian society without capitalism.

Objective: free the working class

Both anarchists and Marxists work to achieve a more egalitarian society that recognizes the rights of workers and that are treated as first class citizens, in the same way that the bourgeois are positioned. They intend to build a more egalitarian society where there are not so many differences between social classes.

Anticapitalists

Both the Marxists and the anarchists are anti-capitalist, they want to overthrow the capitalist system and deprive the privileges of the bourgeois class that has established itself in power. In fact, the bourgeoisie is the enemy of the two and they want to destroy it so that, in this way, the freedom of the people of the town can be restored.

Abolition of private property

And, as we have said above, another of the wills of both movements is to destroy private property and create the so-called "collective" property. In this way, capitalism and social differentiation among citizens assessed by their belongings would be eliminated. With the collective property it could, in addition, supply the people and have their basic needs covered.