Video: What is the state?

Submitted by Zac Muddle on 27 May, 2020 - 3:36 Author: Matt Cooper
What is the state? An intro by Matt Cooper

"What is the state?" an introduction by Matt Cooper. This is part of "The ABCs of Marxism" series of meetings, and also the first in "The state, crime, prisons and the police" series of meetings (part two in the latter series here). Upcoming meetings in both series and beyond can be found here. Video:



Watch the playlist of introductory speeches from the ABCs of Marxism (some recorded only) by clicking in the top right of the video, for the contents of the playlist, and to watch other ones. See Workers' Liberty's channel for other playlists and videos. See the above video on facebook.

Audio:



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"'Theoretically,' there is no denying that the state is the organ of class domination, or that class antagonisms are irreconcilable. But what is forgotten or glossed over is this: if the state is the product of the irreconcilable character of class antagonisms, if it is a force standing above society and 'increasingly separating itself from it,' then it is clear that the liberation of the oppressed class is impossible not only without a violent revolution, but also without the destruction of the apparatus of state power, which was created by the ruling class and in which this 'separation' is embodied."

Lenin one of the leaders of the Russian Revolution wrote this in The State and Revolution in 1917. Is that the only or even final word on what the state is?

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