Eric Laursen on Why Everything We’ve Been Told About the Political State is Wrong

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On this episode of the It’s Going Down podcast, we speak with Eric Laursen, author of The Operating System: An Anarchist Theory of the Modern State, who argues that everything we think we know about the creation and function of the political State is fundamentally wrong. During our conversation, Laursen lays out how the State did not arise out of a collective need, nor was it created organically; that instead, it was imposed from above as an instrument to amass wealth and expand economic and military control.

Laursen goes on to argue that the State is unable to not only deal with the problems that humanity currently faces: climate change, pandemics, class and racial inequalities – but moreover, the State is the instrument that is exacerbating these crises to begin with.

Despite these massive problems, much of the Left still holds up capturing the State or reforming it as the main way to change the world. With this reality in mind, Laursen argues that anarchists need to continue to articulate the need for a broad, anti-state position, as more and more people begin to question key aspect of the state: white supremacy, the police, and beyond.

More Info: Eric Laursen on Twitter and The Operating System: An Anarchist Theory of the Modern State on AK Press.

photo: Koshu Kunii via Unsplash