It’s not the same as being in the trenches under fire, but the class war is waged with violence and has casualties and deaths, front lines and such. Seeing it as a war isn’t a choice to live in a military state, you feel it when you are working class trying to live and the rich are doing their best to let you die. The class war does steal your humanity and control you, taking a militant stance against it is meeting the opposition as they are. They use militarized police and all the means of psychological war to fight against the poor.

I’m not saying it’s necessary to subsume your individuality to the will of your leaders and forget autonomy or follow anything with blind obedience, just that what some call authoritarian I have come to see as potentially necessary steps to take when fighting such a ruthless enemy.

China? Genocides? Even the US-funded rubes pushing that narrative have given up. How many Chinese people living in China are you friends with?

I used to be afraid of the “authoritarianism”, but all socialists need to realize the class war is a real war being waged, a war between the people and the most advanced and all-encompassing enemy in history. We must have a serious and disciplined response and it requires organization like that of an army. Is it authoritarian to follow the commands of your captain when you are in battle? Maybe it is, but without this coordination and discipline we will be destroyed.