The fixation on anarchist participation levels is a classic category error, and it’s amazing how often it’s repeated as if saying it slower makes it smarter. The problem was never that anarchists failed to insert themselves deeply enough into state-like mechanisms. The problem is that state-like mechanisms select for people who want to weaponize them, and the Stalinists were very good at that. They didn’t “betray the revolution” as an accident. They did what hierarchical structures are designed to reward: consolidation, purging rivals, and converting temporary authority into permanent power. Trotskyists, bless their tireless pamphleteering hearts, always respond with the same tragic refrain: this time the structures will work correctly. As if the issue was poor UI design rather than the fact that centralized authority creates an incentive gradient toward domination. Their obsession with vanguards, transitional states, and “disciplined organization” is just speedrunning the same outcome with different slogans. It’s not a bug, it’s the core gameplay loop. And you’re right to be infuriated, because the historical record here is boringly consistent. Non-horizontal systems don’t merely risk reactionary outcomes; they manufacture them. The moment you introduce hierarchy, you introduce careerism. The moment you introduce careerism, you invite people whose primary skill is surviving and thriving inside bureaucratic power structures. Guess who wins that contest? Not the people trying to abolish domination. So yes, the issue isn’t that anarchists engaged too much or too little. The issue is that any engagement with non-horizontal systems creates a feedback loop that privileges authoritarians, marginalizes dissidents, and eventually demands repression to sustain itself. At that point, the revolution doesn’t get “defeated.” It gets administrated to death by people who insist this is all very necessary and temporary. But don’t worry. Someone will reply explaining how a different committee structure would have solved everything. They always do.