Socialism

No problem, comrade!

The Marxist point of view on the state and authority vs the anarchist point of view is the big one, really. What ultimately drove me from anarchism and towards Marxism in general was the Marxist stance on the state and the concept of scientific socialism. In case you aren't super familiar, an oversimplified analysis is that the very same centralization that is economically compelled by capitalism leads to the foundations of a collectively run and planned economy.

Small, disparate firms are hard to coordinate, but the large syndicates of today have already developed the machinery necessary for collective ownership and planning. The Marxist stance is that this next stage of production, socialism, is economically prepared by capitalism itself. Anarchism on the other hand focuses more on prefiguration and decentralization as a deliberate form of praxis, which wasn't as convincing to me as a historical process, especially when it comes to large-scale production that is necessary to truly meet the needs of everyone with as little labor as possible, rather than decentralized networks.

As for the state, the Marxist interpretation is of the state as an instrument of class oppression, not a class itself. The state isn't above the ruling class, so the way to abolish the state is to abolish class. Class can only truly be abolished by fully collectivizing production, not by forming small cooperatives and communes, syndicates, etc, as this forms divisions in ownership and unequal relations to production. This means some form of state will still naturally arise to resolve differences between these classes.

Hierarchy isn't necessarily a bad thing. The strategian and tactician have different views and occupy different, necessary positions. Production is the same way! Managing huge, complex supply chains and automation requires coordination, and this requires administration. That doesn't mean this cannot be handled democratically, but at its most effective this requires administrative positions.

Overall, liberation and freedom can only be truly achieved by abolishing class, as that's the only way to move beyond the state in the eyes of Marxists. Until then, the state must be owned by the working class to oppress capitalists and resist imperialism. The state withers by gradually collectivizing production, rendering itself superfluous.

That's the gist of it! I linked a theory reading list in the beginning, I recommend the first 2 works, Why Socialism? and Why Marxism? if you want to get more in-depth with it!