Meanwhile the left is very opposed to hierarchical power structures (like class systems or corporations), but pretty blind to the ways in which opposing hierarchical power structures itself instantiates intense power dynamics.
I think this is decades out of date. After Khrushchev’s secret speech came out, much more people on the left started thinking seriously how to achieve socialism without tyranny. And many people understood it earlier, too. My personal hero is Orwell, who was firmly on the left, and already in “Homage to Catalonia” (1938) he mentions the evil of Soviet secret police as a well-known fact.
I think this is decades out of date. After Khrushchev’s secret speech came out, much more people on the left started thinking seriously how to achieve socialism without tyranny. And many people understood it earlier, too. My personal hero is Orwell, who was firmly on the left, and already in “Homage to Catalonia” (1938) he mentions the evil of Soviet secret police as a well-known fact.