I had a very friendly conversation with an anarchist friend about how a utopian late term socialist state could manage the slow transition to communism. Withering away sounds good, but what would that look like in practice? We imagined small communes being tolerated by the state slowly growing and taking over tasks, as well as neighborhoods, work-places and so on. They would serve to try out new forms of organizing while the state is still necessary. And the state would give way where it's no longer needed. An alliance like this is an example of how, MLs and anarchists can be friends forever, not just until the revolution wins.