I knew people who were in Antifa groups 15 years ago. There was no money in it, just a lot of personal expense. There were lots of people back then who thought that fascism wasn’t a problem, which was bullshit as I had the shit (and pacifism) kicked out of me by fascists for the crime of breathing while transgender. The cops were worse than useless, so I looked elsewhere for defence.
21 Likes
I can only speak to what I experienced, as an idealistic and naive teen, in an Antifa group in the German province of the 1990ies. Really, there is no leftist conspiracy. Which I was a bit disappointed to find out. We never received a cent from anybody. We met in a squat, collected money among ourselves for printing leaflets, and when we went places, everybody paid their own bus fare. I saw plenty of Nazis but never actually hit one. Usually the cops were keeping the “parties” apart, and even when the cops were late, there was mostly posing and yelling at each other - very rarely actual violence occurred. These groups took from the communist party backed Antifa of the 1930ies nothing more than the logo, and a doubtful claim to an anti-fascist tradition. I say “doubtful” because there was really no connection, not personally, not ideologically… we were mostly middle class kids with vague anarchist ideas, acting spontaneously out of moral outrage. I still think the outrage over neofascism was perfectly justified, but, when I read the few leaflets that I kept, I don’t know whether to laugh, or cringe. Bigmouthed social commentary written by high school kids who had only the vaguest idea of what was going on, or about their place in the world. So yeah, I don’t regret that, but I’m not particularly proud of it, either.
I still don’t think it is in any way “extreme” to take an active stance against neo-fascism. It’s a perfectly reasonable attitude that fits in rather nicely with most flavors of democratic values. This recent interest in demonizing Antifa is, in my opinion, more of a pet peeve of Donald Trump, than anything else.
12 Likes
No, George Soros is not behind Antifa, no matter what a thousand whining alt-right conspiracy nuts claim.
16 Likes
Cathy Ann gets it…
12 Likes
14 Likes
could you dumb that down a little?
3 Likes
Batman, we’ve talked about this! That’s not how we social distance! Also, you’re wearing your mask wrong, again!
5 Likes
Its primarily a form of deflection for his obvious support of neo-nazis and calls for violence.
8 Likes
George Soros memes = Antisemitic “Jewish Bankers” or “Zionist Conspiracy” memes with word replacement. I wish he was paying left wingers like me. But alas I am simply an amateur.
11 Likes
Thank you for telling about your experience.
Most people will do way less than that to fight fascism, so it is in my opinion something to be proud of, even if you feel it was naive.
3 Likes
I do not think so either. Fascism along with every other type of totalitarian regime must be resisted against at any cost except the creation of a totalitarian regime of your own. The extreme I was speaking of was some of the direct actions I have seen where they phisically attack people considerably weaker than themselves and then pat themselves in the back for “fighting nazis”. If you are having discussions about stopping oppression and printing leaflets to that end, I would have nothing but support for you if not actual involvement. Beating up a jurnalist with a mob because they don’t like the stories he is writing is where I draw the line and what I had in mind when I called them extreme.
Did someone here claim he is?
Which flippant responces? (Asking for real to respond)
Are you talking about Andy Ngo again? Because that guy isn’t really a journalist, and doxxed people as a lead up to him being punched.
Not to say they have not thrown eggs, flour, milkshakes, etc. or that they have not broken windows and shit, but when it comes down to it the people they counter protest have an actual body count while Antifa does not. It seems like there’s a considerable difference there when you want to talk about all violent groups being equally bad.
14 Likes
If you’re referring to Andy Ngo, then you didn’t do your homework. He’s shown himself to be the team photographer for Patriot Prayer. Not a journalist, after all.
13 Likes
About that journalist…
In a tweet, Quillette contributor Andy Ngo attempted to identify us, and others, as covert “antifa ideologues” posing as experts for willing journalists, all of whom, apparently, have joined together in a plot to create some kind of media-antifa industrial complex. Ngo is known for saying that antifascist activists are a violent menace who are being aided by the right, and a look at his podcast and social accounts gives us the impression of a man set on discovering antifa-bias in the media.
Lenihan’s article may have been limp, but it created a firestorm on social media that became impossible to avoid. After Twitter suspended his account, one poster commented on the hate-filled message board KiwiFarms, saying: “None of the work should be done publicly. Just compile dossiers and collect info, then drop cocks when the timing is right. Never put a name down or make any demands and definitely never take credit. Just drop your target and move on to the next.”
A few days later, while at work, Alexander received a DM on Twitter from a journalist friend who was not mentioned in the video or Lenihan’s article: “Wow,” it read, “I just saw that crazy death threat against you and the other journalists and activists Quillette has been targeting. Are you doing OK?” Indeed, his name showed up on a hitlist called “Sunset the Media” amid images of Nazi violence.
The video was nothing to do with Quilette, but was posted to YouTube by a fan of the neo-Nazi terror organisation Atomwaffen Division. It featured the images of several journalists, suggesting we should be murdered. The video ended with a quote from Atomwaffen’s neo-Nazi guru, James Mason, regarding lone wolf attacks: “I do not urge anyone to do anything like that, but when it gets done, I won’t disown them.”
The toxic situation online only intensified two days later when Lenihan’s article was posted to the fascist message board Stormfront, which has been linked to more than 100 murders.
I believe this fits the definition of stochastic terrorism.
12 Likes
The original comment that started this thread said that antifa was considered crazy by 99% of the reasonable members of the left. The only conclusions that one could draw from the thread is that either BB is an extremely biased sample or that is wrong (put me down for the latter).
this vox video ain’t perfect, but I think its a pretty good addition to the topic:
13 Likes
Two of the commenters have actual antifa logos as their avatars and you believe there is no bias?
He was an editor for quillet covering a demomstration when attacked. How was he a member of Patriot Prayer? Do the other joirnalists they have violently attacked also belong to groups that qualify them for death or serious harm with justification?
That there are people here that disagree with your opinion does not mean that the people here are a biased sample. It could just mean that some people disagree.
But I have to admit that if we disregard the opinions of anyone supporting antifa from consideration, then no reasonable person supports antifa.
18 Likes
He was fired from Quillete when his involvement with Patriot Prayer and the attack on Cider Riot went public.
And, what other journalists? Even the link you provided only provides vague noises about other journalists being attacked by “masked” protesters and no specifics. Here’s the thing you would know about antifa if you had done your homework: they don’t show up unless there’s fascists to counter. If journalists were attacked by “masked protesters” without corroboration that it was antifa, it’s actually more likely they were attacked by the neo-Nazis. Because that’s why antifa is even around these days.
Your link even tries to pin the attack on Taylor Lorentz on antifa, when she was attacked by a neo-Nazi at the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally.
19 Likes
