Antifa Paranoia

[J842P]

Antifa does not exist and is not part of the protest/riots. And here's an interview: Antifa Supporter On How People Misunderstand The Movement

isn't the below from the NPR article exactly what everyone keeps saying in these threads? they can't be a terrorist organization if they aren't an organization, right?

MACAULEY: Antifascism is more like a set of practices and a philosophy than it is an organization. No, actually, we don't have any kind of, like, big, giant hierarchy. It comes from your heart. It comes from your sense of justice. That's real. That's what's real.

individual terrorists who happen to be fighting against fascism, they think.

She does make a pretty good point at the end:

MACAULEY: Donald Trump absolutely would love to see all of us in jail. He would love to see all of us political refugees in another country or persecuted into silence. And if you can start with a group like antifa that is actually, like, not very well-organized or anything like that, well, you can label everyone antifa.

Antifa seems to me to be exactly like the sort of ‘loose’ movement that will have quite a wide range of views and approaches within it, under the umbrella term. As such there will be relative moderates and relative extremists.

Given institutional America’s appalling record of responding to anything even slightly ‘left’ with anything other than over-reaction, disinformation, misinformation and manipulation, I tend to assume that I’m seeing reruns of versions of or partial analogies with McCarthyism a lot of the time.

Antifa is a distraction, but it does exist and its ideas are definitely radical. It is disingenuous to claim that to be a part of "antifa" you merely have to be "against fascism". Its modern incarnation came about in the late 80s, early 90s, around the time of German reunification. It is a militant alliance of anarchists and communists formed against fascists. Hence the Black/Red flags, and the Black Bloc tactics. The original antifa incarnation was in the 1930s and were part of the German communist party. Of course, the late-century manifestation draws inspiration from the early-century manifestation. And of course, it is loosely associated, especially across countries, and there are different groups with different particulars about their thoughts. And of course, you can say there are relative moderates and relative extremists, you can say that about pretty much any political group, but antifa as far-left, anti-capitalist, and militant.

And of course, the right in America uses it as a bogeyman. In the US, you'll generally find a contingent among the critical theorists on university campuses, but outside that, there isn't a huge presence.

But they still exist, and in places like the San Francisco Bay Area, or Seattle, they can be quite large and people are quite open about it, so I think it is counterproductive when people on the left come off as claiming like they don't exist at all.

 

[cycomiko]

Antifa seems to me to be exactly like the sort of ‘loose’ movement that will have quite a wide range of views and approaches within it, under the umbrella term. As such there will be relative moderates and relative extremists.

Given institutional America’s appalling record of responding to anything even slightly ‘left’ with anything other than over-reaction, disinformation, misinformation and manipulation, I tend to assume that I’m seeing reruns of versions of or partial analogies with McCarthyism a lot of the time.

Antifa is a distraction, but it does exist and its ideas are definitely radical. It is disingenuous to claim that to be a part of "antifa" you merely have to be "against fascism". Its modern incarnation came about in the late 80s, early 90s, around the time of German reunification. It is a militant alliance of anarchists and communists formed against fascists. Hence the Black/Red flags, and the Black Bloc tactics. The original antifa incarnation was in the 1930s and were part of the German communist party. Of course, the late-century manifestation draws inspiration from the early-century manifestation. And of course, it is loosely associated, especially across countries, and there are different groups with different particulars about their thoughts. And of course, you can say there are relative moderates and relative extremists, you can say that about pretty much any political group, but antifa as far-left, anti-capitalist, and militant.

And of course, the right in America uses it as a bogeyman. In the US, you'll generally find a contingent among the critical theorists on university campuses, but outside that, there isn't a huge presence.

But they still exist, and in places like the San Francisco Bay Area, or Seattle, they can be quite large and people are quite open about it, so I think it is counterproductive when people on the left come off as claiming like they don't exist at all.

I don't think anyone is arguing that Antifa doesn't exist at all. Maybe they are and I missed it. My point was that it's not really an organization anymore so it's difficult to call them a "terrorist organization".

I lived in Seattle for 12 years and still consider it home. I know several people who claim affiliation with Antifa but I've noticed it's kinda like asking a group of Atheists about their opinions on any given topic. They share one common belief (anti-fascism, god doesn't exist) but outside of that the opinions begin to vary wildly. The Antifa people I know do tend to have a more militant political leaning but most don't consider offensive violence to be the answer (defensive violence is another story). That's just anecdotal, obviously, so I can't really make sweeping generalizations but I don't see them following any particular playbook or instructions from the national Antifa office. It seems to just be smallish groups of like-minded people practicing the political activism they think is best. I disagree with the violent ones but I kinda get it.

They are definitely the boogeyman for the right though. Which amuses me to some degree.

 

[Elixir]

It is a militant alliance of anarchists and communists formed against fascists.

Ya sure ya betcha. Certainly not some misinformation vehicle for manipulating public perception. They wouldn't do that kind of thing, no way.

Twitter says fake "Antifa" account was run by white supremacists

Twitter has shut down multiple accounts that it says were operated by a white supremacist group posing as liberal groups encouraging violence.

Hence J8's perception that they're a violent, organized group of criminals, just as intended by the white supremacists.

 

[PyramidHead]

I spoke to the VP of Antifa yesterday in our monthly Zoom meeting. He assured me I was still on track to get my Antifa Bucks for every jewelry store I vandalized, and we had a laugh about how successful our infiltration operation had been. Without us, there would have only been protests in 50 out of 50 US states, and dozens of countries around the world. We also paused to express our gratitude for Vladimir Putin's covert plot to stoke racism (racism! here in the USA!) among the American voting populace. Where would we be without Russia's aid? Probably still first in the world for incarceration of minorities, but with slightly less of a margin!

 

[Deepak]

I spoke to the VP of Antifa yesterday in our monthly Zoom meeting. He assured me I was still on track to get my Antifa Bucks for every jewelry store I vandalized, and we had a laugh about how successful our infiltration operation had been. Without us, there would have only been protests in 50 out of 50 US states, and dozens of countries around the world. We also paused to express our gratitude for Vladimir Putin's covert plot to stoke racism (racism! here in the USA!) among the American voting populace. Where would we be without Russia's aid? Probably still first in the world for incarceration of minorities, but with slightly less of a margin!

So I heard that the Antifa Bucks are getting retired due to counterfeiting, and there's going to be a conversion to Soros Sheckels at the end of the month. But yeah, really surprised about the whole racism bit, really don't know where that one came from.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

I spoke to the VP of Antifa yesterday in our monthly Zoom meeting. He assured me I was still on track to get my Antifa Bucks for every jewelry store I vandalized, and we had a laugh about how successful our infiltration operation had been. Without us, there would have only been protests in 50 out of 50 US states, and dozens of countries around the world. We also paused to express our gratitude for Vladimir Putin's covert plot to stoke racism (racism! here in the USA!) among the American voting populace. Where would we be without Russia's aid? Probably still first in the world for incarceration of minorities, but with slightly less of a margin!

Reality: Your "Antifa Bucks" are rabid male deer.