Long, but very good: About Anti-Fascists and Anarchism

[jim bell]

https://attackthesystem.com/2017/02/22/against-the-anti-fascist-creeps/


[partial quote follows]
Academic Gloss for the AntifaFor decades, a minor cottage industry of professional “anti-racists” and “anti-fascists” has existed for the purpose of perpetually sounding the alarm about the imminent threat posed by supposed “far right extremists.” The most well-known and influential of these is the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has raked in millions of dollars largely by frightening elderly liberals and Jews old enough to remember the Holocaust with hobgoblin tales about the supposedly persistent rise of neo-Nazism in America. The fundraising tactics of the SPLC are nearly identical to those of televangelists soliciting funds from elderly Christians by spinning tales about the supposed infiltration of the public schools by gay pedophiles. If one reads the literature of the SPLC and, for example, the publications of religious right organizations such as Focus on the Family and Coral Ridge Ministries, parallel themes will soon become noticeable. While the SPLC and a similar organization, the Anti-Defamation League, are the major league players in the “anti-fascism” industry, there are a number of minor league players as well ranging from the Ford Foundation-funded (how is that for irony?) Political Research Associates to AK Press, a small publisher oriented towards the “antifa” sector of the wider “anarchist” milieu.The antifa (an abbreviation for “anti-fascist”) are a loose collection of leftist youth gangs that exist primarily in Europe and the United States, and whose participants typically fancy themselves as front line warriors against the always imminent Fourth Reich. In reality, the antifa are largely a collection of overgrown juvenile delinquents specializing in petty vandalism and stalking activities. The antifa occasionally engage in physical assaults, but only when they greatly outnumber their intended victims, and with the most defenseless people often being the target. I have personally witnessed the antifa attacking both women and elderly people. When the antifa have targeted more formidable enemies, their limited capabilities as street fighters have been quickly revealed. During a confrontation with members of white nationalist organizations in Sacramento during the summer of 2016, a group of approximately 200 “anti-fascists” attempted a swarm attack on about 30 members of the “right-wing” organizations that were present. Half a dozen of the antifa consequently received stab wounds in what was a pretty puny performance on their part, to say the least.Multiple individual writers also exist who attempt to provide an academic gloss for the antifa, including Chip Berlet, Matthew Lyons, Spencer “Sunshine,” and others. One such individual is Alexander Reid-Ross whom the leftist webzine Truth-Out describes as a geography instructor at Portland State University. Reid-Ross recently released a book titled “Against the Fascist Creep,” published by the previously mentioned AK Press. This book has since been praised in some leftist circles so it is interesting to take a look at its actual claims and arguments.The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Thule“Against the Fascist Creep” presents a lengthy narrative that purports to outline the means by which “fascists” are supposedly engaged in a persistent and ongoing effort to infiltrate and co-opt the left in order to advance one or another nefarious agenda. Reid-Ross takes his seemingly intricate knowledge of “far right” movements and organizations and spins this into a conspiracy narrative about the endless effort by fascists to infiltrate the perpetually beleaguered and victimized left. How does this “fascist creep” actually work? Reid-Ross describes two methods:
“Hence, fascism creeps in two ways: (1) it draws left-wing notions of solidarity and liberation into ultranationalist, right-wing ideology; and (2), at least in its early stages, fascists often utilize ‘broad front’ strategies, proposing a mass-based nationalist platform to gain access to mainstream political audiences and key administrative positions.”


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