As incisive, unflinching, complex and propulsively argued as always, leaving some doors still open for hope and other futures, despite starting from dark satire.
for a hot minute i forgot who you were, fundamentally, and thought that first part was your article. i should have known better. it’s not you, it’s constant vigilance against propaganda.
as always, thank you for your insight. knowing folks like you are watching around the world is a comfort.
Mostly on the antifa point, there is a pretty long history of well organized anti-fascism and anarchist resistance in the United States for the past 30-40 years. To suggest that “anti-fascism” is just a right wing boogey invisibilizes all of the anti-fascists and anarchists who faced RICO, conspiracy, and Federal terrorism charges. Hundreds of cities were on fire and looted in 2020. People fought Nazis consistently on the streets from 2016 to 2020. To be fair, most of the organized Left (such as the DSA folks that backed Mamdani) apart from the anarchists and anti-fascists were absent from the uprisings and street clashes as they often took on a more racialized and proletarian character. But it isn’t a right wing bogeyman. There’s active cases such as the anti-ICE demonstrators in Texas, the Stop Cop city defendants in Atlanta and a few other places. All of these groups have been linked explicitly to anti-fascism and anarchist in the court documents. There’s also a good number of anarchists (some who are Black) who took part in the GF Rebellion who are locked up. Meanwhile, as Mamdani is elected, people have been fighting ICE on the streets of Chicago for the past few months. I think that the excitement around Mamdani has more to do with a long-term strategy of the social democrats within DSA gaining power in the United States but it’s nothing particularly new. The interesting part to me is how people are more excited by Mamdani’s election than the anti-ICE uprising in L.A. that happened in June. I know you said you are not the United States so perhaps that provides some clarity.
just another perspective: i didn’t read it as antifa being solely a right wing bogeyman device. real people have bought into the lie that “antifa” is an organization. you can’t make them understand that anti fascism is an ethos…an adjective rather than a noun. i had this experience with two people who “aren’t very political” here in the U.S.
so it has gone beyond being a right wing talking point and anti fascism is being vilified by exactly the people who need to wake up.
just my 2 cents.
also, i think people who aren’t “terminally online” aren’t even aware of the ICE protests. you’re obviously immersed in that community which is awesome. the reality is that the average person in the U.S., even one who supports social safety nets and has a heart, has been bamboozled.
Antifa isn’t a singular organization but there are definitely anti-fascist organizations that have existed for decades. "i think people who aren’t “terminally online” aren’t even aware of the ICE protests” I don’t know dawg. It was national news that people were shooting at ICE in Chicago the other day, lmao. I dunno who the “average person” in the United States is. I don’t think that’s a real argument.
Yeah, mate, when they're yelling 'Communism!' I'm like... if only it was
As incisive, unflinching, complex and propulsively argued as always, leaving some doors still open for hope and other futures, despite starting from dark satire.
for a hot minute i forgot who you were, fundamentally, and thought that first part was your article. i should have known better. it’s not you, it’s constant vigilance against propaganda.
as always, thank you for your insight. knowing folks like you are watching around the world is a comfort.
Mostly on the antifa point, there is a pretty long history of well organized anti-fascism and anarchist resistance in the United States for the past 30-40 years. To suggest that “anti-fascism” is just a right wing boogey invisibilizes all of the anti-fascists and anarchists who faced RICO, conspiracy, and Federal terrorism charges. Hundreds of cities were on fire and looted in 2020. People fought Nazis consistently on the streets from 2016 to 2020. To be fair, most of the organized Left (such as the DSA folks that backed Mamdani) apart from the anarchists and anti-fascists were absent from the uprisings and street clashes as they often took on a more racialized and proletarian character. But it isn’t a right wing bogeyman. There’s active cases such as the anti-ICE demonstrators in Texas, the Stop Cop city defendants in Atlanta and a few other places. All of these groups have been linked explicitly to anti-fascism and anarchist in the court documents. There’s also a good number of anarchists (some who are Black) who took part in the GF Rebellion who are locked up. Meanwhile, as Mamdani is elected, people have been fighting ICE on the streets of Chicago for the past few months. I think that the excitement around Mamdani has more to do with a long-term strategy of the social democrats within DSA gaining power in the United States but it’s nothing particularly new. The interesting part to me is how people are more excited by Mamdani’s election than the anti-ICE uprising in L.A. that happened in June. I know you said you are not the United States so perhaps that provides some clarity.
just another perspective: i didn’t read it as antifa being solely a right wing bogeyman device. real people have bought into the lie that “antifa” is an organization. you can’t make them understand that anti fascism is an ethos…an adjective rather than a noun. i had this experience with two people who “aren’t very political” here in the U.S.
so it has gone beyond being a right wing talking point and anti fascism is being vilified by exactly the people who need to wake up.
just my 2 cents.
also, i think people who aren’t “terminally online” aren’t even aware of the ICE protests. you’re obviously immersed in that community which is awesome. the reality is that the average person in the U.S., even one who supports social safety nets and has a heart, has been bamboozled.
Antifa isn’t a singular organization but there are definitely anti-fascist organizations that have existed for decades. "i think people who aren’t “terminally online” aren’t even aware of the ICE protests” I don’t know dawg. It was national news that people were shooting at ICE in Chicago the other day, lmao. I dunno who the “average person” in the United States is. I don’t think that’s a real argument.
Thank you for your words, and the force of intentionality and conviction behind them, @yoursinigo.