Why Antifa is Wrong About Everything

[Originally published in the Front Range Voluntaryist, article by Non Facies Furtum]

To the average person in our society, who is neither a philosopher nor a fool, the violence and thuggery of Antifa is disturbing. Though they certainly realize that Antifa members are dangerous people who are misplacing their discontent, they may not realize the full weight of the threat that cultish groups such as Antifa represent.

Perhaps the best place to start in examining the problem that is the presence of these Antifa groups is to analyze their ideologies. As their name suggests (Anti-fascist Action), their principal mission is to fight against what they perceive as fascists. These groups are associated with anarcho-communism, and indeed their members are heavy proponents of far-left progressive dogma, most often devout communists, and in general are about as extreme left a group as exists. They perceive fascists as authoritarian-right ideologues, though in truth this is not accurate, nor who they target.

So, who are the fascists they oppose? Well, if you are a gun owner, an entrepreneur, or a Christian, or if you think that limiting immigration might have beneficial effects, think people ought to be allowed to say what they wish with no violent consequences, or in many cases, are just white, male, or heterosexual, you are a fascist as far as Antifa is concerned. In 1944, George Orwell wrote a short piece on the meaninglessness of the word “fascism”, in which he states that indeed it is really more of a convenient label which can be tacked on to any movement, ideology, or organization that one disagrees with. This seems to be quite accurate in describing how this term is used nowadays, and its use ought to carry little power.

In reality, the already ugly character of these organizations manifests itself in an even more negative way. They are well known for their protests and riots against advocates of free speech, speakers with even moderately conservative views, and more recently, of intergovernmental forums such as the G-20 meeting. These so-called anti-fascists assemble large groups, all dressed in black-bloc, carry provocative and dogmatic signage in their demonstrations, often carry weapons, and in their clashes with attendees of conservative speakers or free-speech advocates, initiate violence to deter further voicing of opinions. The most clear and present danger that Antifa poses is their ability and propensity to commit acts of violence against individuals with which they disagree; and to riot, loot, and in general destroy both public and private property.

Now, what is the great irony in the nature of Antifa? Oh, of course. They have become exactly the group they claim to despise. Who else used violence and intimidation to achieve political goals, and attempt to achieve ideological compliance? Who else hated and condemned good people just because of their identities? That’s right, fascists. Communists too, actually. Antifa groups seem to stand for very much the same sort of ideologies and policies that groups such as the Nazi Party did in the past, although with the preferred demographic shifted from “Aryans” to “oppressed peoples.” The prime goal of all political action is to fight the designated ideological enemy of the group, a trait which is shared by all Leftist organizations, and in this case the greatest enemies are white, Christian, conservative, heterosexual men, though anyone who does not fully accept their far-left doctrine is a target. A common Antifa quote, indicating their uncompromising desire for dominance and intent to cause political violence, is “Liberals get the bullet too.” In the same way as did communists, Antifa identifies itself with anarchism, indeed in a way most vexing to us real voluntaryists. As they only ever want to expand coercive state power, and constantly both encourage and commit violence against those who stand in their way, they are certainly not anarchists, but in reality, just tyrants in the same way as their ideological kinsmen of old.

Antifa regularly and more accurately identifies itself with Marxism and communism in general. In keeping with communist tendencies common in the past, they hate “fascists”, as they are the main competition communists have. They act like they have the moral high ground being Communists. Ironically, communists and their regimes killed far more people than fascists ever did, by orders of magnitude, and communism oppressed millions of more people and for decades longer than fascism did. Antifa members seem to be unable to realize that they resemble fascists both in ideology and tactics, and even visibly, with their use of black-bloc tactics.

They have too little historical knowledge to realize that fascism was also an authoritarian leftist ideology. Both communism and fascism were interested in using socialism as a way to control the populace and engineer the economy. They used similar tactics, such as indoctrinating the youth, weakening the family, and growing and glorifying the military, to gain influence and control their societies. They both took advantage of economically devastated nations, and were extremely authoritarian, and expansionist in nature. They were both leftist in that they were anti-religious, despised family values, and postured themselves in such a way as to be seen as they were fighting against the “oppressive old-guard”. These anti-fascists are fundamentally the same, in their desires and in their tactics, to the fascists they claim to hate. As the famous quote says “The fascists of the future will be called anti-fascists.”

Antifa groups may seem small and not very influential now, but they must be resisted. Very recently in Hamburg, nearly 10,000 antifa members, supposedly the largest black-bloc in history, rioted during the G-20 summit. Cars were burned, more than $1,000,000 in property damage was caused, and many police officers were injured in clashes with Antifa. They cannot be ignored.

To all freedom loving voluntaryists reading this, and anyone else who wishes to live in a free society, I ask you to resist these people wherever possible. Use logic, reason, and evidence to destroy their narrative, tell them why they are wrong, and discourage their savage violence. The road to liberty is full of monsters who try to imprison us, but in the end, we will prevail.