Marxist Terror Special Part Seven - Fascism: A Different Shade of Red
Take Your Compass #16 Special on Antifa - Fascism: A Different Shade of Red
Take Your Compass #16 - Marxist Terror Special Part Seven - Fascism: A Different Shade of Red
Welcome to part seven. Please read the previous parts. You will not have the necessary information for this part without reading what came before. Part one is here.
AFA: Reminder that I am using AFA as an umbrella acronym for all the violent Marxist groups.
CONTENT WARNING!
See my full warning in part three. For brevity I will not repeat here.
Author’s note: I am against fascism. I am also against Antifa. The difference is that I am against ALL fascism. I am against Nazis, Racists, Atheists, Socialists, Marxists, and every flavor of Communism. I am against using terror and chaos to manipulate people.
AFA Myths?
In 2017 historian Mark Bray (PhD Rutgers University) wrote a popular and AFA sympathetic book entitled Antifa: The Antifascist Handbook. I do not know if Bray is involved in AFA, but he has chosen to promote AFA. His book gets some of the history correct, but he leaves huge gaps and fails at giving his readers the proper context surrounding modern AFA. Instead of an accurate look at AFA, the book is pro AFA propaganda.
If you want to try see AFA as the heroes they think they are, then read Bray’s book. Read it with caution however as Bray is giving you a mixed bag of truth, falsehoods, and distortions.
By this point I thought I would be talking about how AFA organizes, and use a 2020 article by Bray as a segue, but as I got into it I realized I needed to deal with this. So, this part is about Bray’s “myths,” and how Fascism is just another shade of red. How AFA organizes will be up next week.
In 2020 in the Washington Post, Bray wrote: Five Myths about Antifa. Let’s look at these “myths.”
Myth 1: Antifa is a single organization.
Bray is correct, but he is obfuscating. Only someone with no knowledge of AFA, or less than rudimentary knowledge might think there is a single organization. It is safe to say almost no one believes this. Everyone with at least a modest amount of knowledge regarding AFA knows that it is not a single organization.
Bray says the US government “…cannot designate “ANTIFA” as a terrorist organization because antifa is not an organization. Rather, it is a politics of revolutionary opposition to the far right.”
I take it that he is serious here. If he is serious, then either he is woefully uneducated about AFA, which seems highly unlikely, or he has chosen to put a selective and deceptive spin on AFA. Bray continues: “There are antifa groups, such as Rose City Antifa in Portland and NYC Antifa, just as there are feminist groups, such as Code Pink. But neither antifa nor feminism is itself an organization. You cannot subpoena an idea or a movement.”
Bray wants you to think AFA is just an idea, just an unorganized political movement. This is sheer nonsense. It is a political movement, but it is not just a political movement. It has leaders and soldiers. It has parts and pieces. It is not one organization, but many, and it does have organization, and its goal is Marxist revolution.
In a prior section I mentioned that the German government considers AFA to be extremists, and the Government keeps tabs on them. Is there one AFA organization in Germany? No, AFA in Germany is decentralized just like it is in the US. So, how can Germany designate AFA as extremists? Simple, despite Bray’s objection, there does not have to be a single organization.
In 2020 the German newspaper Die Welt did an article on this. The article reported that at least 47 AFA groups were labeled as extremists, and these groups were being monitored by the German Federal or State government. Here is the source. It is in German and pay-walled however. I got the details by using an archive copy and Google translate.
This so-called ‘myth’ is no coincidence. It is a feature of AFA. AFA has learned to organize without a central organization. If AFA groups are terrorists or extremists, we certainly would be wise not to ignore them.
Myth 2: Antifa masterminds violence at Black Lives Matter protests.
Myth 2 is another obfuscation. Who is saying that? Maybe someone, somewhere. It is true that some people have overstated the power AFA has, but few, if any, are saying that AFA is the mastermind of violence at BLM protests. People are saying that BLM violence is connected to AFA violence, because it is. BLM is an AFA type group.
The implication of myth 1 is that there is a movement and no real organization because there is no single organization. The implication of myth 2 is that AFA is not involved in BLM violence because AFA is not the mastermind. Both implications are wrong.
Bray, from the article: “But neither the Justice Department, the FBI nor the press have found evidence to corroborate the grandiose allegation that the most widespread and significant political upheaval this country has seen in half a century was masterminded by one shadowy organization.”
Bray is correct, but it is yet another obfuscation. No one is making this claim. No one is looking for “one shadowy organization.” Bray’s myth is a giant straw-man.
Bray claims the militant anti-fascist groups are far too small to be the cause of so much damage. He continues: “Antifa groups are simply not numerous enough, nor their memberships large enough, nor their politics influential enough to have achieved such massive destruction.” It is impossible for me to say if Bray really believes this spin. He is, again, giving you a fact, but he disconnects it from reality. It does not take large groups or a mastermind to foment Marxist revolution. It only takes a push here and a push there.
Please note that Bray says “militant anti-fascist groups” and not anti-fascist groups. There is a sleight of hand here. Bray is right about the small size of the intentionally militant groups, but the movement and the larger groups are not small. Speaking of size is a misdirection aimed at giving you the impression that AFA is too small and too radical to cause much damage.
Myth 3: Antifa is affiliated with the Democratic Party.
Bray is technically correct. And again, not accurate. AFA is, in fact, not an affiliate of the Democrat Party. The Ku Klux Klan was also not an affiliate of the Democrat Party, but there was a connection.
Bray is correct, the Democrat Party is not controlling AFA, and will even speak out against AFA, and AFA is not in love with the Democrat Party. It’s true, the Marxist revolutionaries want to do away with Democrats too, eventually.
It is also true that some in the Democrat party are pro AFA. The “squad” is certainly pro AFA. Keith Ellison, Minnesota Attorney General, former congressman and DNC official is pro AFA.
Bray wants you to think that AFA is entirely beyond or past the Democrat Party. That is only partly true. AFA will use the Democrat Party for its purposes, and the Democrat Party will use AFA for its purposes.
In 20223 Tucker Carlson described Antifa as, “…the armed instrument of the permanent Democratic establishment in Washington.” This is not helpful. There is a grain of truth to it, but Carlson is doing what Bray has done, tell you a partial truth. I do not follow Carlson. I am guessing that he is something of a sensationalist who will say things for ratings. I would like to see journalists doing real reporting on AFA. People need to know who and what AFA really is.
Andy Ngo does real reporting on AFA. I am currently reading his book, “Unmasked: Inside Antifa's Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy.” I have already learned some things that I will have to add or edit into this series. Links: His website. His book.
The context here is that the Democrat Party is the home of many Socialists and AFA sympathizers. They would like to make the Democrat Party into their Marxist party. If they cannot, they will use the party however they can to advance their goal. They will just as readily destroy the Democrat party to achieve their goal.
It is entirely true that many AFA types have moved beyond the Democrat Party and oppose it as vehemently as they oppose other political parties. AFA is not an instrument that the Democrat party can control or turn off/on.
Myth 4: Antifa is funded by liberal financiers like George Soros.
Yes, it is a myth. Sort of. Bray is setting up another straw-man here by invoking George Soros. Some on the political right drop Soros’ name into every conspiracy theory that comes down the road. It’s an easy target for Bray. AFA does not need Soros’ funding. AFA does not need much funding at all.
That does not mean that “liberal financiers” do not fund the AFA movement. What does Bray mean by “liberal financiers” anyway? What does he mean “like George Soros?” There probably are not many people like Soros.
If there is no one ‘like’ Soros funding AFA type movements (i.e. Marxists), are there any wealthy people funding them? Yes, yes there are.
For starters, there is multi-millionaire Neville Roy Singham and his wife Jodie Evans. You can read about these lovely Communists here:
The American Multimillionaire Marxists Funding Pro-Palestinian Rage.
How a U.S. Tech Mogul Used Nonprofits to Sow Chinese Propaganda. (NYT Paywalled)
American multimillionaire couple funds Marxist group coordinating anti-Israel protests.
Meet the American millionaire Marxists funding anti-Israel rallies.
And then there is multi-millionaire Communist James “Fergie” Chambers:
Cox heir slams capitalism after securing ‘hundreds of millions’ from family.
Communist Trust Fund Baby Using Daddy's Money To Harass Jews.
Whew! Don’t you feel better that George Soros is not directly funding AFA groups? Bray’s misdirection here is stunning. AFA groups do not need a lot of funding, but there is no shortage of wealthy Marxists willing to drop cash on the effort.
Soros does not fund AFA directly, but he and his groups do help fund far-left candidates that result in a favorable climate for AFA. For example, getting District Attorneys elected that would take a Bray-like view of AFA.
Myth 5: Antifascists are the 'real fascists.'
This is like a broken record. Again Bray is misdirecting. The argument is not whether AFA are the ‘real fascists,’ but rather, are they Fascist? Yes, they are.
Bray argues that Fascism is of the far right, and only the far right, and since Antifa is both of the far left and against Fascism, then logically they can't be Fascist. If you limit the definition of Fascism to regimes such as Hitler's Germany or Mussolini's Italy, and only consider Fascism as being racist and aggressively nationalist, and presuppose that Fascism is of the right, then the logic might hold. But, is it true?
Fascism is more than that. Fascism also has dictators or rulers with absolute control, violent suppression of opposition and dissent, control over industry and commerce, and only one political party with any power. Fascism IS state power. The state is everywhere and everything. Communism IS Fascism. Or, in regards to Marxism, Fascism is either a variety, or it is a heresy split off from Marxism. Marxism and Fascism are NOT opposites. They are fighting siblings.
The Fascism of Hitler and Mussolini has the above features, and it is nationalist and racist. Marxist/Communist style Fascism replaces the nationalism with internationalism and the racism with class-ism. It may not matter but it appears that Communism came first, then the Fascism split off. The difference between the two is only over a few points, and the differences over those points are often so small as to be irrelevant.
Of late, racism has rushed into Marxism in the form of identity politics and critical race theory so even that distinction has shriveled.
In practice there is little difference between the indirect socialism of Fascism, and the direct socialism of Communism. Fascism keeps up a facade of private ownership of some production.
The source of the similarity between the two ideologies is that both want to impose politically-chosen ends on everybody. The main source of difference is that each system coercively favors and harms different groups of individuals in society. - Economist Pierre Lemieux
In fairness to Bray, I would say that the majority of people from high schoolers to PhD historians have been so influenced by the long standing narrative of “right wing fascism” that it is easy to understand the predominance of this view.
I agree with Bray that Fascism does not meet up with Communism in the political “horseshoe theory,” but that is because Bray follows the left/right view, and the presupposition that Communism and Fascism are polar opposites. I do not think it's accurate because Fascism and Communism are not opposites, and if you are using a left/right scale, both are on the left.
Both being on the left matches with history and explains the differences, similarities, and relations between the two. If this is the first time you have heard that Fascism is of the left, you are not alone. I am not crazy or making this up. There is not much difference between Communism and Fascism. Scholars do argue about it, but you are likely to only hear one view.
Libertarian economists and scholars tend have a clearer view of Fascism because their ideology is staunchly anti-authoritarian, and pro economic liberty. They tend to see the actions and history of Fascism and accurately place it on the left. I have strong disagreements with libertarians, but they are not wrong on this issue. As the Libertarian economist Pierre Lemieux says, Fascism and Socialism are “different shades of red.” Here are some articles if you are interested in learning more about how Fascism is on the left:
And these books:
Liberal Fascism - Jonah Goldberg (I am not a fan of Mr. Goldberg. We can argue about some things in this book, but this work has been more broadly read, and done more for addressing this issue, than anything else since it was published in 2008.)
Left or Right?
I strongly, and I think accurately, put Fascism on the left, but at the same time I recommend being wary of the typical left/right spectrum. There is a case to be made that the left/right spectrum props up support for Communism. Was this thoughtful or intentional? I do not know, but it has happened. By representing the far-right with Fascists and Nazis (the worst of the Fascists in history), the far left Communists and anti-Fascists look better by comparison, or at least opposite. This also has the convenience of putting Conservatives over toward the Nazis, just not so bad. The modern political left has played this to great affect. Do not accept it. Fascism is just another shade of red.
Anarchists Object!
The Anarchists that are blended in with AFA would object. They would claim that their way would not have the force or authoritarianism of the Fascists. They want a purely voluntary way with free association, and no Government, no God, and no masters. I hear their objection and grant that “if wishes and buts were candies and nuts” they would have a point. The reality is, it doesn’t work. It has never worked anytime or anywhere. It will never work. Mankind has a nature. The Universe has an order. We are not Angels, and Anarchism does not work.
What is Fascism?
George Orwell said, “The word Fascism has now no meaning except in so far as it signifies ‘something not desirable’.” - from the essay Politics and the English Language, 1946.
We have to live with the reality that Orwell is correct in so far as to how the term Fascism is now commonly used. We have to live with it, but we do not have to accept. We can spread the truth.
This is Fascism:
Indirect, forced control over the means of production. (Some private ownership of property, and some ownership over the means of production. Indirect control by force over nominally private owners.)
State controlled and planned economy
Economic Protectionism
One Political Party with Power
The people are employees and tenants of the State
National Interest (The State Interest/Our Workers)
Set all prices and wages politically
Militaristic and Expansionist
Requires Heroes, Enemies and Targets (who gets favored, who gets harmed)
Marxists use class
Nazis use race
CRT flavored groups use oppressed/oppressor
Usually not willing to wage war on their own people, except for the enemies, scapegoats, and targets.
This is Marxism/Communism:
Direct, forced control over the means of production. (No private ownership of property.)
State controlled and planned economy.
Economic Protectionism
One Political Party with Power
The people are employees and tenants of the State
International Interest (The State Interest/All Workers)
Abolish money and prices
Militaristic and Expansionist
Requires Heroes, Enemies, Scapegoats, and Targets (who gets favored, who gets harmed)
Marxists use class
Nazis use race
CRT flavored groups use oppressed/oppressor
Willing to wage war on their own people.
How Do They Compare?
Different in appearance. Some difference in means. No difference in practice.
Same
Same
Same
Same
Different in appearance. No difference in practice.
Different in appearance. No difference in practice.
Same
Same in principle. Different friends. Different Enemies. "Kill the Jew" or "Eat the Rich" or whoever is the enemy of the day.
Only slightly different. And since the unfavored can change, ultimately no difference.
AFA types, Bray included, will make much of #9. They will claim they cannot be Fascist because the Fascists ‘hate X and love Y,’ and we the Anti-Fascists ‘love X and hate Y.’
A pox on both of them.
Above is the full image I used in the header. They didn’t hate each other when their interests aligned. Source: Years of Wrath - David Low
See you next time.
Further Reading:
The Roots of Left-Wing Violence
Marx’s philosophy and the necessity of violent politics
Andy Ngo
Unmasked: Inside Antifa's Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy
Antifa Attacks “Protect the Kids” Protesters Opposing Drag Show
Why Antifa Is The Keyser Söze of Social Unrest
Thank you for reading, and God Bless!
JW
“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” - C.S. Lewis