Are democrats really proud of Antifa?
Fascism is a revolutionary movement of the right against both the bourgeoisie and the left, of middle class and declassed men, that arises in zones of protracted crisis.
-- Anti-Racist Action Network, "
What do we mean by 'Fascism?'"
Based on:
Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook:
Antifa is not a monolithic organization, nor does has it anything like a hierarchical leadership structure, and it certainly doesn't cleave to the hierarchical structure of the Democratic Party. It’s a disparate group comprised of members who embrace various causes, the most important of which is resisting white nationalist movements. Antifa adherents are mostly socialists, anarchists, and communists who reject turning to the police/state to halt the advance of white supremacy.[SUP]1[/SUP] Instead they advocate popular opposition to fascism.
Anti-fascism, Antifa, emerged as a response to early European fascism, and took form as an agglomeration of various socialist, communist, and anarchist parties and groups that aligned to confront the ascendance of
Mussolini's Blackshirts and
Hitler's Brownshirts. After WWII, such groups, having newfound rights to organize and demonstrate, expanded and, in the '40s to '70s, actively rebuked fascism in Western Europe, whereafter they quieted down until
the fall of the Berlin Wall which was followed by a resurgence of Neo-Nazism in Germany.
In response to '80s era renewed Neo-Nazi fervor, the ragtag assemblage of antifascists confederated enough to adopt a common name, the Anti-Racist Action Network. That name faded into the proverbial ether, and after about 2000, adherents adopted a new name, Antifa.
It's stupid to generalize Democrats as proud of Antifa; thus I wouldn't hazard that they are universally or unequivocally proud of Antifa.
As
Dean Obeidallah noted, "Antifa is not part of the Democratic Party, while white supremacists are part of the GOP." Moreover, Democrats haven't reticence re: rebuking and denouncing Antifa's actions.
- Is Antifa ostensibly liberal? Yes, but not in the sense of American political and public policy librality.
- Is Antifa Democratic? No.
While liberalism, Democracy and Antifa may, because it opposes one or more element of current Trumpism/Republicanism, seem interchangeable and identical to intellectually myopic, trope besotted, and otherwise ignorant partisan conservatives -- to be sure that's the message the Republican/Conservative "echo chamber" proffers -- they simply are not. As a consequence a huge lacuna ramifies what people -- many people perhaps, but especially Trumpkins and their darlings, reckon and what is existential. Simply put, elite Trumpists/Republicans are well aware their "grass roots" disciples, yearning for a simple world paradigm as their 20th century and earlier forebears enjoyed, won't rigorously "trust but verify" the rhetoric they consume via conservative media; thus they can successfully commingle the banal fact that both Antifa and Democrats oppose Trump/Republicans and cast both groups as unitary.
Indeed, it's not even valid to liken Antifa members as Democrats for the only substantive commonality between them is their distaste for white supremacy and racism. Beyond that, any other alignment is circumstantial, not deliberate. But if one is given to accept one's esteemed radio, TV and social media editorialists' anecdotally based arguments, one isn't ever going to know that.
Fascism attacks bourgeois values and 'parasitic' business elements while defending the underlying institutions of private property and class exploitation. Historically, this approach has enabled fascism to tap into real social grievances, such as those of some middle-class groups who resent the power of big business but also have a stake in class privilege and feel threatened by working-class movements or oppressed communities below.
-- Anti-Racist Action Network, "
What do we mean by 'Fascism?'"
Note:
- I concur with Antifa's opposition to white supremacy. I cotton not to Antifa's means; however, that particular end is, IMO, well worth realizing.