Editor,
The Antifa are not a part of the left. They are anarchists.
Anarchists believe in the abolition of the state, or the frenzied and orgiastic demolition of government. The left does not believe in the eradication of government. And anarchists, by definition, do not work for either side. So the confusion needs to be sorted out.
Antifa is short for anti-fascist. The problem is not that the Antifa are anti-fascist (after all, who is not?) or that they advocate violence as the answer to fascism. The most heinous fascists of the 20th century, Adolph Hitler, ushered in by the right, and Joseph Stalin, brought to us by the left, were not taken out by love-ins and pacifists, but they were not destroyed by anarchists either.
The Antifa, instead of insisting that the government official unequivocally condemn the speech of Nazis and Klansmen, which is what the left is asking, take it on themselves to violently end Nazi and KKK gatherings. There is no case to be made, by the left or the right, for shutting down free speech. The First Amendment protects the speech you don’t want to hear.
The debate over free speech is empty unless you separate the form (the right to speak) from the content (what is said). From here, you can insist that government officials to take aim not at a Nazi’s right to speak, for example, but at what they say.
The antidote to the Antifa is not the sympathy sometimes extended to them by the left any more than it is the right-wing press’s endless courting of them; you know all of the showering of them with attention. The neutralizing shot to the Antifa is engagement—– engagement with local, state and national government —-with marches, letters, petitions, running for office, and the list goes on.
There are no left wing bullies. The bullies are anarchists and I can extend a hand and say I hope that there are no right ring bullies either, just Nazis and Klansmen.
Is the next sentiment obvious? How about the left shades the anarchists and the right shades the Nazis and the Klansmen and we engage with each other on issues small and large?
Lisa Aslanian, Laguna Beach
This is wrong, antifa includes everything from social democrats to anarchists and everything in-between.
Also, anarchists are part of the left, but you know who isn’t? Liberal democrats. Yup, they’re center right. So stop trying to appeal to the “left” when you mean liberals.
Absolutely correct, thank you Lisa Aslanian for pointing out the obvious facts that too many in the news media have decided not to report. (That too is also frightening.) Honestly, how could anyone be reporting on the so-called “Antifa” without acknowledging its obvious Anarchist basis? It is astounding. Responsible for Equality And Liberty has provided a summary of this and the historical link to Anarchist violence at.
http://www.realcourage.org/2017/08/responsible-majority/
The Left is aligned with AntiFa, clearly. These are the same folks behind “Occupy Wall Street”. The leaders have a clear objective, but the followers mostly seem to have no idea what they are doing or why.
Furthermore, it’s one thing to hate the Right. It’s another to mislabel Hitler as Right Wing. National Socialist was the name of his party. Socialists are clearly part of the Left. The more state control one desires, the further to the Left that person is. The more one wants autonomy, the more to the Right they are. Our founders understood that Liberty means you own you. Therefore, the Constitution is a Right Wing document, as is the Declaration of Independence.
Remember it was the Republican Party, the right wing, who did the most for civil rights and freed the slaves. I know it’s not fashionable to say that in Laguna, where 3 out of 4 people voted Democrat in the Presidential election.
Sometimes the truth is politically incorrect.
Xavier Chow is right on…Bravo!