Rose City Antifa

I paid a visit to the website of Rose City Antifa to get a better idea of what they’re about. One item interested me in particular. It’s their definition of “fascism,” which can be found on the “about” page:

Fascism can be hard to define because every fascist movement is different, and the ideology itself contains many contradictory ideas. The term has also come to be used to label any idea that is authoritarian, right-wing, or even just disliked. This poses a problem for us because we think it is important to describe each movement accurately. To that end, we use a definition of fascism that is based on a cluster of traits. While each movement may not contain all these traits, we call it ‘fascist’ if it has a majority of these characteristics:

• Ultra-nationalism, which defines the “nation” around a shared racial, ethnic, cultural, or historical identity. This excludes some members of society, and people are expected to place their allegience to the “nation” over all other identities.
• Belief in, and a desire to return to, a past utopian vision of society. This may or may not have existed historically, and they believe it has been lost due to “corruption” or “degeneracy”.
• Scapegoating of marginalized/oppressed groups, who are blamed for causing society’s problems and preventing a return to this ultra-nationalist utopia.
• Advocating for, or enacting, the removal of these scapegoated groups, including by violence, genocide, and/or ethnic cleansing.
• White supremacy and belief in racist, patriarchal hierarchies that place the nation over other groups, men above women, straight people over gay people, etc.
• Authoritarianism, often centered around a single, charismatic leader.
• Antisemitism. Antisemitism is central to many fascist ideologies, and this conspiritorial thinking about Jewish people provides the corner stone that supports many other racist ideas.
• Anti-communist, anti-liberal, and anti-conservative rhetoric.
• Opposition to Unions and other Organized Labor groups.
• Aspiring to the complete militarization of society. This includes Paramilitary organizing and vigilantism.
• Anti-elitist, populist rhetoric to appeal to the “common man,” coupled with internal elitism and willingness to accept support from existing elites.
• Fascism posits itself as both a revolutionary and traditionalist politic.

Clearly, this is one of those concepts that are hard to define scientifically, but can be characterized by a combination of factors. Another example of this is the concept of “race.”

When we speak of the “Negroid race,” for example, we might approach it in much the same way Antifa approaches fascism (and I’m not referring to any negativity here). A Negro will typically…

• Have dark skin
• Have kinky hair
• Be prognathous
• Have the Sickle Cell Trait
• Have high levels of testosterone
• Have longer limbs
• Have denser bones

The fact that there is no single “race gene” or litmus test to determine race, is often used (by the Left) as “evidence” that race is not a valid scientific concept.

Let’s use this same argument against Rose City Antifa: “Fascist” is not a valid political/sociological concept – because there is no accurate litmus test to identify it.

Some of the criteria on their list caught my attention. First and foremost, the statement that a fascist engages in:

Anti-communist, anti-liberal, and anti-conservative rhetoric

The “Anti-Communist” part of that would qualify most Americans, even many leftists, as “fascists” – and for good reason; Communism has been responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of people in living memory. Pointing this out is not “rhetoric.”

But what about the “anti-conservative” part? My initial impression is that this was added as an attempt to deflect criticism, and to soften the first part of the statement. I suspect that they’re not sincere about it.

However, I did contact Rose City Antifa, identifying only as “a conservative” and seeking dialog. Perhaps they’ll respond. So far, they haven’t.

I also wonder about the first item on the list, the part about “ultra-nationalism.” Does it apply to black-nationalists? What about Jewish-nationalists (Zionists)? I think they only have a problem with white-nationalists or American-nationalists.

Ditto the second item, “Belief in, and a desire to return to, a past utopian vision of society.” I think Wakanda fits this description. Call it “Kumbaya-land” if you prefer. The fairy tale version of Native American life prior to the arrival of Europeans might also qualify – and this is manifested in opposition to Columbus Day, and the toppling of Columbus statues, and of many other statues depicting white settlers.

I think the part about anti-Semitism is somewhat accurate, at least when it comes to white-nationalists. Many, if not most, white-nationalists who focus on The Jewish Question (JQ) describe themselves as “fascists.” But what about the largest group of anti-Semites in the US, black anti-Semites? Does Antifa actively seek black anti-Semites in order to silence them, and to beat them up? I doubt it. Has there ever been an instance of Antifa showing up at a Nation of Islam rally to harass them and scream “Hey hey, ho ho, Farakhan has got to go!”? I don’t think so.

There’s a very useful saying among construction workers, carpenters and other craftsmen:

Measure twice and cut once

Antifa needs to think twice and attack once. For the time being, I would advise them to go home and hit the books. Then, after they’ve correcting their thinking, consider activism…

Oh, and they might also consider using spell-check.