Oh, Berkeley...

Oh, Berkeley... Sept 3, 2017 20:36:35 GMT -5

Post by nighttimer on Sept 3, 2017 20:36:35 GMT -5

I don't want to get too deep in the weeds with what robeiae believes and doesn't believe and what he does or does not support. Or me or Vince or Amadan or anyone else, because at the end of the day, nobody here is a White supremacist OR a member of the Anti-Fascists.

The Anti-Fascists are definitely not above criticism and are in line for plenty when Daily Show host Trevor Noah and actress Jessica Chastain find themselves being targeted for not being sufficiently supportive of them.

Noah opened his spiel with a clip of a supposed Antifa member defending breaking a store window as a “symbolic act.”

“Seriously, though, breaking a window was a ‘symbolic act’? You might think it’s some deep statement, but most people see that and think, ‘Great, now I’ve got to walk a whole block up to the next Starbucks,’” said the comedian. “Like, who is that supposed to convince? What are you trying to do? It definitely doesn’t convince the Starbucks guy, the person who’s gonna be in the store cleaning up the glass, like, ‘Yeah, they made a good point about fascism. I understand what they mean. I understand it.’”

“Seriously, though, breaking a window was a ‘symbolic act’? You might think it’s some deep statement, but most people see that and think, ‘Great, now I’ve got to walk a whole block up to the next Starbucks,’” said the comedian. “Like, who is that supposed to convince? What are you trying to do? It definitely doesn’t convince the Starbucks guy, the person who’s gonna be in the store cleaning up the glass, like, ‘Yeah, they made a good point about fascism. I understand what they mean. I understand it.’”

He continued: “You’ve got these Antifa members who believe that smashing shit is all they should do. Others want to expose neo-Nazis, and part of Antifa has only been about video games. But the part that’s been causing the most headaches is the one that’s hitting people in the head.”

The Daily Show MC then threw to a montage of Fox News pundits losing their marbles over the aforementioned clip of a few Antifa members beating up a white nationalist in Berkeley during a white-nationalist rally on Aug. 27—a scuffle that lasted a few seconds before it was broken up by another Antifa member.

“You see, now, here’s the real problem: It doesn’t matter what your noble goal may be, it doesn’t matter what you say you’re fighting for. When people see that, all they think is, ‘Oh shit, it’s Vegan ISIS,’” said Noah. “Because you don’t realize when you think you’re punching Nazis, you don’t realize that you’re also punching your cause. Because your opponents, they’ll just use every violent incident to discredit your entire movement, and they make it seem like—they make it seem like—in a world where white supremacists have a friend in the White House, the real problem is you guys.”

In a time when too many Americans don't give a shit about anything about how soon is it until Happy Hour and where the hell is the TV remote, I admire people caring about something other than their minor, meaningless entertainments. But all you have to do is go back to John Lennon and "Revolution" and the critical flaw in the philosophy of Stopping Nazism by Stomping Nazis is illustrated right there in the lyrics.

You say you want a revolution
Well you know
We all want to change the world
You tell me that it's evolution
Well you know
We all want to change the world
But when you talk about destruction
Don't you know you can count me out

Don't you know it's gonna be alright
Alright, alright

You say you got a real solution
Well you know
We'd all love to see the plan
You ask me for a contribution
Well you know
We're doing what we can
But if you want money for people with minds that hate
All I can tell you is brother you have to wait

When John Lennon penned those lyrics and rocked out on "Revolution" he pissed off the antiwar activists of that time who thought he was succumbing to his wealth and privileged celebrity status by calling them to account. Maybe so and maybe no, but the fact remains then as is now, there has never been a cause so righteous it was above critique and criticism.   Mass movements do not arrive and evolve as fully formed things. They grow, they change and they evolve, and perhaps as more rational and strategic minds emerge, the Antifa can transcend punching out its foes to exposing and neutralizing them instead.

There is a reason why Martin Luther King, Jr. beat out Malcolm X for the title of Who Was the More Effective Leader.   King appealed to the basic decency of the American people and their embarrassment, shame and guilt over how terrible they had treated its Black citizens. Malcolm X thought it was a huge waste of time and energy trying to appeal to America's decency, because they were inherently indecent. King had more faith in the political process than X did. As time passed Malcolm became more optimistic and moderate and King more cynical and radical. Both were assassinated before they could fully bloom and embrace the enormous changes they were going through and this country as a whole is poorer for it.

I'm not equating the Antifa with X and King. They don't deserve to be equated with them, but I would like to think if there is a way for them to seize the moment and purge their ranks of the extremist, anarchist fringe which delights in violence and destruction, they might become a vital tool to disrupt, defend and destroy the rise of an emboldened fascist Right in America.   These are not people whom are going to be dissuaded by peaceful, non-violent resistance against their excesses. However, an eye for an eye can only get you so far.   After that everyone is left blind.

There is a path to success for the Antifa that doesn't involve destroying property, spitting on cops or even punching Nazis. It's not for me or anyone not part of the Antifa to find it. If indeed they ever do.   That's the difference between being a lasting part of the resistance to Trumpism or the 2017 version of Occupy Wall Street.

Post by robeiae on Sept 3, 2017 12:30:43 GMT -5

Post by nighttimer on Sept 3, 2017 20:36:35 GMT -5