6 ms·

Is Antifa even relevant anymore? I haven't heard any news about them since before COVID. What sparked this now?

by Telaneo 1y ago

mycall 1y ago
What is the opposite of Antifa? Have you heard that word a lot lately? What does Trump support?
- Telaneo 1y ago
  I am aware of the current US administration. But what's the point in denouncing an organisation which barely even exists today (as far as I can tell)? I don't see them denouncing the Communist Party USA, but I would see about as much point in that as in this.
  - defrost 1y ago
    It's a constant part of history wrt autocracy and securing power. If, for example, I call you out for being a fascist (or even falsely accuse you of such) then I must be anti fascist and therefore a terrorist, an enemy of the state, someone that can be seized from the streets and cast into a black hole somewhere. The particulars don't matter, be it Red Scare (and under the bed), Yellow Peril, Anti-Fa, et al. the playbook is familiar.
    - Telaneo 1y ago
      As if they needed more reasons to be authoritarian. They seem to be able to be that just fine without this, but I guess even they need some sort of reasoning, however flimsy, and more options to pick from probably does help them achieve their goals.
  - rolph 1y ago
    give the people something to hate, to fear, and lay the blame on that which must be removed.
  - croes 1y ago
    Antifa isn't even an organization
- rolph 1y ago
  turning point
- giardini 1y ago
  I give up! "IFA?"
panarchy 1y ago
That's because Antifa never really existed but was a convenient boogeyman to keep people afraid and in line.
SilverElfin 1y ago
Yes they still show up in masks and black outfits at events in particular cities (Portland and Seattle in particular), disrupting others’ legal activities, and intimidating people (for example by holding cans of pepper spray in their hand and shaking them), or committing outright violence. I’m not sure how you haven’t heard of them since “before COVID”. They were far more active post COVID and George Floyd. You can find lots written about their activities online, and lots of videos as well. Andy Ngo has done a great job documenting this. I’m sure someone is going to respond to my comment with character attacks on Andy Ngo but his journalism is solid. He wrote a book about Antifa (https://www.centerstreet.com/titles/andy-ngo/unmasked/9781546059585/ https://www.centerstreet.com/titles/andy-ngo/unmasked/978154...) and also has a lot of content on his website (https://www.ngocomment.com/ https://www.ngocomment.com/)
- msie 1y ago
  Anyone who believes Andy Ngo is a solid journalist has lost all credibility: https://www.reddit.com/r/BreadTube/comments/10cxkk2/getting_to_know_andy_ngo_a_fascist_grifter_some/ https://www.reddit.com/r/BreadTube/comments/10cxkk2/getting_...
  - SilverElfin 1y ago
    Most of his content is literally just showing evidence in photos and videos of what is happening. The reason critics of him always deflect to some kind of character attack is because they know the evidence is damning.
    - throwaway-11-1 1y ago
      [flagged]
    - DengistKhan 1y ago
      Andy Ngo used to make kill lists for AtomWaffen https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/journalist-andy-ngo-out-at-quillette-after-controversial-video-surfaces https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/journalist-andy-ngo-...
TiredOfLife 1y ago
Russia redirected money from Antifa directly to Trump
arp242 1y ago
There are some people really obsessed with Antifa. A week or two ago I browsed Eric S. Raymond's Twitter/X, and he keeps banging about it as some organisation that ruins everything. He also still keeps banging on about BLM in a similar fashion. Curious people. (also: don't do this; it's not good for your blood pressure – the guy is literally calling for segregation of "low IQ savages" now; he's gone full KKK).
- pike_poker 1y ago
  [flagged]
- tptacek 1y ago
  Raymond has been like this for many, many years and it's probably best just not to pay attention. I don't think there's much broader social insight you'll be able to pull from whatever he's on about this week.
  - arp242 1y ago
    No, he wasn't quite this bad before. I spent some time reading up on what he was saying around ~2021 and there was racism, but not "these low IQ savages need to be segregated" levels of racism.
    - tptacek 1y ago
      There absolutely was; I can give receipts going back into the mid-aughts. But let's not do this here!
  - sampsonjs 1y ago
    As opposed to your buddy popehat. lol
- Gud 1y ago
  ESRs greatest achievement is turning hackers away from Free Software and towards the corporate friendly Open Source.
- 1y ago
dfxm12 1y ago
It's not, it never was in a meaningful sense. It's a poorly defined boogie man, an idea. You know how the war on terror gives the federal government, the military industrial complex, the prison industrial complex, etc., a ton of power and tax payer money, for pretty much no effort or return on investment because you can't wage war with an ethereal idea? Do you know how it gives the government power to jail people it perceived as its enemies, sometimes without due process? This is the same thing. Trump is looking for justification, manufactured consent, pretense, etc., to use this power against his political enemies who might happen to not be Muslim. He's also trying to act strong in a time of weakness, while Putin laughs at Trump and does incursions in Poland, Trump knows he can't lash out at him, so he takes it out on his own constituents.
sampsonjs 1y ago
The thing where a guy got shot in the neck by one of their fellow travelers.
giardini 1y ago
They've been supplanted by the Socialist Rifle Association: https://www.dailywire.com/news/socialist-rifle-association-linked-to-numerous-violent-attacks https://www.dailywire.com/news/socialist-rifle-association-l...

Is Antifa even relevant anymore? I haven't heard any news about them since before COVID. What sparked this now?

mycall 1y ago

What is the opposite of Antifa? Have you heard that word a lot lately? What does Trump support?

Telaneo 1y ago
I am aware of the current US administration. But what's the point in denouncing an organisation which barely even exists today (as far as I can tell)? I don't see them denouncing the Communist Party USA, but I would see about as much point in that as in this.
- defrost 1y ago
  It's a constant part of history wrt autocracy and securing power. If, for example, I call you out for being a fascist (or even falsely accuse you of such) then I must be anti fascist and therefore a terrorist, an enemy of the state, someone that can be seized from the streets and cast into a black hole somewhere. The particulars don't matter, be it Red Scare (and under the bed), Yellow Peril, Anti-Fa, et al. the playbook is familiar.
  - Telaneo 1y ago
    As if they needed more reasons to be authoritarian. They seem to be able to be that just fine without this, but I guess even they need some sort of reasoning, however flimsy, and more options to pick from probably does help them achieve their goals.
- rolph 1y ago
  give the people something to hate, to fear, and lay the blame on that which must be removed.
- croes 1y ago
  Antifa isn't even an organization
rolph 1y ago
turning point
giardini 1y ago
I give up! "IFA?"

panarchy 1y ago

That's because Antifa never really existed but was a convenient boogeyman to keep people afraid and in line.

SilverElfin 1y ago

Yes they still show up in masks and black outfits at events in particular cities (Portland and Seattle in particular), disrupting others’ legal activities, and intimidating people (for example by holding cans of pepper spray in their hand and shaking them), or committing outright violence. I’m not sure how you haven’t heard of them since “before COVID”. They were far more active post COVID and George Floyd. You can find lots written about their activities online, and lots of videos as well. Andy Ngo has done a great job documenting this. I’m sure someone is going to respond to my comment with character attacks on Andy Ngo but his journalism is solid. He wrote a book about Antifa (https://www.centerstreet.com/titles/andy-ngo/unmasked/9781546059585/ https://www.centerstreet.com/titles/andy-ngo/unmasked/978154...) and also has a lot of content on his website (https://www.ngocomment.com/ https://www.ngocomment.com/)

msie 1y ago
Anyone who believes Andy Ngo is a solid journalist has lost all credibility: https://www.reddit.com/r/BreadTube/comments/10cxkk2/getting_to_know_andy_ngo_a_fascist_grifter_some/ https://www.reddit.com/r/BreadTube/comments/10cxkk2/getting_...
- SilverElfin 1y ago
  Most of his content is literally just showing evidence in photos and videos of what is happening. The reason critics of him always deflect to some kind of character attack is because they know the evidence is damning.
  - throwaway-11-1 1y ago
    [flagged]
  - DengistKhan 1y ago
    Andy Ngo used to make kill lists for AtomWaffen https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/journalist-andy-ngo-out-at-quillette-after-controversial-video-surfaces https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/journalist-andy-ngo-...

TiredOfLife 1y ago

Russia redirected money from Antifa directly to Trump

arp242 1y ago

There are some people really obsessed with Antifa. A week or two ago I browsed Eric S. Raymond's Twitter/X, and he keeps banging about it as some organisation that ruins everything. He also still keeps banging on about BLM in a similar fashion. Curious people. (also: don't do this; it's not good for your blood pressure – the guy is literally calling for segregation of "low IQ savages" now; he's gone full KKK).

pike_poker 1y ago
[flagged]
tptacek 1y ago
Raymond has been like this for many, many years and it's probably best just not to pay attention. I don't think there's much broader social insight you'll be able to pull from whatever he's on about this week.
- arp242 1y ago
  No, he wasn't quite this bad before. I spent some time reading up on what he was saying around ~2021 and there was racism, but not "these low IQ savages need to be segregated" levels of racism.
  - tptacek 1y ago
    There absolutely was; I can give receipts going back into the mid-aughts. But let's not do this here!
- sampsonjs 1y ago
  As opposed to your buddy popehat. lol
Gud 1y ago
ESRs greatest achievement is turning hackers away from Free Software and towards the corporate friendly Open Source.
1y ago

dfxm12 1y ago

It's not, it never was in a meaningful sense. It's a poorly defined boogie man, an idea. You know how the war on terror gives the federal government, the military industrial complex, the prison industrial complex, etc., a ton of power and tax payer money, for pretty much no effort or return on investment because you can't wage war with an ethereal idea? Do you know how it gives the government power to jail people it perceived as its enemies, sometimes without due process? This is the same thing. Trump is looking for justification, manufactured consent, pretense, etc., to use this power against his political enemies who might happen to not be Muslim. He's also trying to act strong in a time of weakness, while Putin laughs at Trump and does incursions in Poland, Trump knows he can't lash out at him, so he takes it out on his own constituents.

sampsonjs 1y ago

The thing where a guy got shot in the neck by one of their fellow travelers.

giardini 1y ago

They've been supplanted by the Socialist Rifle Association: https://www.dailywire.com/news/socialist-rifle-association-linked-to-numerous-violent-attacks https://www.dailywire.com/news/socialist-rifle-association-l...