I caused quite a stir in the days after Charlottesville when I declared that the alt-left is just as bad as the alt-right. I wasn't the only one to say it, of course, but all of us who did were lambasted on multiple fronts for having done so.
One argument was that the alt-left doesn't exist at all, in the sense that the alt-right is an identifiable group of people who chose that name for themselves, whereas the alt-left is just a collection of concepts and movements whose only common thread is that people like me don't like them. Another argument was that the alt-left has no web site, no leadership and no statement of principles. Still others said that because the white supremacists of the alt-right sympathize with Nazis, who committed the Holocaust, it's not even possible for anyone else to be as bad because no one has done anything as bad as the Nazis. (I'd make a case for the murderous 74-year reign of Soviet communism but for now I'll just note the point being made.)
Finally, though, the prevailing media narrative is that groups like Antifa are merely opposing Nazis, and the people who are opposing Nazis can't possibly be as bad as the Nazis themselves.
None of these arguments are serious because they all miss the point. I didn't argue that the alt-left is exactly the same in form, or that it can be connected to equivalent historical atrocities. I didn't even argue that it's a formalized, organized group. What I argued is that its agenda and tactics are equally evil because they seek to deny people their freedom, their livelihood and in some cases their lives if they dare to commit crimes of thought or deed in opposition to the agenda of the left. This is what fascist movements do. Indeed, what's far more pernicious about the alt-left is that it is not an identifiable group with a web site, a logo, a statement of principles and a leadership structure. The alt-left hides in plain sight and pretends to be mainstream, and has the sympathy of the mainstream media.
But lest you think the alt-left doesn't include people willing to use outward violence to crush its ideological opponents, let's e clear-eyed about the group known as Antifa. The other day I showed you a video of an Antifa apologist getting the softball treatement from the dispicable Chuck Todd on MSNBC. The abysmal, horrible Todd only objected to Antifa's violence to the extent he thought it might vindicate statements by Donald Trump. That's because Chuck Todd is a disgusting fraud. But let's get back to Antifa.
Over the weekend, a group of Trump supporters planned a rally in Berkeley, which is a place where you might expect some opposition. But when Antifa made it clear that it intended to violently disrupt the rally, the Trump supporters became concerned and cancelled the rally. Antifa showed up anyway, committing multiple offenses of assault with a deadly weapon, and creating general bedlam. Why do that when the rally you opposed was already cancelled?
Because this is what Antifa does. Violence for them is not a last resort. It's a first resort, and they justify it with the claims they make about how horrible their opponents are. The Wall Street Journal can take it from there:
The anti-fascist anarchist website CrimethInc.com recently summarized its philosophy: “In this state of affairs, there is no such thing as nonviolence—the closest we can hope to come is to negate the harm or threat posed by the proponents of top-down violence . . . so instead of asking whether an action is violent, we might do better to ask simply: does it counteract power disparities, or reinforce them?”
Antifa’s activists use the Orwellian-sounding notion of “anticipatory self-defense” to justify direct confrontation. That can include violence, vandalism and other unlawful tactics. Many draw a false moral distinction between damaging private property and “corporate” property.
Antifa activists have also developed their own moral justification for suppressing free speech and assembly. As anarchists, they don’t want state censorship. But they do believe it’s the role of a healthy civil society to make sure some ideas don’t gain currency.
So they heartily approve of the heckler’s veto, seeking to shut down speeches and rallies that they see as abhorrent. Antifa activists also search for and publicize damaging information on their targets or opponents, or launch campaigns pressuring their bosses or companies to fire those opponents.
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Words don’t constitute violence, despite what Antifa activists believe. But there are dangerous ideas and practices, and the radical left has embraced several of them. Democracies solve conflict through debate, not fisticuffs. But Antifa’s protesters believe that some ideas are better fought with force, and that some people are incapable of reason.
Implicit in this view is that Antifa alone has the right to define who is racist, fascist or Nazi. It’s a guerilla twist on the culture wars, when a microaggression must be met with a macroaggression.
It’s a guerilla twist on the culture wars, when a microaggression must be met with a macroaggression
Antifa is a violent extremist group that opposes free speech has no qualms whatsoever about destroying people - whether by reputation, or economically, or via violence and even death - who disagree with it. The fact that it cannot be connected to a historical atrocity like genocide is not evidence that Antifa is more virtuous than those who can. It only shows that Antifa's accomplishments to this point have been limited.
But in another way, Antifa has been successful in a way that Nazis could never have dreamed of. They have found a way to do all this in plain sight without receiving widespread condemnation from political leaders or the news media. This is strictly a propaganda victory. Antifa has convinced the body politic that they are good guys on balance simply by virtue of who they outwardly opposed.
The problem is that they don't just oppose Nazis as the narrative suggests. During a recent Boston rally, Antifa was quite clear in one of its own tweets:
After Berkeley, those claiming the alt-left is not just as bad (or doesn't exist) can pretty much stop
These people are not anti-fascists. They are fascists. They will intimidate you, harass you, try to get you fired, shame you on social media and rough you up if that's what they need to do to stop you from opposing them. Their goal is to make it so costly, difficult and uncomfortable to oppose thier "anarcho-communism" that no one will dare to do so.
Antifa is the violent wing of the alt-left
Antifa is the violent wing of the alt-left, but violence is hardly the only tactic. You can see the influence of the alt-left in the willingness of corporations to give money to the slandering frauds at the Southern Poverty Law Center, who then use that money to defame mainstream Christian organizations as "hate groups." Why would corporations give money to an awful outfit like the SPLC? They do so because the prevailing culture of the moment exalts left-wing groups like SPLC and makes them pay no price for the wrong they do. Giving them money gets you positive press coverage and buys their non-aggression against you.
Corporations rarely have real moral values. Their donations are public image strategies, and they correctly perceive that they'll get more roses sent their way in the current environment by giving to the left-wing organizations who slander Christians. The media will ignore the sins of these groups and even treat them as authoritative experts, just as they ignore the true nature of Antifa and pretend they are merely "opponents of Nazis."
This why the alt-left is not only every bit as evil as the alt-right, but is actually far more dangerous. The alt-right is a bunch of white supremacist a-holes, and everyone knows it. They have no influence at all in mainstream culture, nor should they. The alt-left is dressed up as seekers of justice and goodness, and is treated as such by the media. That's why a lot of you think that's all it is. If people don't start paying attention pretty soon, the likes of Antifa will be kicking the snot of them too, while everyone pretends this is no problem whatsoever.
