Rebecca Solnit:Why let the right & status quo make antifa a thing we all have to debate/condemn/

[ancianita]

Why let the right and status quo make antifa something we all have to debate/condemn /justify?

People keep speaking as though they are some huge liability we must wipe away, but they only are if we take the bait.

Why not just blithely say, oh yeah, who isn't anti-fascist besides fascists, and those people in the confrontations, some doing good stuff, some maybe other stuff, not really the big issue of our time, and also did you notice a woman killed with a car and a man beaten half to death for being black and thousands upon thousands of other black people killed for being black over the last little while and also, could we talk about gender violence for, I don't know, 500 years, because that would start to cover how awful it is except that we also need to talk about climate change as violence and a stolen election?

If you let them set the priorities, you've already lost.

Whose approval are you seeking? Whose do you need? It's also a way they're saying the left has to be 100% nonviolent to earn a cookie from people not doing much to denounce the KKK, Nazis, the NRA gun cult, misogynistic violence, homophobic violence, transphobic violence, environmental violence, economic violence, etc.

When all that violence gets condemned, the right has a leg to stand on, but it won't be the right any more.

When it comes to American concerns, Rebecca Solnit writes with heart and plainspoken, nourishing brilliance.

A short reading list:

Hope In The Dark -- Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities (2016)

Men Explain Things to Me (2014)

A Field Guide To Getting Lost(2005)

River of Shadows

[The_Casual_Observer]

1. Precisely!

[4now]

2. It is easy to find people who will endorse violence

[Squinch]

3. "Who isn't anti-fascist besides fascists?" Perfect!

[GulfCoast66]

4. I'll stick with MLK's playbook

It has a proven record of success.

Would love to hear what he would say about a bunch of white middle-class leftist dressed like ninjas and wearing armor beating the shit out of people who they disagree with. MLK faced repression backed by the state state. He would consider them the punks they are.


Have a nice evening.

[billh58]

5. Doesn't the use of violence validate

Trump's statement that there are "good people on both sides?" I don't believe that violence is the answer in any situation, even when faced with extremist bullying and persecution. Self defense may be reasonable when retreat is impossible, but deliberate confrontation is what fascists want and expect.

The teachings of MLK and Gandhi have been proven to get results, and provide lasting moral solutions. Violence begets more violence and solves absolutely nothing of social value.

Whose approval am I seeking? Certainly not the approval of anyone looking for instant gratification and revenge at any cost. Maybe we should look for approval from future generations by becoming better stewards of the earth, and all of its citizens.

[stuffmatters]

6. DNC has to teach this response to all our elected Dems, candidates and pundits.

Shut this down before it becomes gospel, the MSM &GOP's next "but her emails."

[ancianita]

7. Excellent point. I'm reminded of an old James Carville campaign point: "It's the framing, stupid."