How Antifa rationalizes violence

Antifa would like you to know that they are opposed to fascism. It’s right there in the name.

All non-antifa people are just not as opposed to fascism as they are, and all those non-antifa people might want to stop and think on why that is.

Antifa would also like you to know that questioning what they do in the name of fighting fascism is not a good idea. Because, really, what could be your motivation for doing such a thing?

Also, why aren’t you this upset about [insert right-wing atrocity here]?

The people who beat up Andy Ngo, and the supporters of those people, actually do think and believe the above, or something very close to it.

They have gotten to the point where they have divided humanity into “good people” (i.e. themselves) and everyone else, who are by default bad people. How else could you justify doing what they do? (Well, they haven’t completely justified it to themselves, hence the whole face covering thing.)

Violence is obviously required to fight the bad people, because the system was set up by them, is controlled by them, and works only to the benefit of the bad people. The system does not punish the bad people sufficiently for their crimes or errors, and so it must be destroyed and subverted too.

You, sitting there reading this article, are (in the minds of antifa and their defenders) a bad person. Sorry.

Good people don’t soil themselves by reading publications that are not approved by others of their kind.  They don’t associate with bad people, follow them on social media, consider their arguments before writing them off, or invite them to Thanksgiving dinner.

Whatever the bad people do, the good people must do the opposite. Whatever bad people like is problematic; the food they eat, the music they like, the movies they watch and the video games they play.

The bad people practice dishonest journalism, are rape apologists, are full of various types of hate, and enthusiastically endorse genocide.

It is possible to hold massively contradictory positions so long as it is done in opposition to the bad people.  You can oppose what is called the “traditional” family- again, because the bad people like “traditional” families- and also still be angry about the separation of “traditional” families at the U.S. border.

You can be a good person and cheer for the multimillionaire athletes playing for the Toronto Raptors as well as their even richer owners, because you know you can score points against the cops when they card and charge Masai Ujiri. Who cares that pro sports are a monument to exploitative capitalism?

When you are a good person, you have no time for people who point out the massive holes in your own goodness. The bad people doing this pointing out are of course acting in bad faith, but more importantly, when you are good, you have achieved a sort of Enlightenment where you have transcended concepts like “having to be consistent” and “having to acknowledge shortcomings in your own position.”

Because that’s what this is really about. This is about being frustrated at living in a world where you can’t just go punching people you don’t like without consequences. This is about being frustrated at the idea of rules and consequences.  This is about believing that not being allowed to do whatever you want is the same as being oppressed and repressed.

This is about entitlement.