Antifa

On July 4th, at a celebration of our nation’s birthday under the shadow of Mount Rushmore, the president of the United States threatened to register Antifa as a terrorist organization.  Of course, he will do no such thing.  The first reason is that this president makes promises (“throws red meat”) to his base to get them all excited, but he rarely follows through; and they seem to have short memories.  The second reason is: Antifa is not an “organization” at all, so it can hardly be made an object of law.

Antifa, as we all know, stands for Anti-Fascist.  The first question one might ask is: what could possibly be wrong with being anti-fascist?  Don’t we all believe that Fascism is a bad thing, and that those who fight it are on the side of the angels?  What seems to many to make Antifa problematic is their advocacy of fighting fire with fire in response to the use of violence by fascist groups, like the Ku Klux Klan, like American Nazis, like the Alt-Right, like white supremacists.  Some would deny violent action to the Left even though it is apparently OK for the Right.  Neither the KKK nor any Nazi groups are officially listed as domestic terrorist groups. 

Nevertheless, the president wants to list Antifa as a terrorist organization. 

Which is preposterous on its face, as Antifa is not an “organization.” 

“What do you mean, and so what?” 

Organizations are formal groups of people, complete with leadership, a membership list, a mailing address, letterhead stationery, phone numbers, email addresses, web sites, bank accounts, etc. Antifa has none of these.  Antifa is a word that means anti-fascist; it can be called a movement or an idea, but it is not an organization.  You can neither punish it nor list it as a terrorist organization.  Because Antifa is not a THING! 

In one of the most toxic periods of American history – the era (early 1950’s) that we call McCarthyism – the American people were scared to death of “Communism.”  American Communists were a real thing, they were a real “organization,” they were a bona fide political party called – surprise – the American Communist party.  They claimed to have no connection with Soviet Communism, but that didn’t matter to those whom they frightened.  But they could not make Communism, or the American Communist party, illegal; nor could they prosecute a person for being a Communist, as the Communist party and its membership were both protected by our Constitution’s First Amendment.  But they could wave a piece of paper and accuse a person (without evidence) of being a Communist.  And his employer – not wanting to harbor an enemy of America – could terminate him for no cause.  Or Congress could call a Hollywood screenwriter to testify about being a Communist and be asked to name names.  Congress could then hold this American in contempt of Congress for refusing to name names; and send him to prison – not for being a Communist, but for refusing to cooperate with a Congressional committee and name names, for telling Congress “I have no intention to cooperate with you on your witch hunt, even though I have not broken any law and you are not accusing me of having broken a law.” 

Our president and his cronies can’t say the word “Antifa” often enough; it feeds their base, even if it has no real … umm … reality, as Antifa is not a thing.  And they never fail to bring up the name of George Soros, a man who seems to be single-handedly responsible for funding any and all Left-Wing treachery.  Since Antifa is not an organization with a bank account, one is forced to imagine a meeting next Tuesday at 5:45am at the corner of Main and Back Alley where a hooded man will hand a bag of money over to another hooded man.  Right out of comic book fantasy. 

Before we leave our subject – movements based on ideas – we should consider a few more. 

Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a movement based on an idea – a question really – why can American cops take the life of unarmed and often unresisting black American men without suffering any legal consequences?   Like Antifa, BLM is not an organization – not a thing – so it cannot be designated a terrorist organization.  Like Antifa, BLM is another punching bag of our president and his minions.   Like Antifa, one may wonder why all Americans don’t support BLM.

Socialism is another movement based on a few ideas: no private property, no private corporations and central planning of the economy.  No one that you have ever heard of, in the last 50 years, has advocated socialism (see the previous sentence for what socialism really means) in the United States.  Not even Bernie Sanders.  While socialism is not a thing – not an organization that can be officially designated a terrorist organization – there have been socialist political parties in the United States.  Whether they could be designated as terrorist organizations is an open question, given who is president, but no one has accused an American “socialist” of committing any crime in the last 100 years.  And, once again, the legality of these political parties (impotent as they are) is protected by the First Amendment.

Guess what else is a movement based on an idea: Christianity!  The core idea of Christianity is simple: love your neighbor as yourself.  But Christianity is not an organization, it is not a thing; it has no address, no web site, no phone number, no bank account.  On the other hand, the Roman Catholic Church is a real thing, it is an organization – or a super organization – with headquarters in Vatican City, Italy, and dioceses and churches throughout the world.  The Mormon Church is an organization, headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.  The Church of Christ Scientist is an organization, headquartered in Boston, MA.  Christianity in the United States has tens of thousands of super organizations, with countless chapters each, claiming to be the real thing, real Christianity, and they are all organizations, with real addresses.  An unhappy fact: many of these organizations have become so politically militant that one might wonder if they have forgotten what Christianity means.

Finally, democracy is also a movement based on an idea, that the people rule.  It has no organization; it is not a thing.  But we know it when we see it, don’t we?  And the United States is a democracy.  But maybe not, maybe the United States is not a democracy, for surely the people do not rule, Big Money rules.  Every year, many more than 100,000 Pro-Life (a movement, not an organization) Americans gather in Washington, DC to show their support for their cause: they honor democracy by showing up and being counted.  Where do the hundreds of thousands of Americans – the millions of Americans – who claim to support democracy, when and where do they show up?  No when.  Nowhere.  Election Day is not about democracy, it is about suffrage.  You get to choose between a Republican and a Democrat who, when they take power, will do the bidding of those who paid for their TV ads, not the bidding of their constituents, you and me.  In order for us to become a democracy, the people will have to show up and do the work.  Having fair and free elections is just the beginning.  Democracy is not a thing, it is an idea.  We need to show up and do the work.  To make the idea a real thing.  Even if it has no letterhead or mailing address.

Addendum: Wednesday, 12/27/2023

Since writing this piece, Black Lives Matter has become an organization.  At least they have a website and they file a tax return even if they seem not to have a physical address.  So, maybe an organization that accepts donations and pockets the cash.