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comment by johnnyFive
johnnyFive  ·  2416 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Looks like Charlotesville is really starting to backfire for White Power groups

It's been interesting to see how poorly we can handle degrees of sucking in public discourse -- it's kind of a zero-sum game. I think the anti-fa groups are getting a level of free passage that they don't necessarily deserve, simply because their opponents are so much worse (including being more harmful in the long run IMO).

I'm worried about the degree to which we're allowing something we wouldn't accept otherwise because of whom it's directed at. And I get it in the case of neo-Nazis and the like, even if I think their threat level is overblown (as shown by the results of their even being this organized). So my problem isn't that the anti-fa groups who went to Charlottesville looking for a fight aren't being put on the same level with the neo-Nazis (since they're not), but that we're apparently not capable of having a real conversation about how white nationalism and racism should be discussed. We can't say anything that isn't 100% "these people are the worst and anything that happens to them is justified" without getting screamed at.

Trump fucked the dog (as he does on every other decision he makes) in his public comments, but being in a place where anything other than violent condemnation is seen as solidarity is dangerous.





goobster  ·  2416 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Just to call it out: There is no equivalency between Nazis and Antifa.

The Nazis want to remove rights for the majority of the population.

Antifa want to stop the Nazis from doing that.

There in an American tendency to polarize anything into two equal and opposing sides. This false equivalency has permeated almost every issue in America, and does a disservice to everyone by elevating marginal beliefs to "common" status, and diminishing established, fact-based positions to mere "theories".

Climate change is a great example. There is no debate. There is no question. It is better defined than gravity. And yet the tendency for Americans to give everyone an equal voice has led to climate change appearing to be a debate between equal players, when it is nothing of the sort.

Equating Nazis with Antifa is the same problem.

Nazis hate America, and the principles this country was founded upon, and want to remove rights that the Constitution grants their fellow Americans. Antifa wants them not to succeed in their efforts.

Replace "Antifa" with "ProCon" for "Pro Constitution", and Nazis with "Anti-Constitution", and you see the difficulty of drawing an equivalency between the two movements.

johnnyFive  ·  2415 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Right, which is why I didn't. The fact that you can't criticize Antifa without being accused of equating the two is exactly the problem I was pointing out.