On Antifa: some critical notes
Presented as a personal, good faith critique of antifa and not merely an antipolitical purist attack, in light of the current moment. Note: this is speaking from a non-European context.
Essays
What do US Antifascists Actually Believe? A Reply to "On Antifa: Some Critical Notes"
From IGD
by Philly and NYC Antifa
For many years, until early 2016, the U.S. antifascist movement was small and relatively stable in numbers, with only occasional national mobilizations. This year, however, new groups started springing up, largely in reaction to Trump’s candidacy. With Trump’s election, the trickle turned into a flood of interest.
The Conversations We Can’t Have
From Emmibe
Note: This essay is geared towards higher level conversations that organizers and folks deeply engaged in radical communities and thought are having.
Anarchism and the struggle against the borders
Text of one of the introductory talks at the London Anarchist Bookfair meeting on “Anarchism and the Struggle against the Borders” (29 October). The other introduction focused on connections between the Syrian revolution and diaspora and rebellions against the European border system.
The invitation to this meeting asked three questions. I am going to try to touch on all three questions, and to relate them specifically to a few things that happened in London in the last year or two.
Cultural Appropriation & Shaming
From Fifth Estate #397, Winter 2017
On college campuses, in urban squats, at hip city venues, and at anarchist events, one often sees young white people sporting dreadlocks or Mohawk haircuts. However, there has been an increasingly aggressive push- back by those who designate this as cultural appropriation and are confronting and shaming those they deem guilty of the practice.
No One is Coming to Save Us: An Anarchist Response to the Election of Donald Trump
From the First of May Anarchist Alliance
The surprise victory of Donald Trump this past Tuesday has quickly presented people in this country (and around the world) with a vastly different political landscape than we had expected. We are seeing a rise in right-wing attacks as the far right is emboldened by the victory, much like what happened earlier this year after the success of the Brexit referendum in the UK. The incompetence and capitulation of the Democratic Party has forced many of its former supporters to recognize that the fight against the far right cannot be won by liberal electoral politics. This new reality forces anti-authoritarians of all stripes to rise to the challenge of building strong movements for working class self-defense in this new atmosphere.
President Trump: Countdown to Apocalypse
From CrimethInc. by B. Traven
Move the doomsday clock forward another click.
We were right about the direction things are heading, but wrong about the timeframe. We thought Clinton would win the election, and would then be discredited by new scandals and the challenges of preserving an increasingly unpopular status quo, producing a reactionary surge like the one that recently toppled Dilma in Brazil. Instead, the scandal broke before the election, with the announcement of further FBI inquiries into emails associated with Clinton. And, as with the Brexit vote, everyone underestimated just how desperate and reactionary the general public has become—at least the ones who still identify with the ruling order enough to vote at all. It’s later than you think.
71 Days to Prepare Before the First Executive Orders
C4SS by William Gillis
While presidents almost always expand the power of their office and of the government, Donald Trump is likely to enact a degree of barefisted authoritarianism the modern United States is totally unprepared for.
Why I Voted Today
From The Implicit & Experiential Rantings of a Person
Today I went to my local polling location and voted. I voted for Hillary Clinton and all of the other Democrats who were listed on the ticket. I did this not because I am a Democrat, but because I want to stop the rampant spread of what I see as being a kind of 21st century fascism in the U.S. The act of voting was easy, it took me only a few minutes. What I foresee as being really difficult is what is coming next.
TOTW: The Election
There seems to be two different attitudes regarding the election. Denounce it for all the world to see or simply ignore it and let the date pass you by. What attitude do you take and why?
Assuming that "business as usual" wins this particular election rather than "something like fascist" will business be as usual or will there be some kind of substantive change in the next 2-12 months that we could notice? What will that change be? Is a civil war possible? How about 100 days of coherent legislative agenda?