“The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy, instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence, you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence, you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
Lest we forget history, we are doomed to repeat it; during the 20th century, and the early days of the Soviet Union, the USSR utilized propaganda to foment their reasoning for war against Poland, their proclaimed purpose? Destroying “Polish Fascism.” On September 17, 1939, the Red Soviet Socialist Army joined the German National Socialist Party in obliterating Polish forces. The Soviet Union made no declaration of war and rationalized its assault as a way to stabilize and liberate eastern Poland (now parts of modern-day Ukraine, Belarus, and Lithuania) after the chaos caused by the Nazi invasion from the west and north, which started on September 1st.
Commonly found among the garrison of Antifa are individuals supporting the old hammer and sickle of communism, their justification for bringing violence to college campuses, parks, and peaceful protests across the nation, fighting fascism.
Established in the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, the Nazi–Soviet Pact, on 23 August 1939, the socialist parties forged a union that would grant Hitler the ability to establish rule over a vast amount of Europe so he could continue his cause for ethnic cleansing. Meanwhile, back in the Soviet Union, Stalin was building his ranks and establishing class cleansing.
Through the examination of history, a conclusion can be drawn that there are only minor deviations between communism and socialism, all hinged on a cultural revolution and class warfare.
Similar tactics, as were used throughout history, are being drawn upon for the cause of Antifa, the most recent example of such is being posted at UC-Berkeley accusing conservative commentator Ben Shapiro of “Fascist Intellectual Thuggery in the service of the Trump/Pence Fascist Regime.”
“Intellectual Thuggery” as defined, can be summed up as a ruffian of the mind or a bully of intellect meaning that their ideology is one sided and that the purported individual of that intellect is using malfeasance to accomplish their task. In other words, the antifa crowd is calling Ben Shapiro a criminal for offering a differing opinion, and that is very dangerous.
However, it’s not just antifa that similar tactics are being used, all across the world wide web tech giants are accusing those who offer a differing opinion of the same thing, although without saying it directly and without resorting to violence.
In this country, the United States of America, the right of the individual supersedes the feelings of a collective, in America the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights provides the individual the right to free speech under the first amendment. Regardless of an opposing sides’ feeling that right is protected by the law of the land, meaning that you don’t have to agree with it, or even like it, but because this is a free country that individual is guaranteed the right to expression. Should one group override that individuals’ right, America is in a world of hurt.
Antifa has previously stated that in order to accomplish their task of shuttering “intellectual thuggery,” they will resort to violence. In fact, according to one of the founders of Smash Racism D.C., an antifa organization in Washington. “The justification [of the use of violence] is that Nazi ideology at its very core is founded on violence and on wielding power by any means.”
“There is the question of whether these people should feel safe organizing as Nazis in public, and I don’t think they should,” said Isaacson. “I don’t think anyone should think that someone who is intent on politically organizing for the sake of creating a state-sponsored genocide — I don’t think is something that we should protect.”
What the Antifa member is claiming is that Donald Trump is, in fact, a Nazi, regardless of the fact that his son-in-law and daughter are both Jewish. Never the less the charge remains, and the case for Antifa violence grows abundantly. According to Mark Bray, a Dartmouth historian, Antifa activists justify their use of force as self-defense against “the inherent danger of fascists organizing.”
“The argument is that it needs to be stopped immediately because if you let it grow, that poses a danger to society,” Bray said.
While utilizing similar tactics that both the Soviets and the Nazis used during the 20th century, Antifa is actively destroying one of the many things that makes this country so great, free speech.