The recent decision of President Trump to seek the designation of “Antifa” as a terrorist organization is alarming. “Antifa” is not an organization; it has no leaders, no membership, no meetings, and no structure. “Antifa” is simply a contraction of the term “anti-fascist.” And what are the goals of anti-fascists? As our friends in the Green Party of California stated in their recent statement: “AntiFa defends and supports the right of oppressed and marginalized people to protest, march, and engage in civil disobedience in pursuit of justice. While it is never our intent to engage in violent or destructive behavior, we cannot and will not take responsibility for telling people how they are allowed to be righteously outraged. We prefer and encourage non-violent action. We also understand that some people aren’t feeling that nice anymore. Their feelings are entirely justified, and it is neither our role nor our privilege to tell them otherwise.”
If pushed forward, the designation of “Antifa” as a terrorist organization would give the Trump administration and future administrations free reign to target, harass, arrest, and neutralize anybody who dares to openly oppose fascism, especially those who consider themselves progressives, socialists, anarchists, or communists. Indeed, we have already witnessed such antagonistic state behavior from the former FBI COINTELPRO program in the 20th century, and we are witnessing already the President’s calls for lethal force against those who are standing up against state violence, who are mostly Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. This is unacceptable.
Fascism is capitalism in decay. It is an attempt by capitalist state and corporate forces to tighten their grip by actively opposing a society in which all people are guaranteed the basic necessities of life. A society in which there are no longer oppressive social strata which divide people by class, race, nationality, or creed. A society in which all people are treated equally — this is the demand of anti-fascists and it is the demand of the Mountain Party. In the words of the late great James Connolly: We only want the earth.
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