this post was submitted on 09 Oct 2025
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[–] LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world 29 points 1 week ago (8 children)

Your average age of the original antifa is 98 years old - WW2 veterans

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[–] Mr_WorldlyWiseman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 16 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Authoritarians misunderstanding history? Who could have thought?

There is probably some nuance between KPD Antifaschistische Aktion, SPD Iron Front, and WW2 Resistance antifa, but none of that is relevant to modern discussions about American Antifa.

The most important thing to note about KPD, SPD, and the resistance during 1930s-1940s is about violent resistance to fascists rising to power. My hypothesis is that political violence is unproductive before rule of law breaks down, but then becomes the only option after rule of law breaks down.

[–] Ascrod@midwest.social 2 points 1 week ago

Those who make peaceful protest impossible make violent revolution inevitable

[–] Aceticon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 1 week ago

The beaches of Normandy on D-day were full of antifa members...

[–] collapse_already@lemmy.ml 11 points 1 week ago

So are they disavowing famous antifa like Dwight D. Eisenhower yet? You could make a case that Eisenhower was personally responsible for the deaths of thousands of fascists.

[–] TheReturnOfPEB@reddthat.com 9 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Fuck I've grown some serious hate for white Americans since 2016.

[–] zd9@lemmy.world 44 points 1 week ago (2 children)

What does white have to do with anything? You do realize most people opposing this movement are also white...?

[–] jaybone@lemmy.zip 13 points 1 week ago

Hating people for their skin color will surely show those racists.

[–] njm1314@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

You're not wrong but seeing as how white Christian nationalism is the driving force behind what we're seeing right now let's not pretend like it has nothing to do with anything either. We can't ignore that aspect.

[–] webghost0101@sopuli.xyz 16 points 1 week ago

“Hate” can exist in all colors.

Don’t bring yourself down to the same level as the fascist, friend.

[–] GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

what a racist piece of shit.

edit:

if you don't have a problem with

Fuck I've grown some serious hate for white Americans since 2016.

but have a problem with

Fuck I've grown some serious hate for black Americans since 2016.

you might just be a racist piece of shit.

[–] danc4498@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Founding fathers were antifa

[–] Objection@lemmy.ml 17 points 1 week ago (4 children)

...what?

Fascism as a movement didn't exist then but if you do want to label people as fascists then the founding fathers, many of whom owned people of other races as "property" and built slavery into the system they created definitely qualify.

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

It didnt have a name or a clear, written set of ideals until Mussolini coined it; but the sentiments that led to it have existed since the dawn of humanity.

[–] Objection@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

In which case, as I said, the founding fathers were fascists.

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 4 points 1 week ago

Do you think I am disagreeing with you or something?

[–] DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

If the colonial empires existed today, what would you call them?

Orwell wrote an essay on Kipling that applied the label of "pre-fascist" to him so feel free to use that instead. For the sake of conversation we can then agree that anti-pre-fascists are antifa or close enough. You could also insist on pre-antifa, that's pretty catchy.

After all, lesser evil empires fighting fascists still earn the title of antifascist, do they not?

Even if they, say, starve, imprison, and use "forced labor" on millions of their own citizens as a form of political control.

Otherwise you'll find that pretty much the only people that deserve the term of antifa are anarchists, which I'm also fine with, welcome to the right side of socialism.

[–] Objection@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

After all, lesser evil empires fighting fascists still earn the title of antifascist, do they not?

No, they absolutely do not. Wtf.

Lesser-evilist brainrot is now getting applied to history? Am I supposed to look at the Punic Wars or the Mongol invasion of China and label one side as fascist and the other side as antifa? Is this the point that discourse has reached now?

Christ, lesser-evilist ideology needs to have a stake driven through it's heart yesterday. You fail history class forever.

[–] DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social 8 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (16 children)

As long we're all being consistent then and agree that only anarchists are antifa, because the Maoists and Stalinists sure don't count as antifascist in your definition. We'll also accept the kind of Marxists the Soviets and CCP ended up killing too.

Or just about anyone that's actually shot a Nazi in the face, statistically mostly conscripts of lesser evil empires.

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[–] danc4498@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I was just joshing. Though, do fascists want to own slaves? When I think of fascism, slave owning is not something that comes to mind.

[–] rhombus@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Nazi Germany built it’s war economy on the backs of slaves. Jews, and political dissidents didn’t all go straight to the death camps; many went to slave labor facilities/camps until the conditions broke them and they were no longer useful.

So maybe not individual slave ownership, but mass state run slave labor absolutely. The end stage fascist economy can’t exist without it.

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago

I have my existence thanks to those forced laborers. They sabotaged production, including the tank shell that didn’t explode when it hit my grandfather’s position back in 1944.

[–] danc4498@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I just don’t think owning slaves equals fascism the way the comment I replied to says.

I was mostly being silly when I made my original comment cause fascism didn’t exist back then. But I do wonder if fascism did exist, just without the name.

But I also don't think a fascist would create the constitution as it was back then. Free speech, right to privacy, all the rights surrounding justice… Seems like a fascist would be against these things.

I’m definitely unqualified to participate in a debate on what fascism is and isn’t, so if there’s something I’m missing, please let me know as this stuff is very interesting, and Google doesn’t usually help.

[–] Objection@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I'm just confused what definition of fascism you're going off of where the British parliament imposing a tax on tea is fascism but people of one race owning people of another race and forcing them to work though beatings and abuse isn't.

But yes the real answer is that they were neither pro- or anti-fascist because fascism wasn't a thing. In terms of history, I don't really think we should label it fascism anytime someone does a bad thing. But if we are going to use it that way then we should do so consistently.

[–] danc4498@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

What about the constitution and bill of rights? That honestly feels like something an anti fascist would write to prevent a fascist from taking over.

When I read about fascism, though, it is never about owning slaves. It’s more about how the government treated its citizens/media/economy/etc. Maybe it’s something they did, but owning slaves was not what made them fascist.

[–] LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

....But they still very much got rid of the feudal equivalent of a dictator - a king - which is a step in the right direction, especially at the time. Notably many founding fathers were against slavery.

Eg this abolitionist from the 1500s originally was okay with slavery for black people, but not Natives, and then later changed his mind. He was FAR from perfect as an activist or abolitionist, but the steps he did were PROGRESS, and that counts. That you can criticize the past is a good thing, it means society did better.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartolom%C3%A9_de_las_Casas

[–] Objection@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 week ago (11 children)

This is a completely different position from what was originally being argued, which is the absolutely insane position of "The founding fathers were antifascist." If you want to say, like, "The American Revolution did more good than harm" then sure, whatever, that has nothing to do with what I'm disputing here.

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[–] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 9 points 1 week ago (7 children)

Yeah... no. White America is pretty much the spiritual godmother of fascism.

[–] Tinidril@midwest.social 13 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Nazis literally looked to some of America's founding fathers and the Confederacy for inspiration.

[–] Geobloke@aussie.zone 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The confederacy was also defeated by Americans

[–] Tinidril@midwest.social 3 points 1 week ago

Yes, but the the cowardly founding fathers were nowhere to be seen.

(I said nothing about "Americans")

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[–] BigTrout75@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago (2 children)

How about a new synonym? Antifa just triggers all the people that didn't understand what it means. They think it means devil worshipping terrorists or something like that. It's not winning at this point. Maybe that's a good thing, 😂.

[–] whiwake@lemmy.cafe 10 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Just say Against Fascism, and don’t let anyone abbreviate it. When they complain, ask, “are you pro-fascism?”

[–] 4am@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 week ago

The problem is that now, they are

[–] ToastedRavioli@midwest.social 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Antifa is the modern version of the Soviet kulaks, which was their contemporary version of medieval witches. There are no shortage of historical examples of people making up groups that dont exist in reality to be afraid of, and thereby justify extreme and depraved actions against their countrymen. Anti-facism, anti-communism, or anti-christian, the social justification is pretty much irrelevant. Its all just an excuse for people in power to label anyone they want for execution. Its literally a witch hunt

[–] TacoButtPlug@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 week ago

His head looks bloated

[–] notsure@fedia.io 2 points 1 week ago

...according to him, they were...

[–] m3t00@midwest.social 1 points 1 week ago

af - short for antifa. 'rats, foiled again'

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