[i]"Rationalizations are the ad hoc smoke that billows up from emotional fires. You dont' treat rationalizations as if they were reasoned, principled arguments any more than you put out a fire by standing around and waving at the smoke. You put out a fire by putting out the fire. But if that is not enough...and the fires keep coming back...then its time to put out the arsonist." ----Prof. Drew Westren. "The Political Brain". [/i] You are making the same mistake that most people from the Center to the Left make when trying to have a political debate with those of a more Conservative (read Authoritarian) bent. You are arguing facts..and reason....to a group of people who see the world through emotion and group identity. The authoritarian (conservative) follower sees the world in all-or-nothing....us vs them terms. They struggle to see themselves....and any group of which they are a part in any sort of nuanced or balance way. They also struggle to see the world from any other point of view other than their own, and that of those most like themselves. So they can't look the spectrum of the poltiical Right....and say, "Yeah, some of thse people share some of my beliefs...but some of the things they think are nuts...and some of the things theydo are bad." No they have to unconditionally defend the tribe...and ALL it thinks and does. So what they commonly do is assign the "bad trait" to THEM....and then attack THEM for having it. Blind to the hypocrisy of it all. Because its being done to meet an emotional need. ..and that's how you wind up with the absurd situation of people dedicating themselves to FIGHTING fascists, being (stupidly) accused of BEING fascists.

Gaaawd I'm glad we don't have to deal with all of these kinds of organisations where I'm from. Around here, if a group of people start walking around intimidating and assaulting others, they tend to get their teeth kicked in by an even larger group of random bystanders who are tired of it. 'Tis a good system 👍

Lol. You're an ANTIFA member. It's funny cause of how people make fun of them, and then here you are. Bringing validity to the mocking. The guy with pictures of cats buttholes hanging in his room.

They are the same as the black Panthers

the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims. That is the definition of terrorism, Antifa is being,as a WHOLE,or as INDIVIDUALS are being terrorists. No argument

ANTIFA have the right idea but go about it the complete wrong way. The extreme right needs to be exposed because it’s a problem that many people don’t seem to want to acknowledge. But by engaging in violence they lose the moral high ground and lose the PR war. They should look at the civil rights movement from the sixties as a model of how to win hearts and minds. Part of the reason Martin Luther King was so successful was because he engaged in Gahndi style non-violent peaceful protest. He allowed the authoritarian thugs to do what they do best - violently suppress peaceful opposition. This allowed the civil rights movement to own the moral high ground. Which is a much more powerful weapon than violence. ANTIFA need to allow the authoritarian extreme right to do what they do best. Let the nàzis attack you. Show [u]them[/u] to be the violent ones they are. That’s how you win the PR battle. It’s the difference between “violent clashes” and “riots” in the media and “right wing thugs attack peaceful protesters”.

Yeah i hate conservatives trying to lable them fascist Like its ok to call them commies; they're all autistic dirtbags in normal people's eyes. Lol i unironically hope they start getting owned by state police. Real concentration camps and gulags when?

Although I get the overall point, I feel in the end they only hurt leftists & unintentionally give fascists more appealing to others. Yes, fascists should [b]absolutely[/b] be challenged & shut down if able to be, but physically assaulting fascists only lets them garner sympathy points & create a narrative of the violent left attacking them for exercising their freedom of speech. You can see it in this thread with how people are more focused on fascists being punched rather than the potential lives at risk if those facists’ ideas get popular. Even if it’s unintentional, Antifa are really just giving [url=http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law]-godwinslaw!-[/url] free marketing.

Right-wing terrorism and white supremacy is on the rise, and the current administration has cut down on investigating them

Antifa does have branded organized cells. Rose City Antifa being the most notorious, I believe. I don't really care what the state labels them, they're authoritarians that use violence and intimidation against anyone they simply don't like, even left-wing individuals. That's all any decent person needs to see to view them as reprehensible. They're unhinged and make the left look bad.

... Okay fine then, they aren't an organization, they're just a bunch of shitty humans who are trying to suppress the First Amendment rights of anyone they disagree with... [spoiler]there's a word for that...[/spoiler] [spoiler]oh right, fascist[/spoiler] [spoiler]not included in the DLC[/spoiler]

This is some of the most fallacious reasoning I’ve ever seen. You’re assuming that everyone who opposes fascism are part of the organization Antifa. I don’t know if your IQ is above freezing or not, but the post makes me question that. Antifa is an organization, they may not have a headquarters but it’s a conglomerate which people join and which has the same message upon which they act. They’re fascists. They’re the very thing they swore to destroy.