At This Point, If You’re Not Antifa, You’re Fa
Neutrality in the face of rising authoritarianism is not an option
timjwise.medium.com
At This Point, If You’re Not Antifa, You’re Fa | by Tim Wise | Dec, 2…
archived 23 Dec 2021 03:21:58 UTC
It’s like the old saying goes: you can’t be neutral on a moving train.
Or, if you prefer the metaphor of the moving sidewalk at the airport, fine, go with that. The same principle applies.
You can stand there, exerting no energy and making no effort to go forward. But you will end up wherever the sidewalk seeks to take you, all the same.
Only if you turn and walk actively in the other direction, pushing against the force of the sidewalk, might you avoid that place.
So whether it’s the B and C concourses at the Detroit airport or the death of democracy, if you don’t want to go there, you’d best be prepared to make a decision once the ground starts moving.
And when it comes to America, the ground is moving. It’s been moving for a while now.
Your refusal to acknowledge it doesn’t stop the ride.
I prefer not to acknowledge that I’m getting older or the aches and pains that verify, brutally, that fact. But the clock hasn’t stopped. And neither have the aches and pains, despite my stubborn desire to change the subject.
The insurrection was a deal-breaker
So here we are, in a nation where violent insurrection is being downplayed by half the country and even lawmakers who were hunkered down in the building under attack at the time.Hell, some were actively running plays inside, entirely in line with the terrorists outside, threatening to kill their colleagues.
We now know they were sending texts to the President’s advisors advocating that the will of the voters in half-a-dozen states be overturned on behalf of their would-be Emperor God.
This is authoritarianism at its finest. It is fascism, American style.
And since the only factor clearly correlated with one’s participation in the insurrection was coming from a Census tract that had seen its white population share decline, it was a white nationalist coup attempt.
It was white rage and anxiety at the thought of a racially and culturally changing nation, all mixed together, in a political shit smoothie.
There is no middle ground, no neutral in the face of such things as this.
There is no room for, “Oh, I can’t be bothered with politics, so let me get back to my YouTube channel or my Instagram, or this cute little dance on Tik Tok.”
That way lies the death of a nation and an ideal.
There is only Antifa and Fa at this point.
It is time to pick a side.
You don’t have to like the tactics of everyone who uses the term Antifa to be Antifa. All it means is anti-fascist, after all. Which, by the way — and for the love of God, write this down — is why it’s pronounced Antee-FAH, as in anti-fascist, not An-TEE-fah.
If nothing else, at least get that part right. Like, seriously, even if you choose Fa, at least call the rest of us by our proper name.
There are many ways to be anti-fascist, and they certainly don’t all include pouring into the streets or mixing it up with Nazis.
But it does mean taking a stand.
It does mean being willing to declare yourself implacably opposed to authoritarianism.
To declare yourself as Antifa, in other words.
Because the only other option is Fa. There is no door three.
The sidewalk is moving. It has already moved so far that the center has shifted dramatically. Even it would have been seen as dangerously reactionary 30 years ago.
Enough with your brunch pictures on Facebook, your makeup tutorials, your reality television.
Pay attention. To the reality. On your television.
Enough with the false equivalence
It is Antifa, or it is fa.It is not, “Gosh, I don’t like either one; they both seem so extreme.”
Seriously, shut up. They are not the same.
One seeks to overturn democracy, and the other seeks to preserve it. One aims to maintain the hegemonic dominance of white, straight, Christian men, and the other seeks genuine pluralism and real equity of opportunity.
One seeks to “Make America Great Again.” The other knows there was nothing great about the America that the first group fetishizes. And so the second one aims to make it great for the first time.
And look, you can disagree with some of the ways that those currently calling themselves Antifa operate.
No problem.
Just like you don’t agree with everything America does, but you still call yourself an American.
Just like you might have voted for Joe Biden despite being thoroughly unenthusiastic about the Democratic Party.
Just like you can be enraged at the Catholic Church for how it’s handled the sexual abuse of children by priests but still pray the Rosary.
Just like you can be incensed by the actions of Israel but still consider yourself a Jew.
It’s the same principle here.
Just like you can be furious at your beloved Red Sox for trading Mookie Betts, but you still go to games at Fenway.
Whatever.
Just. Pick. A side.
Antifa or Fa.
Know this too: you have effectively chosen the latter if you don’t pick the former.
And neither the rest of us nor history will forget it.
