What gets me about about these kind of clashes is that almost everbody seems to assume that all the fascists are white, thus giving groups like AntiFa a sort of get-out-of-jail free card wrt to fascist tendencies. They support black people's rights don't they? How can they possibly be fascist?
Here's the definition of Fascism from Wikipedia:
Fascism /ˈfæʃɪzəm/ is a form of radical authoritarian nationalism,[1][2] characterized by dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition, and control of industry and commerce
I think that pretty neatly sums up the aims of rather a lot of radical people, these days, especially the Muslim extremists such as ISIS.
In addition, you might note that the radical Muslims are antisemitic and homophobic in the extreme, just like their Christian fundamentalist brethren. I find it hard to see any significant difference at all between them and the Nazis. You only need to substitute "doctrinal purity" for "racial purity" , Mohammed for Hitler etc. and you've got a perfect match. Fascism, unfortunately, is rooted in human nature, and has bugger-all to do with the colour of your skin.
The right to free speech- even for fascists- needs to be preserved,at every cost. Otherwise, "You're next" as they say. It follows that nobody has the right to attempt to violently suppress some other point-of-view , however loathsome. When you start doing that , you become the enemy that you think you're fighting against .
I agree entirely.
Any extremist or fundamentalist group does not have to will if given enough power and influence and if left unchecked, is absolutely a danger.
I personally think that equating Neo Nazis to the Nazis on any quantifiable metric is going to fail. BUT that does not mean that just because they only number 3000-5000 in the US, that they are beneath notice or justified or worthy of condemnation. Absolutely they are.
So is Antifa. In fact, I believe that the fact that the Antifa crowd "seem" to get a free pass for much of what they do, by the press and the Democrats, makes them more emboldened and dangerous than New Nazis.
Political position or nationality or cultural heritage or race or gender or religion ought NOT be the thing that gives an extremist group a free pass or an excuse.
I blame in a large part Progressive positions in a large part for this. The Cultural Marxist the Progressive Stack. It allows people like Antifa and Black LivesMatter to do terrible things with a certain amount of downplaying or misdirection of blame. All because they are on the "right side" of the political chasm, or because they chant "Progressive slogans".
No, they are just bad. They need to be thoroughly denounced by the Democrats in the US and the Press. Apart from the Neo Nazis themselves and their associated white Supremacy groups, there is no one who is not distancing themselves from these people. No one likes them or gives cover to them.
Any of these groups if given enough power will push their divisive and authoritarian points of view. They will tell me what Gods I must pray to and in which way or what who I can be friends with or whom I can love or trust or what point of view I must adhere to AND under threat of punishment if I do not. I do not want ANY of it.
