If you listen much to President Trump or other loud-mouthed right-wing Americans, ANTIFA is pretty much the most significant threat to American freedoms since, well ironically, the Nazis, but who and what actually is ANTIFA?
What Does ANTIFA Mean?
ANTIFA is literally shorthand for Anti-Fascists. That’s right; people that stand up against people that believe in racism or fascism. During World War 2, these people were called “the Allies.”
What Is Their Background?
The word and indeed the broader movement stems from the name of Antifaschistische Aktion, a German group that inspired the broader movement in Germany and thus the world.
What Are ANTIFA?
This is where it gets quite funny, they aren’t actually a group, but more an umbrella term for people that are against Nazis. They cut across the left-wing spectrum having everything from mild lefties to anarchists and communists.
Who Is the Leader of ANTIFA?
No one, this is the main point about them, they don’t actually exist as a group, merely being united by their belief that fascists are shit heads.
In That Case Why Does Trump and the Right Keep on About Them?
If history has taught us anything, it’s that every right-wing government needs an invisible enemy, and they are precisely that perfect invisible enemy in that they first don’t exist, secondly don’t have a leader, and, lastly, don’t have a leader and are anti-capitalist.
How Have They Been Made Into Such a Bogeyman?
In short, the right tends to stick up for white-extremists, so something was needed on the left that could be blamed for everything. ANTIFA fits all the requirements required. The fantastic thing is that they have managed to do it with a group that associates itself with the anti-Naziism.
So, Should We Be Scared About ANTIFA?
No, because they don’t actually exist.
