A no messing around guide to the coolest things to eat, drink and do in Vancouver and beyond. Community. Not clickbait.

On Making Fascists Scared and Ignoring the Tired Laments of Odious Windbags


Oh hey, look! Another rich white media celebrity has something to say about Antifa: Rex Murphy’s comments about anti-fascists are despicable.

By refusing to condemn white nationalists marching with torches, Trump was securing a place for Nazis in America’s political discourse. Rex Murphy is doing the same thing with his spluttering about the violence of anti-fascists.

Telling people not to ‘resort to violence’ is deeply rooted in privilege. As I said about Gregor Robertson’s wistful piece of hollyhock, that it’s easy to say ‘don’t reach out with a fist’ when you aren’t a constant target of fists — the violence is already here. For people of colour, for immigrants, for muslims, for LGBTQQIP2SAA. Again, the violence is already here.

It’s false equivalence, plain and simple. It’s like saying anti-freeze is just as bad as freeze.

And it’s not just odious windbags like Rex Murphy spewing this bullshit. Other long-toothed bosomy quislings are getting in on the fun with all their yolky heft, much to the glee of neo-nazis: Noam Chomsky and Chris Hedges Are Wrong – Antifa and Nazis Are Not the Same. Oh, Grandpa Chompers…you are not an organizer. Please stay in your lane.

Hedges equates violence against Black people, Jews, Muslims, and immigrants with legitimate self-defense by oppressed communities or by those who organize and defend them against the fascists. He arrives at this absurd assertion because he overemphasizes what is really a question of tactics to such an extent as to preclude all other discussions. In effect, the only variable Hedges analyzes is violence: yes or no. But it is dishonest to pose a moral equivalence between the use of force by the would be victims in their own defense against a violent right wing assault.

There is this myth perpetuated that violence is the primary, stated goal of Antifa. Almost all members are active organizers at the street level – environmentalists, unionists, teachers, anti-gentrification activists, harm-reduction workers, et cetera. But nobody is saying that countering the violence of white supremacy with violence is the only acceptable solution. To wit, Amir Bajehkian: You’ve demonstrated your opposition to white supremacists. Now what?

Unfortunately/fortunately, violence works with this people. They are afraid. Just like Mosley was, as this twitter thread lays out:

And now time for some next level satire: ‘Antifa’ is the most dangerous group in the world other than most of the rest of them.

More: Peaceful Protest Interrupted By Swarm Of Aggressive Black-Clad Militants.

Even more: I’m Sick Of Busting My Ass Doing Neo-Nazi Stuff Only To Have Some Masked Antifa Dweebs Get Credit As The Real Fascists.

Let me break down just how unjust this is. Me and my friends have worked hard for years to promote white supremacy, nationalism, and eugenics. We’ve cyber-stalked feminists. We’ve burnt crosses. We’ve harassed queers in the light of day. And yet, these Antifa dorks, many of whom aren’t even fucking white, break a few windows in Berkeley and get called fascists by as many, if not more, people online as we do?

It might be a little early to start writing a Christmas list, but this is on it: Secret Hitler, a Game That Simulates Fascism’s Rise, Becomes a Hit.

What better image of Liberal appeasement to fascism than this? Justin Trudeau’s Neo-Nazi Run-in Highlights Security Risk. Wow, he’s so eager to sign something a Nazi hands him that it looks like the NAFTA negotiations are going to go smoothly!

No brainer: Canada should welcome up to 30,000 DACA young people facing deportation in U.S., senator says. Sure, but why a cap?

Signs ‘Dogs offend Muslims’ not Pitt Meadows messaging. Strange tactic. Pretending to care about muslims in order to fuel hatred of muslims?

No platform: Jewish groups slam Vancouver for allowing performance by conspiracy theorist.

Bonus: L.P.D.: Libertarian Police Department.

On Ken Sim’s So-Called “Swagger” and ABC’S Class War

Sean Orr is back from his hiatus with a rundown of the local headlines that have been running on a ticker tape through his mind over the past six months...

On Post-Election Recuperation, Platform Paradoxes and Refund Communities

In his latest read of the local news headlines, Sean Orr finds irony in "safety, affordability, and sustainability", and shouts out a bunch of amazing local organizations working on the frontlines.

On Running for City Council, Playing Whack-a-Mole with Homelessness, and the Public Washroom Deficit

In his latest read of the local news headlines, Sean Orr finds a park ranger with a grudge, a gross misuse of air quotes and Tripadvisor slander.

On Living in a City Preoccupied with Street Cleaning, Chandeliers, and Campaigns Against the Homeless

In his latest read of the local news headlines, Sean Orr hones in on the recent Langley shootings, and the ongoing criminalizing and dehumanizing of the homeless population.