Hello, I know it has been a long time since I’ve dusted off my blog and talked to you all. However; in my defense I thought I was done writing this. Apparently I am not.
Lately, in the news, there has been a mess of finger-pointing, blame assigning and outright troublesome behavior across the spectrum of this United States of ours.
So I’m going to address a one of many points that have disturbed me over the course of this year. Today’s topic, Fascism vs. AntiFascism (AntiFa) for short.
Here are three definitions of Fascism from various sources just in case you do not know what Fascism is.
Merriam-Webster
Fascism:
1often capitalized : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition
2: a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control
Dictionary.com
Fascism:
noun
(sometimes initial capital letter) a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.
(sometimes initial capital letter) the philosophy, principles, or methods of fascism.
(initial capital letter) a political movement that employs the principles and methods of fascism, especially the one established by Mussolini in Italy 1922–43.
Wikipedia
Fascism (/ˈfæʃɪzəm/) is a form of far-right, authoritarian ultranationalism[1][2] characterized by dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition, as well as strong regimentation of society and of the economy[3] which came to prominence in early 20th-century Europe.[4] The first fascist movements emerged in Italy during World War I, before spreading to other European countries.[4] Opposed to liberalism, Marxism, and anarchism, fascism is placed on the far right within the traditional left–right spectrum.
Did you read all three? One? Maybe two of the definitions? I hope you did. At least one that is.
Now that we know and understand the meaning of the word Fascism we can elaborate that to be AntiFa to mean people who are against Fascism. I know, I know… it’s common sense. Or it should be.
Our country, the good ol’ US of A, fought against Fascism and defeated Fascism in Europe in the 1940’s. The Greatest Generation did this. Men and Women from across this great land of ours fought against totalitarian governments bent on subjecting the populace by lies and propaganda to doing the will of the elected and appointed leaders.
Between 70 and 85 million people were killed around the globe because of this war. This is all the casualties from all the countries involved. Fifty-eight percent of that number was civilians. I hope you understand what that means. I’ll spell it out for you… MORE CIVILIANS DIED THAN COMBATANTS. All because the Democratic countries and the USSR despised Japan, Germany and Italy politics and treatment of their citizens and hunger for world power.
I am speaking in broad strokes here, so please let us not get into the minutia of the details. Let us all just agree, Germany, Japan and Italy’s policies towards their people and neighboring countries were bad.
So bad in fact John Wayne, who never served in the military, made a great name for himself in acting in military movies along with a never-ending list of westerns. He became a hero of screen and WW2 and for the longest time was the epitome of manhood in America.
In all his movies, whether Western or Military, he always stood for truth and justice. He took the fight to the enemy or the black hats. He was a good guy. It didn’t matter if he was an Ace pilot Marine or an Army Lt. Colonel storming the beaches of Normandy or even some sort of sailor making a life after the Navy at a small place called Donovan’s Reef.
He despised the fascist regime of any country and watching him in action still makes me smile.
Today however, I see people who are against Anti-Fascism, or in other words, Anti-Anti-Fascism. (Which I read as Pro-Fascism). This makes no sense to me.
After all, how could it.
I grew up watching John Wayne movies. Along with other great war movies that portrayed the sacrifices the men and women of this country gave to overcome the tyranny of dictators around the globe.
Take Patton, not necessarily the movie but the great and flawed General he was. He didn’t want to stop moving tanks once he got to Berlin, he wanted to continue all the way to Moscow. He was told to stand down.
Historians marvel at Patton’s leadership and his men feared, loved and respected him. Even as controversial as he may have been for all of his flaws, he was a military and strategical genius. And he hated Fascists.
Understand, I grew up in the 1970’s. I was spoon fed mistrust of anything non-democratic. Supped on heroes of World War 2 in movies and books, and was taught to love and honor the soldiers and sailors of Vietnam on the television and magazines which eventually led to some amazing movies.
What did I take from all this education; never trust a totalitarian government, never trust a dictator, never believe that left is right, that wrong is correct, that hate is love and that the word of politicians yearning for power will tell you the truth.
I am proud to be Anti-Fascist and stand against any and all Fascist thoughts and actions. I cannot idly stand by and see my brothers and sisters of our country of, no matter what side of the political spectrum they stand on, see them give up their unalienable rights our founding fathers fought so dearly against the British Empire.
If you are one of my brothers or sisters and you believe that being Anti-Anti-Fascist, which makes you Pro-Fascist, you need to re-evaluate your thoughts and beliefs in what it means to be part of a free country. You also need to review who your heroes are.
Heroes, like Patton, McArthur, U.S. Grant, Eisenhower, John Paul Jones, Chester Nimitz, John Barry, Oliver Hazard Perry and so many more that fought for our country were all Anti-Fascist. Those are just some of the military men. I could go on but I wont.
I write this blog for you, my good friend and fellow patriot. Whether we agree or not, I love you and I will fight for you. What I will not abide is any non-democratic-republic philosophies or acts that go against our way of life as spelled out in the Declaration of Independence and then extrapolated with the Constitution of the United States.
There is just too much at stake.
So, to wrap this all up succinctly, being American means by the blood of our ancestor’s we are naturally opposed to fascism. Which is a good thing. To support fascism means you are Anti-American.
In other words:
Anti-Fa = American
Fascist = Un-American
I love you all, have a great week.
07/23/2020
