Way back in the days of Occupy, we on the Left were aware of a violent group of protesters known as Black Bloc. And we allowed them to protest with us on the condition that they did not engage in violence. For with Occupy, peaceful protesting was vital to what we wanted to do. We weren't perfect, but nonviolent protesting what we emphasized. In contrast to that, Black Bloc wanted to make their political statements through the destruction of property. And because they attacked property and not people, they did not see themselves as practicing violence. But the rest of us saw things differently.
Today, we have antifa. It's not that we no longer have Black Bloc, but we have a new kid on the block. And one of this new kid's approaches to protesting is to exercise violence against those who support fascism. We might have some others who are willing to resort to violence. There are some Stalinists and others who believe in revolution who will resort to violence. But the group that is grabbing the headlines and attention of the press is antifa.
One way that we on the Left could look at those groups willing to exercise violence in order to get what their methods suggest or imply in supporting elite-centered rule or dispersed rule through democracy. Elite-centered rule is when those who are in government make decisions based on the views and desires of a few who are said to be specially qualified. This kind of rule was attributed to Lenin by Rosa Luxemburg and was the key criteria for Luxemburg calling Lenin's rule a bourgeoisie dictatorship. Dispersed rule occurs when decisions and laws are determined by those representing all of the people.
When we look at antifa from that perspective, we see antifa assuming some rights and power when they attack fascists, such as neo-nazis, in order to prevent these fascists from even speaking freely and demonstrating peacefully. Certainly the contents of speeches made by fascists like neo-nazis and their political positions are utterly abominable. What they want cannot be tolerated in terms of being implemented. But they are still afforded the right to speak freely and to peacefully demonstrate. Thus, when antifa physically attacks these neo-nazis, those in antifa are assuming some of the powers of the government. And the decision to carry out of these attacks is a decision made by a few who assume the right to act as judge, jury, and execution of another group. And their attacks give a picture of how they might govern the whole nation if given the chance. So we might say that the violence exercised by antifa implies a reliance of an promotion of elite-centered rule.
And since antifa is not the only group on the Left which would employ violence, others need to be mentioned too. I ran into a person who advocated violent revolution at the last May Day rally I attended in NYC. I asked him what would happen to democracy if his revolution took place. His answer was difficult to understand since it sounded like he answered in Russian. I ran into another person who wanted to wage war on the police because he believed that the police were the guardians of the bourgeoisie. He expressed the belief in attacking all who did not agree with his politics. That person is a Stalinist. And though not all Stalinists believe in relying on violent revolution to gain control of the state, this man did.
Those who advocate violent revolution in a democratic nation are often enemies of democracy more than they are enemies of the state. This is because political power in a working democracy is more dispersed rather than being elite-centered. And since those who would resort to violence imply a reliance on and promotion of elite-centered rule, we can say that they oppose a dispersed rule through democracy while they have no problems assuming the powers of the state when they take away the rights of others. And in this last item alone, the one of the things that separates these violent groups from the Democrats and the Republicans is in the use of violence.
What is tragic for the American Left is that we have a significant nonviolent tradition. The key person for that tradition would be Martin Luther King Jr. But we could also include figures like Eugene Debs, Noam Chomsky, and Howard Zinn. But not only that, we have constantly opposed state violence whether it is exercised in other countries or domestically. The advantage that nonviolent activism has over the violence of groups like antifa is that it seeks to win over people rather than trying to conquer them. Those who would resort to violence do not have the patience to wait for people to be persuaded. But those relying on persuasion, assume no power to rule over the rest of the people. Rather, they want to rule with others as equals.
Thus, it is incumbent on those on the Left to unambiguously reject groups like antifa because of their methods. Their methods merit their rejection not just because they are violent; but also because of the kind of political rule the use of their methods implies. For it is clear that their methods imply an elite-centered rule. That right there is a denial of what the American Left has been about.
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