The hardcore Left, or “Antifa” (who are alleged “anti-fascists”) are not a benign, admirable force. As Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief and attorney Ben Shapiro argues in this clip, it’s incredibly dangerous to assume — as much of the mainstream media has done in the last week — that this group of Communists, Socialists and anarchists is heroic or noble in any way. The fact of the matter is that they use violence to accomplish their goals, which lowers them to the same level as the white supremacists who also caused trouble in places like Charlottesville, Virginia.
Even worse, as Shapiro reminds viewers, this violence is as provocative as it is reactionary.
There’s actually a totally rational argument that says the violence in Charlottesville would not have occurred that day had the Antifa protesters not been there provoking the hate groups that sponsored the event. Of course, those on the Left would say that you can’t just ignore fascism — that in the absence of protest it will grow like a cancer. But in fact, in recent American history, this has been shown to be absolutely untrue, as many demonstrations by white supremacists and neo-Nazi groups that were ignored actually dispirited and diffused those groups — it’s media attention and physical confrontation that these groups crave, each of which feeds the other.
The simple fact of the matter is that these hate groups have been in existence for the last 70+ years, and it’s likely they will continue to exist in minuscule numbers no matter what the Left does. Rather than giving them the attention they crave through confrontation, a better strategy would just be to leave them alone to their ineffectual assemblies.
Watch as Shapiro’s reasoned argument “Trumps” anything the Left has to say about this matter.
