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1. Bob Mottram (bob@social.freedombone.net)'s status on Saturday, 21-Oct-2017 12:57:23 EDT Bob Mottram
   @paulfree14 @eurekafreak I think antifa is a bad word to use, and that's because in recent times I've seen people arguing against "antifa" such that if you substitute it with "anti fascist" then their entire argument disappears in a logical contradiction. Antifa is an abbreviation and like all abbreviations it can encourage the user to overlook what it actually means.
   
   Fascistic narratives have been the normal discourse in the mainstream media for quite some time - long preceding Trump or Spencer. To counter fascist narratives probably what's needed are people who can find their way into those mainstream discourses and with a coherent anti-authoritarian message.
   1. clacke (clacke@social.heldscal.la)'s status on Saturday, 21-Oct-2017 17:52:32 EDT clacke

      in reply to
      @bob @paulfree14 @eurekafreak
      
      Antifa is a proper name (although usually spelled in all small caps) derived by way of abbreviating anti-fascist.
      
      It's a decades-old unorganized free-for-all franchise from Germany and Scandinavia (AFA) that believes street brawling is effective against a xenophobic, nationalist, totalitarian undercurrent in society.
      
      Now people in the US are trying to claim it as something broader, but as we can see from all the discussion around what antifa is or isn't, this has not been productive.
      
      If you have seen people argue against antifa in a way that makes no sense if you replace antifa with anti-fascism, that's because they were arguing against antifa, not arguing against being anti fascism.