Before I start this post, let me first make a really important point that we all, as rational human beings, need to understand. That point is that all of us are at the mercy of our own psychology and I cannot understate how important it is to retain an open mind, and actively seek to consume opinion/argument on topics that doesn't mesh with your own belief, in order to prevent confirmation bias and allow for a more neutral, fact-based view on subjects. Misinformation is a cancer on our species, and communities like Reddit and Twitter allow it to breed.
This post has political content, if you are easily upset/offended, don't read it. If you do read it, and get angry, too bad, because I did warn you.
I did want this post to remain mostly brief, but to the person who reads my blog (or my Aunt and cousins, who are like my biggest fans these days, remember to subscribe! lol) you probably know this will end up as a fairly lengthy opinion piece.
I did some research on the group called 'Antifa', the Wikipedia article appears to be relatively modest and paints a pretty reasonable picture of their beliefs, which I don't disagree with. I mean, any sane, rational person in today's society should be opposed to fascism, authoritarianism and suppression of basic freedoms/rights.
That goes without saying.
But to get straight in with the title of this post: wearing emblems that represent perhaps one of the most fascist, authoritarian and downright disgusting regimes ever to have existed as a symbol of your 'cause', displays only ignorance and hypocrisy. In fact, I found it so distasteful to see these people wearing these emblems and pretending to be 'police' in that 'autonomous zone' they created in the United States, that I simply had to type this post on it.
It is simply disgusting. They are endorsing a regime that murdered millions of innocent people, crushed rights and freedoms, and engaged in some of the most horrific ethnic cleansing in human population, on par with Nazi Germany. How can some people be that naïve and ignorant?
It likely stems from the pseudo-communist/anarchist political nature that group seems to cultivate. Entitled millenials/genZ kids will then latch onto ideologies they do not understand and then display such ignorance and hypocrisy for all to see, publicly. This behaviour damages equality because it provides talking points for the true alt-right elements and neo-nazi groups that exist today.
The display of Soviet emblems could also be linked to the entitled childrens' belief that it represents an 'anti-establishment' or 'anti-US' logo which they ignorantly believe to mesh with their 'goals'; if they even have goals.
This brings me to the final point I wanted to make, and it links with the note I made at the top of this post. Radical elements exist in every community, society and religion today. These spoiled brats 'fighting fascism' in-between watching Netflix and eating pizza are almost certainly not representative of the entire Antifa movement, nor should one come to the conclusion that they are. The problem is that the movement has no defined leadership structure and as such is extremely susceptible to radical elements seeking to exploit a popular ideology simply to cause problems (miscreants).
The 'Autonomous zone' and the riots last year in Portland, United States, though, are unacceptable and it makes me seriously question the resolve of the Portland State government for allowing it to happen for so long.
Here are some Tips from Sash for being a logical human being not subject to the fallacy of human emotional influence:
Remember to stay open-minded and do not fall victim to confirmation bias when forming opinions on complex cultural, socio-economic and geopolitical subjects like this. There is always another, often hidden, external factor influencing even hard data (nested variables) an example of that is racial crime statistics influenced by socio-economic status caused by external variables in the original point of comparison. That external variable then has other variables affecting it that is almost impossible to pin down to a single, root cause, such as race.
DO NOT ACCEPT ANYTHING as facts without empirical evidence (but remember point 1). 'Cancel Culture' on Twitter and the misinformation pandemic on social media (especially Facebook and Twitter) by both sides of the 'political spectrum' including False-Flag attacks is an example of the damage this can cause.
Do not tar all groups with the same brush, the expression means, just because one police officer or Antifa member/group did something bad, it means that suddenly they all are like that. This is especially important in helping prevent the spread of misinformation.
Regarding Point #1, the best thing you can do, as a logical human being is to actively seek reports/stories/news and evidence that opposes your belief in the argument. Consume the information, process it, and produce rationalised arguments to counter valid points.
Do not fall victim to the Rationalisation fallacy.