"PROOF" that antifa is communist (not fascist)

Because of much confusion on Twitter about the meaning of fascism as opposed to communism I'm going to do my best to expose the conceptual mistake made by those who label antifa "fascists" or speak of a "fascism of the left."

What follows is a collection of points which when taken together constitute what I submit is a knock-down argument against fascism-communism equivalence (both broadly and narrowly understood) that I've noticed quite a few otherwise intelligent people cling to.

0) A concession:

There are indeed political threads common to both ideologies. I'm glossing over many details but they include a predilection for violence, employment of secret police, and a general revolutionary spirit (though this is far more prominent in communism).

Historically, fascism is linked to Marxism through Sorel and the early Mussolini.

The ideological differences, however, far outweigh the similarities and the fact that the two camps have been sworn enemies is a testament to that fact (though alone not proof).

1a) Fascism is a nationalist ideology.

Fascism prioritizes, not so much the state, as the nation qua the blood of the people. Milder versions like Italian Fascism incorporate other ethnicities, but it's fair to say that the previous statement captures the central tendency.

1b) Communism is an **internationalist** ideology.

It views nations as little more than a macrocosm of the oppressor-victim relation. Lenin was explicit about the goal of abolishing all nations and borders.

Communists occasionally support nationalist movements, but in general only those deemed "liberation" movements which serve to weaken another nation.

2a) Fascism (in most instances and Nazism in particular) views all societal and civilizational conflict as fundamentally about conflict between competing races.

2b) The communists see all conflict as fundamentally about **class** and exploitation.

3a) Fascism champions hierarchy.

Not only that, fascism typically conceptualizes the spirit of a people or race as inhering in a leader of the nation (Fuhrerprizip).

3b) Communism (at least in principle) insists on **no** superiors save the party itself.

4a) Fascism is palingenetic.

It seeks a revolution against the current order, but one meant to restore the nation to its organic, original self.

Fascism aspires to create a new man, but one who
embodies the original (often mythological) spirit of the people prior to the enervating and corrupting forces of modernism and liberalism.

4b) Communism embraces modernity and is apathetic towards the past if not downright contemptuous. It
is hostile to traditions (especially Western), seeing them as little more than irrational rituals holding man back from reaching his true enlightened potential.

Communism seeks to construct a more or less utopian society founded on equality by way of a violent revolution against the current order. It has zero interest in any national roots (mythical or real).

5a) Fascism is biological determinism on steroids.

In its most virulent forms it condones murder of other ethnicities in the name of preserving or achieving the dominance of another ethnicity.

5b) Communism is blank-slatism on steroids.

In its most virulent forms it condones murder of class enemies, political competitors, "oppressors," and anyone who opposes its authority in the name of building an ideal society.

6a) Fascism, while possessing a revolutionary facet, takes control and corrupts existing institutions. The Italian Fascists, for example, took control of the government, but the king remained the highest authority.

The majority of institutions were not replaced and most were not controlled directly by the party (unlike the Russian communists).

The Nazis naturally took over the German courts, while the bolsheviks liquidated the Russian courts, leaving the country without any real system of jurisprudence for the first years.

The Nazis exerted control over and certainly intimidated the German churches (although rarely a brave priest would speak out about treatment of the Jews).

The communists, on the other hand, massacred the Russian priests.

Note that so far I've said nothing about economics. It would be incorrect to assert that economic policy is orthogonal to this debate but it is certainly not the most salient aspect as I hope I've made clear.

Nonetheless, even **if** one insisted on focusing on economics, the differences between the two ideologies is still significant. Socialism is classically defined as something like "public ownership of the means of production."

I'll define communism in terms of Marxism-Leninism since it is by far the most common manifestation of communism in the 20th century as socialism + the abolition of private property + a dictatorship of the party.

The Nazis certainly exerted control over the economy, subverting it's independence to the needs of the regime. Nonetheless, both businesses and private property continued on. So to a certain degree the "socialism" in "national socialism" is just a name.

This is profoundly different from the vast collectivization and seizure of industry in the Soviet Union. NEP notwithstanding, private ownership dwindled to virtually nil in time.

In fact, the majority of Soviet citizens were officially registered in state-owned apartments with internal passport control preventing free movement **within** country.

Back to antifa.

If you witnessed a militant political group attacking people while waiving the swastika, wouldn't you find it perplexing if I declared these people to be "communists?"

Now suppose they also call themselves "Brownshi" in a cute abbreviation of "Brown Shirts." How perplexing would it be if we called them "Stalinists?"

What if they preached an ideology nearly identical to Nazism? It would be bizarre to hear people argue over whether they're neo-nazis or "really" Stalinists in some sense.

So who is antifa?

Well, who were the original anti-fascists? They were the militant wing of the German **communist party**. Now, let's see. Does antifa waive the same flag the original group did?

Yep, they sure do.

Do they call themselves the same thing? Again, yes. Do they preach communism?

Absolutely. They call their version "anarcho-communism" but the bullet points are no different than Lenin's: the abolition of capitalism, nations, borders, and the criminal justice system.

So is antifa fascistic?

No, they're anti-fascists.

They're also communists. QED.