By Andy Brack
Seems like news and discussions these days have a lot more focus on “-isms.” Hardly a day goes by that you won’t hear about authoritarianism or fascism or racism, sexism, ageism or something else.
There are even crazy-sounding religious -isms like Frisbeetarianism (comedian George Carlin’s pitch that someone’s soul gets stuck on a roof after death) and “Dude-ism” for people who advocate the odd, harmonious lifestyle based on the satirical performance by actor Jeff Bridges of The Dude in “The Big Lebowski.”
In art, you’ve got Dadaism, minimalism, pointillism, cubism, surrealism, impressionism, and on and on.
But it’s the political -isms that seem to be all over the place these days, perhaps because in our increasingly polarized society, there’s a national need to figure out the tribe in which people live.
Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation and disinformation about some of these -isms. In particular, it’s around the use of the new term “antifa,” which MAGA America has coined to stand for anti-fascism. Truth be told, there is no real or viable antifa organization – despite what the conservative talking heads purport. Rather, if it even exists at all beyond the brains of people who want to divide America, it’s an unorganized political philosophy that espouses, wait for it, democracy, not anything related to an organized conspiracy to bring down the country. So don’t get suckered into the fear that there’s some big antifa terrorist organization out there, despite the nonsense you may read on some social media.
To understand what “antifa” even means, you first should understand what fascism is. Remember World War II? That was a war against Nazi fascism, with fascism being the far-right form of authoritarian uber-nationalism noted for its dictatorial power (i.e., Adolf Hitler), forced suppression of dissent (no freedom of the press or speech) and a regimented society.
So, then, the people fighting the fascists, like the American, British, French and global patriots in World War II, were fighting for freedom and democracy – the exact opposite of fascism.
Therefore, for people today to characterize groups as “antifa” who are protesting the right-wing MAGA policies of, say, President Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress, is wholly inappropriate and just plain wrong to use that term. Those protesters are pro-democracy, not against it.
Quite frankly, anyone who really believes there’s an antifa movement taking over the United States has got more than one screw loose after drinking a bunch of KoolAid. So before you start throwing around discussions laced with a bunch of political -isms, it might be good to study up a bit:
Anarchism: Belief that government is unnecessary, causes harm and needs to be abolished.
Authoritarianism: Form of government concentrating political power in a single leader or small group, either of which have little or no tolerance for opposition.
Communism: Form of socialism that seeks to replace private property with collective ownership.
Conservatism: Political philosophy that emphasizes traditional institutions and values. It generally is opposed or skeptical of big changes, preferring continuity and stability.
Liberalism: Political philosophy that concentrates on individual rights and liberties and the rule of law. Classical liberalism focuses on limiting government interference, while the more modern version promotes equality, opportunity, social justice and social welfare.
Nationalism: Belief that a nation’s interests supersede every other nation’s. It’s rooted in identity politics.
Populism: Approach that focuses on representing regular people against a corrupt or elitist establishment.
Progressivism: A political philosophy similar to modern liberalism that concentrates on social reform for regular people through more active government.
Socialism: A broad political and economic philosophy that highlights collective ownership and equality. A form is social democracy, which seeks to reform capitalism through social programs and democratic regulations.
These -isms help us to make sense of our world. But when we use these terms, let’s make sure we all understand what we’re actually saying.
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of the Charleston City Paper and Statehouse Report. Have a comment? Send it to feedback@statehousereport.com.
