I think you guys are wildly underestimating the broad-based support of the meta network we all usually refer to as "Antifa." If we take the parallel you all used (al Qaeda), the structure is a handful of leaders, a layer of lieutenants, a corps of followers, a mass of direct material supporters, and a significant population of indirect material and ideological supporters. I think this maps fairly well too the Antifa meta network, and I'm using that term specifically because while there is no known and official "National Antifa Organization," there are scores of geographically tethered "chapters" that proudly claim the "Antifa" monicker.
The "handful of leaders" category consists of matched pairs of known activists, professional ideologues, & non-profit CEOs, and their spouses, lovers, friends, associates, and acquaintances placed in or near the individual, geographically tethered chapters.
The category of "lieutenants" is blurry, crossing over into the persons referenced above as well as explicitly titled "leaders" of the chapters. These can be full-time protesters and agitators (Yes, this is a real thing and has been since progressive conquered the public university system in the 1970s), non-profit managers and employees, small time musicians, actors, and artists, and the widely known but rarely named Professors & Journalists.
The "corps of followers" category is more or less split between the types we all recognize as Antifa, that being the physically repulsive and obviously deranged protester / agitator types in Portland, etc, and the more clean cut (therefore harder to identify) antifascists gainfully employed but no less zealous and involved, be it in the legal realm, transportation & accomodation and recruiting & equipping.
↑↑↑ This is "Antifa" in terms of the domestic terrorist group. These are the ones that need to be identified, located, incarcerated, and punished. I am of the opinion that it should be severe and basically permanent. This is just a guess, but I would put the number at ~10,000, and I think that might be a conservative estimate
↓↓↓ These are the broad-based supporters. The number in the hundreds of thousands conservatively, but I don't think it would be very much of a stretch to say it's in the single digit millions.
The "direct material support" category is relatively vast, consisting of spouses, friends, family, neighbors, and acquaintances. They provide shelter, clothing, equipment, cover, and the accoutrement of postmodern living (references, jobs, alibis, internet access, food & drink, "per diem," etc). Given the maturity of the great progressive crusade, that being the atomization of persons and the dissolution of family and small communities, the DMS network is counterintuitively vast because, unlike Muslims in general and Arabs in particular, inclusion in this group doesn't overlap with ethnic or tribal identifiers. The number balloons further when you include the various flavor of migrants and illegal immigration sympathizers.
The "indirect material & ideological support" category is immense. These are the source of all the quiet "Likes" we saw attached to the multitude of posts and statements reveling in the assassination of Charlie Kirk. These are the people who hate and fear Trump, despise Whites, and build their ideolectual worldview from mainstream media, progressive propaganda, and woke narrative fiction (Marvel movies, prog slop TV/streaming services, etc). While the Harris campaign lost, demonstratively and decisively, it's still garnered a huge amount of support in terms of heads counted. Nearly everybody that voted for Harris also provides soft support for Antifa, be it in the form of an idea or organization or person. Because there is almost no real cost to this, it is easy and therefore widespread. That may change depending on how serious the Trump regime is about treating antifa as the domestic terrorist group it is.
* * *
The above assertions are rather low resolution, and both critique or clarity could be applied, but I think as a rough general outline, it is at the very least directionally correct. I think there is a real danger to shrugging off the existence and/or threat of both Antifa (again, idea or organization) and the broad-based support within the American population. While it is true that many people, in all the categories listed, might drastically change their tune if USG actually treats them like the terrorists or terrorism sympathizers they are, many others will double down or reify their position in that circumstance.
You've raised a lot of important points about Antifa. With your permission, I'd like to use this quote as the inspiration for a full Substack entry. In exchange, you get a lifetime paid subscription to Notes From The End of Time.
Well, you don't have to "pay" me anything, though I of course appreciate the gesture immensely. And so long as you understand that I'm not making any appeals to authority, nor did I pull any information from anywhere except my own, ah, "personal research," then I would be very pleased for you to use any portion of my comment.
I realize now I didn't caveat the comment by saying I wasn't intending to counter signal or criticize, but it appears that you accurately interpreted the spirit in which the comment was made. As is probably obvious, this is one of the many topics I am deeply interested in, so don't hesitate to reach out if there's anything else I can do to contribute/support.
In Georgia while traveling with my father was the first time I remember interacting with a black person. We were around 20 miles from the coast and we asked directions from a woman in a gas station. She replied that she knew of some big lakes but had not heard about no ocean. She was employed and not hostile.
I think you guys are wildly underestimating the broad-based support of the meta network we all usually refer to as "Antifa." If we take the parallel you all used (al Qaeda), the structure is a handful of leaders, a layer of lieutenants, a corps of followers, a mass of direct material supporters, and a significant population of indirect material and ideological supporters. I think this maps fairly well too the Antifa meta network, and I'm using that term specifically because while there is no known and official "National Antifa Organization," there are scores of geographically tethered "chapters" that proudly claim the "Antifa" monicker.
The "handful of leaders" category consists of matched pairs of known activists, professional ideologues, & non-profit CEOs, and their spouses, lovers, friends, associates, and acquaintances placed in or near the individual, geographically tethered chapters.
The category of "lieutenants" is blurry, crossing over into the persons referenced above as well as explicitly titled "leaders" of the chapters. These can be full-time protesters and agitators (Yes, this is a real thing and has been since progressive conquered the public university system in the 1970s), non-profit managers and employees, small time musicians, actors, and artists, and the widely known but rarely named Professors & Journalists.
The "corps of followers" category is more or less split between the types we all recognize as Antifa, that being the physically repulsive and obviously deranged protester / agitator types in Portland, etc, and the more clean cut (therefore harder to identify) antifascists gainfully employed but no less zealous and involved, be it in the legal realm, transportation & accomodation and recruiting & equipping.
↑↑↑ This is "Antifa" in terms of the domestic terrorist group. These are the ones that need to be identified, located, incarcerated, and punished. I am of the opinion that it should be severe and basically permanent. This is just a guess, but I would put the number at ~10,000, and I think that might be a conservative estimate
↓↓↓ These are the broad-based supporters. The number in the hundreds of thousands conservatively, but I don't think it would be very much of a stretch to say it's in the single digit millions.
The "direct material support" category is relatively vast, consisting of spouses, friends, family, neighbors, and acquaintances. They provide shelter, clothing, equipment, cover, and the accoutrement of postmodern living (references, jobs, alibis, internet access, food & drink, "per diem," etc). Given the maturity of the great progressive crusade, that being the atomization of persons and the dissolution of family and small communities, the DMS network is counterintuitively vast because, unlike Muslims in general and Arabs in particular, inclusion in this group doesn't overlap with ethnic or tribal identifiers. The number balloons further when you include the various flavor of migrants and illegal immigration sympathizers.
The "indirect material & ideological support" category is immense. These are the source of all the quiet "Likes" we saw attached to the multitude of posts and statements reveling in the assassination of Charlie Kirk. These are the people who hate and fear Trump, despise Whites, and build their ideolectual worldview from mainstream media, progressive propaganda, and woke narrative fiction (Marvel movies, prog slop TV/streaming services, etc). While the Harris campaign lost, demonstratively and decisively, it's still garnered a huge amount of support in terms of heads counted. Nearly everybody that voted for Harris also provides soft support for Antifa, be it in the form of an idea or organization or person. Because there is almost no real cost to this, it is easy and therefore widespread. That may change depending on how serious the Trump regime is about treating antifa as the domestic terrorist group it is.
* * *
The above assertions are rather low resolution, and both critique or clarity could be applied, but I think as a rough general outline, it is at the very least directionally correct. I think there is a real danger to shrugging off the existence and/or threat of both Antifa (again, idea or organization) and the broad-based support within the American population. While it is true that many people, in all the categories listed, might drastically change their tune if USG actually treats them like the terrorists or terrorism sympathizers they are, many others will double down or reify their position in that circumstance.
You've raised a lot of important points about Antifa. With your permission, I'd like to use this quote as the inspiration for a full Substack entry. In exchange, you get a lifetime paid subscription to Notes From The End of Time.
Well, you don't have to "pay" me anything, though I of course appreciate the gesture immensely. And so long as you understand that I'm not making any appeals to authority, nor did I pull any information from anywhere except my own, ah, "personal research," then I would be very pleased for you to use any portion of my comment.
I realize now I didn't caveat the comment by saying I wasn't intending to counter signal or criticize, but it appears that you accurately interpreted the spirit in which the comment was made. As is probably obvious, this is one of the many topics I am deeply interested in, so don't hesitate to reach out if there's anything else I can do to contribute/support.
In Georgia while traveling with my father was the first time I remember interacting with a black person. We were around 20 miles from the coast and we asked directions from a woman in a gas station. She replied that she knew of some big lakes but had not heard about no ocean. She was employed and not hostile.