Why we show up when fascists march

Right-wing marches are little more than angry parades but effective recruitment systems designed to attract attention for growth, he writes Tom Tanuki.

ON OCTOBER 19, counter rallies As stated in the brochures, there was a war against nationalists and their white supremacist directors. ‘We are walking for Australia’. I want all anti-racists to come to our events—and by that I really mean: working-class people of all races who feel like something is at stake when the tide of nationalism rises.

So what for? So why do we come to rallies?

It really needs to be discussed.

There’s a standard protest cliché: If we exaggerate the rally of racists, then “We won in Melbourne” Again. I have seen moments where three people stood up against a racist rally and 3,000 people attended that did more damage than other moments; So numbers aren’t actually everything, you know. (You should come down and be there because it makes your like-minded comrades safer, “We won in Melbourne”.)

The standard rhetoric some of my comrades use to support moments like these is this: “Build a working class movement that will stand against the far right”. Of course I agree; I don’t think I would have spent nearly a decade promoting anti-racist rallies otherwise.

But I don’t think there are many people who truly believe that a rally alone will achieve that goal.

At this stage we have all seen a few waves crashing onto the shore in the form of protest movements that say a lot, very loudly, but don’t make much effort than waving banners.

Like Mark Fisher Observed in anti-capitalist protests in the 2000s Capitalist Realism:

‘…since the form of its activities tended to organize protests rather than political organisation, there was a sense that the anti-capitalism movement consisted of making a series of hysterical demands that it did not expect to be met. The protests constituted a kind of carnivalesque background noise against capitalist realism…’

In this column, I have written extensively about the anti-quarantine movement’s reliance on ostentatious spectacle and how that spectacle has inexorably eroded into product sales.

The same can and has been said. XRThe systematization of the protest essentially consists of feeding enthusiastic young climate activists into the justice system meat grinder with mass lies, bindings, molds and shoes. The false claim was that there would be more young people than the system could handle.

Most modern rallies have turned into media-gathering demonstrations, freed from the now-hidden threat that should have been turned into a demonstration:

This number of people is show The bargaining power we will use when we take further action such as a strike.

An example from the cradle of white Australian nationalism that gave birth to the March for Australia.

What concerns real anti-fascists is not the demonstrations of the National Socialist Network (NSN), but the effective recruitment system they have established to thrive on the attention these demonstrations receive through media promotion.

The marches themselves, on the other hand, are actually just angry parades. Native Americans make heated, shouty, racist rants about demographic change and white genocide. What they will certainly do is physically harm non-white Australians scattered along the way, just as Reclaim did; This is an outcome that all major racist movements have affected.

But these marches will end. The only ones who can benefit from what the marches have “achieved” before they fade away are groups with movement-building systems such as NSN put in place.

More broadly, I think we are in a post-liberalism race between rival ideologies that are beginning to prepare for various system collapses. So ecological systems are collapsing (climate disaster), food systems are collapsing (same), civilization is collapsing (first America, then the world), etc. We all see them coming. Some are a little clearer than others, but we can all see them.

The race is run by those of us who believe in collectivism, whether socialism, communism, or at least some form of working-class utilitarianism or egalitarianism. Extreme nationalism, authoritarianism, fascism, patrimonialism, religious fundamentalism, etc. We are competing with people who defend.

In my opinion, they are ahead of us.

One reason is that the environment of scarcity supports the fascists’ dishonest, dangerous grand promises that the trains will run on time. Another is that they are very well organized in real life. They created better spaces than us to come together and organize.

So I say this: Think of a rally like this as a space where you can meet your past, present and, most importantly, future comrades.

I didn’t care that there was an opportunity for Australia to shout at fascists last March. They put dreamy old women in our path with hand flags and it felt like they accomplished very little.

What I truly valued were some of the people whose hands I shook. I appreciated the people I knew would have my back. I appreciated some of the plans I had to make with the new faces there.

Rejecting nationalism is not a worldview in itself. I have always seen my anti-fascism as a strategic aid to a healthy left. Not everyone needs to waste energy like I did trying to figure out the latest trends among our political opposition — and in fact, I don’t think many people even need to do that besides me, because instead of obsessing over the crap, we should be building healthier, viable alternatives for our dark future.

But when the racists show up, we must show up boldly and show them that the town square, literally and figuratively, is never just theirs. In my opinion, no matter where you are, you need people who will face what’s coming to you.

Defense training is provided, but to learn this you need to meet people and trust them. There are many organizations happening and many ways you can help; But to find out, you need to meet people and trust them.

So go out and meet people. And keep us all safe.

Links to October 19 rallies can be found Here.

Tom Tanuki is an IA columnist, author, satirist and anti-fascist activist whose weekly videos commenting on Australia’s political wing are published on: YouTube. You can follow him on Twitter/X @tom_tanuki.

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