Fascism (n.): Any and all tyranny and dictatorship
I hate to state the obvious, but anti-fascists spend a lot of time arguing. About who qualifies as anti-fascist, about what terminology they're supposed to use, about which ideology would result in the best government. I could go into my own ideology, as I was originally going to at length; I'm a spiritual person who disbelieves in governance and who consults the teachings of Jesus Christ. Some people just tuned out reading that. But if you're anywhere in the anti-fascist ballpark - not leftism, I'm literally just talking opposing fascism right now - I think you can agree that the American government and its allies are engaging in fascist (or dictator-like) practices right now. Or if you're reading this later on, for whatever reason, there's some leaders in power somewhere hurting their people. Let me ask you something - do you think the American Right possesses one ideology? It sure feels like it sometimes, right? Well, they don't, not even a little. If they engaged in the same discourse everyone else does, they'd be beating the shit out of each other over Reaganonmics vs Accelerationism vs Yadayada all day. The reason they're so good at making changes and winning over the public is because they their energy into whatever few simple, general common goals they have. They then market those goals to the public, who hear, "Hell yeah! We're gonna make America [or insert-country-of-choice-here] great again!"
I'll be blunt. I don't give two shits if you're a liberal or a leftist, or an anarchist or a communist, and YOU SHOULDN'T EITHER. We all become "countercultural" for the same reason: We're dissatisfied with the government. It's hurting and neglecting people. It's giving the wicked power. Take that common ground and run with it, run until your fuckin' lungs collapse. So when someone says, "There's some homeless people starving in our town, we should go feed them," you say, "Let's do it." When someone says, "There's some ICE agents trying to detain citizens over there, we gotta stop them!", you say "Let's do it." When someone says, "There's a fundraiser tonight for war victims, we should go,", you say, "Let's do it." We are raised to prioritize individualism, and to seek those most similar to ourselves, but NOTHING ever gets better without communities. So go out and make communities! Do small-time good, like just helping people down the street. Make time to listen the stories of each and everyone around you. Ask "why?" often. Be friendly and embrace differences (particularly religious ones!). Practice intentional generosity and donate time or money or whatever you can to charitable causes, even if it feels like barely anything. When people ask you why you are the way you are, say you believe in "anti-fascism" or "a united community" or anything memorable you can come up with that gets the point across. Wear insignia (but keep it simple). Be loud as shit and proud. Scream, "Let's do it!". Cast a wide net. Don't give into despair or nihilism, those are traps. Build a community first. You can sort out the politics later.
