30. On Antifa (Anti-fascist) ཨན་ཊི་ཕ་ (ཕ་ཤི་སི་ལ་འགོག་རྒོལ་)

Is it okay to punch fascists? To deny them a platform to speak? Many liberals and free speech absolutist, I think, would categorically say ‘NO.’ Directly or otherwise, I think, our attitude towards ‘freedom of speech’ and more are shaped by a liberal ideology that takes, often by abstracting from the concrete setting of the relations of power, all political opinions as equally valid or at least “right in their own way” (whatever that means). On freedom of speech, our conventional liberal wisdom suggests that no matter how much we may disagree with someone, we must defend their 'right to speak' at all costs (remember the quote attributed to Voltaire?). If only we don’t live in the society/world where power is disproportionately distributed, and where despite everyone speaking and acting, some speeches and some actions, because of their agents' position in the 'order of things,' have more truth effect. As far as Antifa is concerned, we can (and should) not only deny platforms to Fascists, but can/should also punch, bite, and, if we like, make mean memes about them. Okay, but why? To know more, tune into this long “khyeltam short” episode on ANTIFA :) Intro/Outro theme: Karachal - Alash Ensemble (freemusicarchive.org/music/Alash_Ensemble/) Image: Button Emporium

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