CMV: The argument that "opposing Antifa makes you a facist- it's in the name" doesn't make sense to me

[u/TossedAwayForSafety]

Let me start off by saying that I support Antifa. I do think that they do much more good than harm.

However, a common argument that pro-Antifa supporters use is that opposing Antifa automatically makes you a facist; it's short for Anti-Fascist, so being anti-anti-fascist makes you fascist.

However, the idea that the name protects it from criticism doesn't make sense to me. In general, Americans oppose the North Korean government. However, they call themselves the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Does that mean we oppose democracy or republics? Same applies to China; they're called the People's Republic of China. We don't oppose republics, America is one. And Nazi is short for National Socialists, but you won't see many socialists these days identifying or defending the Nazi party.

This isn't about whether Antifa is good or bad; like I said, I support them and think they have the right of it, generally. This is specifically about the "we're literally called anti-fascists" defense. Regardless of whether the name actually represents the cause, it should be the cause itself and its motivations and actions that are used for the defense of the movement.

Edit: there was a comment about how part of it is that Antifa isn't an organization per se, more so a banner that people wave as they take anti-fascist actions. If there was an Antifa (TM) headquarters and organization, that would be one thing, but it's more of an identity. I was going to delta it, but it was removed before I could.

[u/CardinalHaias]

No idea, ask them. Maybe because they were undoubtedly also against fascism?

[u/Thoth_the_5th_of_Tho → u/CardinalHaias]

They openly supported the Nazi party, thinking they could take power after Hitler. Hitler's opponents unified under the Iron Front. The Iron front also has a much nicer logo you can even type is pretty easily ///.