Over and over, I’m reminded that, as a geezer educated in a different time, I must be careful not to use references that many in my audience won’t understand, thanks to their subpar education.
Now, that assertion doubtless sounds offensive to some, but I’m NOT talking about their INTELLIGENCE, which doubtless is equally as good as previous generations. It’s just that in the last 40 years or so, what is taught as history in schools is both biased and highly selective. You can’t learn from the lessons of history if you don’t first study history.
Recently I mentioned the stunning parallel between Antifa and the NAZI Brownshirts. My bad. Few under age 50 grasped the significance of my reference.
TO REVIEW: The Brownshirts were founded in 1920 by Hitler and his allies. They were the driving force that brought Hitler to power in 1933. The Brownshirts were a highly organized, private militia who wore brown uniforms. Their goal was to oppress — bully, intimidate and literally beat — any opposition. They were quite successful.
Like Antifa, the Brownshirts seldom used firearms. They used crude weapons, their fists and their boots to physically beat any opposition to Hitler and his NAZI Party. They targeted scapegoats — particularly the Jews, Poles and Russians in Germany. Later many Brownshirts were given leading roles in the NAZI SS and the Gestapo.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/weekly-standard/where-the-brownshirts-came-from
https://www.jurist.org/commentary/2020/09/david-crane-brownshirts-nazi-american-elections/
Ask anyone under age 40 — indeed, age 50 — who the Brownshirts were. Far too many won’t know. Hence they will not grasp the startling similarity between the NAZI Brownshirts and Antifa.
Even fewer people under age 50 will know anything about Italy’s Blackshirts. Formed in 1919, the Blackshirts were another paramilitary group of thugs who used similar violent intimidation tactics to bring the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini to power.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Blackshirt
Italy’s fascist Blackshirts once again provide a textbook example of today’s well-funded Antifa paramilitary activities. But again, “Blackshirts” is not a good reference for me to use with the American public.
What’s important to note is that, for all the maniacal concern today in America about right wing paramilitary groups, there’s been no “Antifa” formed on the right. Not even close. Attempts to equate the pathetic Proud Boys with Antifa can’t get past the giggle test.
Most of our journalists today are not just uneducated — they are miseducated. Filled with Marxist propaganda provided by their teachers, they eagerly seek to advance their collectivist causes in their “reporting.”
In most of their minds, Antifa is perceived as doing good work to advance the progressive agenda. Antifa violence is largely dismissed because “the end justifies the means.”
No one — not the MSM, the FBI, or local police — seem interested in pursuing the funding and criminality of Antifa. It’s a Brave New PC World we live in.