Should we punch Nazis?

Some people think that the only way to stop Nazis taking power is to attack them first. I want to examine this critically, because I don't want to reflexively disagree with it just based on my principles. I want to actually consider how things might play out strategically.

Let's very quickly get past the practical down-sides of this kind of approach:

1) It undermines basic civic society - the rule of law, basic freedoms, etc - necessary for a stable country.

2) The 'Nazis' that punch-hungry people will attack are very often not, and people will make morally-weak excuses ("alt-right adjacent", "collaborator", ...) that work for them in a game-theory kind of mindset. This all creates polarization, as now the right have a victim narrative to play. The right is actually strengthened by each incident.

3) It's a losing battle, the far right are going to come out with assault weapons if it continues much further.

We'll assume now that all these down-sides are worth it. After all, if we don't attack Nazis in the street, over the next decade or so they will consolidate politically. Trump is just the beginning of a long down-ward slide similar to what has happened in history. Polarization be damned, things are going to polarize anyway and you have to stop the very real outcome of an outright fascist USA. Major social progress does not happen without violence - the suffragists, the stone wall riots, WW2.

I'll also grant that Trump is a fascist. I personally believe this is more or less true, I'd call him 'fascist lite', and I do think the USA is on a dangerous path. Trying to classify him politically is outside the scope of this blog post, so any Trump-fans reading this will just have to play along with my assumptions and reasoning.

So taking everything I said as granted, the problem with the "punch a Nazi" thought process in my opinion is it assumes that violence is the only choice. I think broadly the people assuming that are doing so for 4 possible reasons:

1) They are anarchists who want an excuse for violence

2) They get a sense of moral virtue from fighting fascism, thinking of themselves like Indiana Jones, or Captain America, or their loved grandpas who were in the 'great generation' - it becomes an underpinning of their identity and value system

3) They want a communist revolution and want to be part of a new Red Army

4) They are simply thinking emotionally and want to have some kind of emotionally-satisfying quick-win over those who they hate

In other words, I think the 'strategy' is presupposed by their objectives or emotional state, rather than something that has been truly thought out.

If we think of it logically, there are many other ways we can fight fascism. Here are a few...

1) Work to get someone voted in who will actually do something good for the majority of regular people. If you make lives better for people then they are less likely to be drawn into fascism. Believe me, I wish people in a fox hole would turn to their better nature, but history does show people are more likely to become selfish than work together. You don't need a communist revolution to improve progressive politics: you can just vote for someone like Bernie or Warren or Yang who cares about regular Joes and the oppressed in society. Bernie was actually very close to winning in 2016 - he lost to Hillary be a small margin, and polls show he was much more popular than Trump. 2020 could be very different to 2016.

2) Use psychology. All too often we demonize those who we don't agree with, rather than reverse engineering why they believe what they believe and do what they do. We can show people the error of their ways, and put them on a better path. This is why I like what Jordan Peterson is doing (who is not perfect by any means), he actually is deprogramming people on the far right. You're not going to turn them all into leftists, but you can at least guide them into rebuilding their character and taking responsibility for their lives rather than blaming others for their problems.

3) Use comedy. Shows like "Last Week Tonight" or "Who Is America" do a great job of making idiots on the right look like the clowns they are. Comedy is an incredibly effective tool at making good points that stick because it's done by likeable people.

4) Work with law enforcement. I know that many on the left have a dislike to the police. I know that many police forces are institutionally racist. Still, if you try and work together with them, you are *more* likely to get the outcomes you want, and over time the police force will feel less antagonized and will go through a cultural change. Comparing the police force in the UK (where I'm from) to the US (where I live), it's night and day - things can get better if you work towards it in a positive way. It does take time though.

Okay, so all this said, we still may end up with Proud Boys roaming the street, predation of minorities, or the horror that was Charlottesville. We may still have police who side more with the far-right than minorities. Okay: we need to counter-protest, we need to defend ourselves, we need to prevent fascists having control of the streets, and we need to provide a strong counter-message against those who promote degrading ideas - but make any kind of self-defense proportional, don't assault people just based on disagreement or their presence, and keep an evidence trail so you can easily justify your actions when the right come crying. It's not hard, it just requires principles and discipline.