Fear as a Political Weapon
A searing essay on how propaganda and paranoia have replaced truth in American politics. The myth of “Antifa terror” is not a defense of democracy—it’s a performance meant to justify repression. When flags replace facts, fascism follows close behind.
Permit me to begin with a sobering statistic: 8,466 Americans who fought and died against fascism lie buried in Arlington National Cemetery. These were not cartoonish patriots, nor were they the performative flag-wavers of today. Many, if not most, held views that would now—by our current standards of absurd hysteria—be considered “radical left.” Imagine that. Violent leftists, if you like. But not the sort who vandalize federal buildings—no, the sort who stormed the beaches of Normandy and helped to destroy actual fascist regimes. They were, and remain, anti-fascists.
Now, if you’ll indulge me, I must confess a certain nostalgia—for a time when words retained their meaning. When “patriotism” meant more than owning a Chinese-made MAGA cap and “freedom” wasn’t redefined hourly on cable television by oily propagandists and their pious audience of the perpetually aggrieved.
Instead, we now find ourselves living in a political hallucination, where an imaginary group called “ANTIFA” is said to be orchestrating every fire, protest, and breath of dissent in America.
Yes, that’s right. The right-wing infotainment complex—and its ventriloquist dummies in office—would have you believe that a loosely affiliated, leaderless, structureless, email-less concept has somehow replaced al-Qaeda as Public Enemy Number One.
This is not only preposterous—it’s pathetic. One cannot infiltrate Antifa for the same reason one cannot infiltrate fog. There is no headquarters. No recruitment. No manifesto. And yet—how curious—every crime committed by someone in black clothing becomes their fault. Meanwhile, when a self-identified far-right gunman murders a public figure, the silence is almost ecclesiastical.
You might remember January the 6th, that orgy of buffoonery and bloodlust, where the Capitol was defiled by men in MAGA gear waving Nazi flags—yes, actual Nazi flags. And yet, even then, there were attempts to blame Antifa. One could scarcely believe it without seeing it: insurrectionists filmed themselves committing treason and then blamed anarchist mimes for the footage.
But of course, the man-child in chief—the golf-addled, orange-tinted demagogue—later pardoned the offenders, calling them patriots. So much for law and order.
Let us take a moment to examine the logic, such as it is: We are told that Antifa is a grave and imminent threat, one that requires the military occupation of American cities, the criminalization of protest, and the transformation of ICE into a kind of border Gestapo. And yet, somehow, Trump’s FBI, his Department of Justice, with every motivation to do so, never found a single Antifa training camp. Not one. Not a hideout, not a leader, not even a bloody flyer.
You’ll forgive me, then, for failing to join in the hysteria. What we’re seeing is not a response to violence. It is the staging of a fear-mongering theatre—a Punch and Judy show for frightened suburbanites who still believe Portland has been on fire for five years.
And speaking of Portland, perhaps you heard that the President of the United States, rather than consult his intelligence briefings, asked the governor whether the violence he sees on television is real. I can think of no better encapsulation of this presidency: a man who distrusts books, dismisses scientists, mocks soldiers—and gets his national security updates from Fox News.
Ladies and gentlemen, I cannot pretend to be surprised that those who have cheered the use of military force against their fellow citizens now recoil at accusations of fascism. But that is what fascism looks like: the exploitation of fear, the scapegoating of the powerless, the unbridled worship of state power when it suits one’s prejudices.
They began with immigrants, you see. Then the political opposition. Now it’s minorities, the disabled, the LGBTQ community—anyone who fails to fit their increasingly narrow definition of “real American.” Soon it will be you. And by the time you realize it, there will be no one left to speak on your behalf.
If history teaches us anything, it is that fascism is not a uniquely European disease. It is a virus that lies dormant in all nations, ready to infect the body politic whenever fear outweighs reason and the mob outscreams the individual conscience.
So let me close with a simple plea—not to liberals, not to conservatives—but to citizens: If you have learned nothing else, learn this—
Fascism never arrives in jackboots at first. It comes draped in flags. It comes quoting scripture. It comes promising to protect you—from imaginary enemies it created in the first place.
Wake up—before the lights go out.
Why It Matters
Because fascism doesn’t return with a swastika—it returns with a slogan. The weaponization of fear and misinformation corrodes democracy from within. The more Americans are taught to fear each other, the easier it becomes to accept surveillance, suppression, and state-sanctioned cruelty. The cost of silence is far higher than the price of dissent.
Key Takeaways
- Fear and misinformation are tools of authoritarian control, not protection.
- The myth of “Antifa terrorism” is political theater—an excuse for militarized crackdowns.
- Fascism rarely announces itself; it drapes itself in patriotism.
- The right-wing media ecosystem profits by keeping citizens terrified.
- Defending reason is not radical—it’s survival.
Further Reading
- “On Tyranny” — Timothy Snyder. A modern guide to recognizing and resisting authoritarianism in its earliest stages. https://civilheresy.com/on tyranny
- “They Thought They Were Free” — Milton Mayer. A chilling study of ordinary Germans who embraced fascism without realizing it. https://civilheresy.com/thought they were free
- “Letters to a Young Contrarian” — Christopher Hitchens. A masterclass in skepticism and moral courage in the face of collective delusion. https://civilheresy.com/letters to a young contrarian
Truth is rebellion. Wear it — Shop Civil Heresy
