How to Fight Fascism From a Position of Strength

By George Lakey, originally published by Waging Nonviolence
February 22, 2019

The growth of white supremacy and fascism has been noticeable in a number of countries lately, prompting the question: What can we learn from each other? Each country might find “best practices” elsewhere that could be applied at home, in addition to learning from its own past successes.

Americans might be especially drawn to the Swiss example because what has been working for that country addresses not only our current immigration crisis but also the need among progressive U.S. movements to re-learn how to go on the offensive.

According to Flavia Kleiner, a young leader in the movement Operation Libero, the right wing grew steadily for two decades in Switzerland using the issue of immigration. The right-wingers cleverly introduced a series of modest anti-immigrant initiatives — each of which contained some common-sense logic — and used their successes to become the largest political force in Switzerland.

My impression is that the Swiss right-wing’s strategy was like the movement against reproductive choice in the United States — a series of steps designed to chip away at a woman’s right to choose. Switzerland’s established parties reacted to this offensive in the way the Democrats do in the United States: by going on the defensive and trying to hold on to previously-won gains. In both countries, the largest parties operate contrary to the folk wisdom that “the best defense is a good offense.”

Much more at
https://www.resilience.org/stories/2019-02-22/how-to-fight-fascism-from-a-position-of-strength/


This may have been posted on DU in the past, but the information remains timely. Some of us are feeling an increased sense of concern over the escalating presence of armed white supremacists. I decided to do a bit of research into whether there were effective ways of dealing with them. - Wicked Blue