CW: possible violence
Afaik there are only two, but chances are there are many more I don’t know about. They’re affiliated to a relatively big group in the capital city and they’ve been putting up stickers, and other fascist stickers have been popping up as well, so I’m scared as fuck.
The ones I know about are only highschoolers, but they’re only a year younger than me so technically they could try to overpower me.
There isn’t a big chance of organizing, because aside from artsy high schoolers the left further from the socdem-lib is almost dead (aside from a small feminist collective) and being reactionary is the standard. I live in a relatively small city, in case this matters.
I did see an antifa sticker once, but I think it was a guy from a city one hour away from mine, that I know from ig. There is a bigger antifascist movement there, so I guess trying to contact him to do something is my only option, but still, I don’t think it’s very likely for anything to happen against the nazis, they’re just high schoolers so they could easily be dismissed as edgy.
I’m posting this partially for advice but mostly to vent bc I have no idea if there’s much that can be done from my situation.
Also, any opsec advice to improve the description is appreciated.
Mentioned elsewhere, but reaching out to known safe people is a great place to start. The feminist collective and antifascist guy from ig sound promising.
I think there’s two flavors of actions to take, and you can decide a balance that’s right for you:
Don’t be an easy target. Your online/public persona is ineffective lib #resistance - you’re against Nazis, but Nazis won’t see you as a threat. Embed yourself in some community (e.g. a shared hobby), be friendly and likable, and tolerate (or just lightly push back on) the reactionary bullshit that will inevitably come out of people’s mouths. Your goal is to have a group people who know you and think fondly of you, who don’t want bad things to happen to you specifically. If you’re in a minority group, having some chuds think you’re “one of the good ones” is tactically useful. There’s obviously a balance with the emotional toll of being with chuds and hearing gross takes. You can probably at least play the “let’s not talk about politics” card, but hopefully there’s at least a group of #resist libs that won’t spout too much garbage? Obviously the best option would be like minded people - maybe have a weekly meetup or something with your art friends?
Punch Nazis. They are dangerous, and their ideas needs to be clearly denounced and challenged head on. Remove stickers, or cover with your own. Spread rumors about the folks you know in the groups. I’m 50/50 on what someone mentioned about getting a newspaper involved - that might backfire by increasing their notoriety. They’re in these groups because it makes them feel cool - make it clear that nobody thinks they are cool, and actually they’re disgusting and pathetic.
Please don’t feel like you need to be actively punching Nazis in order to be a good leftist. Nobody can tell you what the “right” balance is - some folks need to stay covert to survive, and few people are able to publicly advocate what they truly believe should be done about the rise of fascism (especially now).
The existing organizations in your area and your personal risk tolerance dictate what your course of action should be.