There was a time, not so long ago, that Marxist and anarchist groups, such as Antifa, could be seen violently disrupting meetings of the global elites, demonstrating outside global summits, such as those held by the G20. These days they have switched their allegiance by becoming the stormtroopers of global corporate capitalism, intent on making war on those few regimes that have the courage to resist the globalist juggernaut.

Since the idea that Antifa is fighting on the side of global capitalism is counterintuitive, it will be necessary to take a step back, take a deep breath, and define our terms.

Let’s begin by stating that global capitalism has nothing to do with healthy things which are also called “capitalist,” such as the entrepreneurial spirit and the flourishing of a multitude of small businesses. Globalism is undermining and ultimately destroying small businesses as it is undermining and ultimately destroying the power of small nations. One form of capitalism is at war with the other form of capitalism. It is, therefore, a mistake to conflate these two very different and ultimately antithetical economic systems.

By way of illustration, let’s look at the way that global corporations and small businesses differ with respect to the power of government. Global corporations work well with big governments. They prefer big governments. The bigger the better. They have nurtured a relationship with China, the biggest national government in the world, and they have no problem with the fact that the Chinese government is communist, nor that it tyrannizes its own people, riding roughshod over any concept of civil liberty. Global capitalism and Chinese communism have become very comfortable bedfellows.

Global corporations prefer internationalist political entities, such as the European Union, over national governments and national sovereignty. They would like all borders between nations to be weakened, enabling labour and capital to move freely, without the obstacles that borders present. It is no coincidence, for instance, that the Confederation of British Industry, which represents the largest companies in the UK, was deeply opposed to Brexit, whereas the Federation of Small Businesses supported the UK’s severing itself from the EU’s globalist clutches.

So where do we find Antifa and groups of a similar ilk in the midst of this struggle?

In countries, such as Hungary, which has sought to restore its national freedom and protect its borders, we find that global capitalists, such as George Soros, provide the funding for “anti-fascist” activists to make war on Hungary and its government. Closer to home, we find that Donald Trump is trying to break the boa-constrictor grip that globalism has on the American economy, imposing trade sanctions on China and its global corporate allies. In the absence of such sovereign nations, fighting for localism, we will have a world which is run by an unholy alliance of the G20, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the World Trade Organization, which will probably use the United Nations as its puppet World Government.

To what extent does this conglomerate of selfish sectional interests care about the poor of the world? Considering the contemptuous way that they continue to treat the people of Africa as mere pawns in the pursuit of global imperialism, to what extent do “black lives matter” to these people?

And yet what side is Antifa fighting for? Is it on the side of local autonomy, including the autonomy of nation states which are the first line of defence for local government and small business? Is it supporting President Trump’s resistance to the embryonic world plutocratic order?

No, in seeking to undermine Donald Trump’s presidency, the Marxists and anarchists of Antifa and other groups are doing the dirty work of the richest and most powerful people in the world. They might not know that this is what they are doing, in which case they are dupes. Make no mistake about it. Antifa are indeed the stormtroopers of global capitalism.

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This article has been republished with permission from The Imaginative Conservative.