The Swarthmore Commune story gets better. The socialists (students from the \"Socialism in Europe\" poli sci class) held a May Day rally in support of workers and leftist students and such, but in the middle of their reading their manifesto to the assembled crowd, a group of black-clad students burst on the scene: students from the \"Fascist Europe\" history class, taking the part of fascist counterrevolutionaries. A water-gun battle ensued, and an inspired clash of ideologies:<\/p>\n
\"If you're talking about an equal distribution of wealth, why are all the lawn chairs on your side? Why do you have all the beer?\" exclaimed [fascist student Danny] Fink.<\/p>\n
. . .<\/p>\n
Matt Rubin '03, who spoke for the fascists, [said] \"The college is more than the materialistic concerns of individual students that these Bolsheviks are demanding, and we will not stand for the deterioration of the purity of gorgeous Swarthmore. . . . Our socialism is a Swarthmore socialism, a Fascist socialism, grounded in the traditions of pastoral beauty and the glorification of the institution.\"<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The professors of the two classes weren't involved in staging this counterdemonstration, but they approved: \"for all the apparent chaos it\nwas an excellent pedagogical experience,\" said the Socialism professor, and the Fascism professor agreed that it \"gave the students a chance to put into practice some important points they have studied this semester about the power of mass politics and the theatrical ways in which fascist movements used crowds.\"<\/p>\n
There was a little concern that there was too much similarity between the two groups:<\/p>\n
In response to allegations that the fascists appeared similar to their socialist brethren, William Tran '03 named a number of uniquely fascist goals that his group espoused, \"including increasing the Swarthmore birthrate, prioritizing the state over the individual, a focus on rearmament, and more Wagner.\"<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
But in the end, the socialists said they won:<\/p>\n
\"I think we did [win the crowd], we just had more preparation\nideologically,\" said Rodriguez. \"Besides, red is a better color than\nblack.\"<\/p><\/blockquote>\n