When we set out to look at far-right extremism in Upstate New York, we had a few basic questions. What do people believe in? What groups and militias have been active? We found that all kinds of extremist groups have tried to recruit people across the...

There’s a little wine shop in downtown Ballston Spa, New York with rainbow-colored bottles lining the shop’s front window. The village is small, about 5,000 people, and attracts tourists from all around the world.

Last summer, the owner of the wine shop, Jes Rich, noticed a group of masked men in the street. “As soon as I saw them I ran out the door,” said Rich, who is openly queer and sees her shop as a safe and welcoming space for other queer people.

The men in the street were wearing black and yellow face coverings and T-shirts identifying themselves as members of the Proud Boys, a violent, far-right extremist group. A yellow truck drove alongside the group, blasting the provocative country song “Try That in a Small Town.”

  • mozz
    30•11 months ago

    “When you really, truly have the back of the people, the people will literally give the shirts off their backs for you. You need to know that. I pledge my militia,” Mizrahi said as the crowd applauded. “We will forever stand by your side, for someone who stands by ours.”

    So there’s one thing that jumps out at me about all these types of movements: People want something to believe in. People want close allies, people they can march with, neighbors they know personally who they’ve been through some real shit with. Human beings need a “tribe” or a tight-knit village to be a part of. I think that’s basically nonexistent in modern American society, and I think a lot of the draw of these movements is that finally, I’ll have some people standing by my side that I can trust and depend on and do some real shit with.

    I think some of the people in these movements just want to do violent things or are inherently drawn to the fascist ideology. But I think a much larger percentage just want something to be part of. I think if they had a real community to be part of day to day, the attractiveness of the dangerous community for them to be part of would be much less.

    • Argongas
      21•11 months ago

      The lack of in-person community in modern American life has a profound and far reaching impact that I think many people fail to appreciate.

      • @[email protected]
        3•11 months ago

        It’s alienation in its worst form. But it gets repackaged as “rugged individualism” and people end up finding an “other” to blame

    • @BrianTheeBiscuiteer
      9•11 months ago

      I don’t know about small town social norms but I would guess you really don’t want to stand out, and being liberal or even questioning conservative leaders and talking points is a great way to become the black sheep.

    • @[email protected]
      5•11 months ago

      I’m convinced that Jan 6th wouldn’t have happened if pro sports hadn’t gone on hiatus during covid. Before covid a lot of people found their tribes via sports (or NASCAR). When the events stopped or got lame, the people needed something Trump and Fox News jumped on that. If you watch Trump rallies they’re basically tailgaters with a new sport.