Before last week, most of us didn’t know who the Proud Boys were, and, admittedly, I think we still don’t know much. Although I feel like there is a lot more to uncover about who these people are, we have been able to hold very interesting discussions about their presence and impact on communities.

After our class on Wednesday, I came back to my dorm and looked up more information about Gavin McInnes, the leader of Proud Boys. It turns out that he isn’t American at all. I’m not sure why I assumed that he would be American, but he’s from Canada and the co-founder of Vice (the news outlet). Here he is below.

Anyway, let’s go back to the discussion held in class as to whether it is ethical to refuse service to the Proud Boys, or any group for that matter, in a bar. I believe that it isn’t ethical, but I also understand why it would be done. Although I wouldn’t consider myself to be a libertarian, I think that it is a good lens with which to view this issue because many, if not most, Proud Boys believe heavily in free market economics where people can do as they please (within reason) and that liberty/freedom should be the basis of our government . They are all far-right/libertarians.

If what I’ve read and heard is true, based on the Proud Boys’ ideologies, people can, and should, flock to environments where they fit in most and can do as they please with their business. If the Proud Boys were to be refused from a bar, I can’t help but think that they would pull the “it’s a free country” card, although they are motioning for a nation/state/place where they can essentially decide who fits in and who shouldn’t be included. If the Proud Boys want to make an entire state where everyone is the same, why shouldn’t a bar owner be able to decide who they want in the bar? If the people who came in who didn’t fit the criteria of the owner’s liking, then they could kick them out because it’s their business. I’d like to preface my next statement with I have no facts to back what I’m about to say, but it seems to me as if the Proud Boys would go against what they believe in when it is convenient for them. For example, if they were refused from a bar they say well you can’t kick me out, but if a Proud Boys member had a bar I feel as though they would kick people out who they disliked.

Continuing looking at issues through this lens, the social media issues raised in class are even more intriguing in my opinion. As I said, many Proud Boys, being pretty conservative, believe in a free market economy dominated by competition. From this, I find it hard to dispute Twitter banning literally anything they want because they are a private company being used as a resource by its users. If I was a Proud Boy, I would probably be upset if something I posted that didn’t break Twitter’s rules was taken down. At the same time, if I was a Proud Boy, I would think that a private enterprise could operate just about however it wanted. If I don’t like how they run their website/business, sucks.

At the end of the day, I think that the Proud Boys are a very difficult group to analyse. With my limited knowledge, I have already found several hypocrisies within the group, but can that be attributed to publicized anomalies? Possibly. Is what the group actually stands for being misrepresented and attracting the incorrect target audience as members? I think it’s quite possible, but not probable.

I hope that we can continue to discuss this topic more in class because I believe that everyone is going to come in with a very interesting take on the situation after having had more time to think it all over.