> There are three degrees of membership within the Proud Boys, and to become a first degree in the “pro-West fraternal organization” a prospective member simply has to declare “I am a western chauvinist, and I refuse to apologize for creating the modern world.”
The Proud Boys describe themselves as a "Western chauvinist". White supremacists have used "western values" as code for "white" for a long time. Chauvinism is the belief in the superiority of a group. "Western chauvinist" literally means "white supremacist". If you don't believe me, read the many quotes in the SPLC article above.
They are not white supremacists no matter what the overtly biased SPLC says. Many of them are not even white, and their chairman is black. Trying to push this smear is just silly at this point. The media have taken to calling all anti-BLM or anti-antifa counter protesters “white supremacists” and it’s quite ridiculous.
That's enough of what, Dan? This comment was substantive, responsive to the parent comment, and cordial; it didn't provoke a flame war nor could it be expected to, it didn't include any quips or sick burns.
If you don't like moderating after all this time, and I wouldn't blame you, at least understand I can't help other people spamming the flag button because they disagree with people's good-faith interpretation of facts. If there's a technical solution to that I'd be glad to help.
Using HN for political and ideological battle, and especially race wars. That's not what HN is for. HN is for intellectual curiosity, and nobody who repeatedly gets into arguments about these things is using the site that way—rather, it's all about defeating enemies, which is not the intended spirit.
"Facts" is a red herring. There are infinitely many facts and they don't select themselves, nor do they interpret themselves or present themselves. Humans do all of that and we are driven by motives, not facts.
> There are three degrees of membership within the Proud Boys, and to become a first degree in the “pro-West fraternal organization” a prospective member simply has to declare “I am a western chauvinist, and I refuse to apologize for creating the modern world.”
The Proud Boys describe themselves as a "Western chauvinist". White supremacists have used "western values" as code for "white" for a long time. Chauvinism is the belief in the superiority of a group. "Western chauvinist" literally means "white supremacist". If you don't believe me, read the many quotes in the SPLC article above.