Part of the experience of the late 20th century and early 21st century is that the state is abdicating its monopoly on violence. And there are reactionaries and far right ideologues who engage in violence in support of that political program. So the question becomes - do you just sit there and take it, or do you defend your community?

Writer Brendan O'Connor explains how the Proud Boys found their place at the feet of the Republican Party - offering violence in service of the right's political agenda, and acknowledging the ideological links between ruling class power and reactionary force that have always existed outside of the mainstream view, but are coalescing rapidly and openly as the current political system collapses.

Brendan wrote the article Boys to Men for The Baffler.