[Well Regulated] Let’s talk about the Boogaloo Bois

Anyone who has been part of the pro-gun community for a few years has heard the term “boogaloo” thrown around quite a bit. For those less aware of the etymology, some history is necessary. Many commentators and observers have been warning for several years that the United States could enter a second civil war as the result of increasing polarization, heightened political tensions, culture war escalation, overbearing government, and numerous other factors. As is standard in the contemporary political paradigm, these concerns have been expressed through memes. Many years ago, people started posting memes online featuring jokes about the “second civil war”, which then became “civil war 2”, “civil war 2: electric boogaloo” (a reference to the 1984 film Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo), “the boogaloo”, and “the boog”. Alternative names also include “the big igloo” (sometimes lengthened to “the large ice domicile”) and “big luau” given their phonetic similarity to the word “boogaloo”. The latter of these names resulted in the increased popularity of Hawaiian shirts and Hawaiian shirt print slings, plate carriers, etc.

I personally have seen the memetic terminology evolve over more than half a decade from the original term mentioned above. In that entire time, it has always been used by pro-gun individuals, primarily right-wing and/or libertarian, and been nothing more severe than just a meme embraced by a large number of people. While many have self-described as “boog bois”, there has never been any formal or even decentralized organization of such persons. Let me repeat: the “boogaloo boys” are not a group, organization, or even a political movement. Despite this fact, in recent months, something peculiar has been happening that is souring many to the meme and making others question what exactly is going on.

The Proud Boys are a group founded by Gavin McInnes with internal structures, leadership hierarchies, and organization. Black Lives Matter is an organization founded by Marxists and racial supremacists (who consider whites to be “genetic defects” that need to be “wiped out”) and also has internal structures, leadership hierarchies, and organization. Although Antifa is not an “organization” per se, they do have local cells which coordinate and communicate with each other, using the same tactics and aesthetics. The same can not be said for the boogaloo boys. Since there is no such organization with any more legitimate claim than any of the thousands who have made boogaloo memes, the question must be asked: why are supposed pro-gun individuals openly associating with and praising far-left, anti-liberty groups? 

My initial impression of these persons who claim to represent the meme was that they are likely just anti-establishment idealists who see these groups’ rejection of the current establishment and feel a certain kinship on that basis. If we apply Occam’s razor, then the simplest conclusion is that a rare few persons who have embraced the boogaloo aesthetic decided to fall in with left-wing groups. That was until a recent Time article described the effort of “a well-funded cabal of powerful people, ranging across industries and ideologies, working together behind the scenes to influence perceptions, change rules and laws, steer media coverage and control the flow of information” in the 2020 election. This is not to say that the meme was spawned out of some secretive gathering as a long con to shift the narrative or anything of the sort. Rather, it is a reminder that in today’s world, things are not always what they are presented to be. The media has expended great efforts to paint pro-gun memers as an extremely dangerous threat to the very existence of society. These are the same newsgroups and individuals who spent the whole of last year running PR for Antifa and BLM as they looted, murdered, and burned down cities. 

As anyone familiar with the history of socialism, from the Holodomor to the Great Leap Forward, could tell you, the last person to trust with preserving your rights is a leftist. These groups despise the current system not because it is too powerful or because it is corrupt, they despise it because the power does not lie in their hands. Perhaps they are simply misguided fans of the meme who feel comfortable aligning themselves with groups who would crush the boot of the state down on them in a heartbeat. As we saw in the case of John Sullivan, left-wing activists have disguised themselves to subvert and agitate while a media apparatus which openly disseminates verifiably false information smooths everything over. These possibilities may seem somewhat outlandish, but in an age where so much of what we are shown and told is blatantly false, it is necessary to have a healthy suspicion. When people act directly against not only their own self-interest but against their own stated goals, we must ask ourselves if perhaps there is something more going on.