I'm deeply divided on this trend.
Obviously it provides social bonds, meaningful engagement, a fun channel to develop a fitness and security mindset. None of which actually has to lead to terrorism, violence, or any of the sort. If anything it's probably a good pipeline for people in our circles to avoid the typical mistakes of joining socially damaging fringe groups which are career wreckers and could haunt them for life. Almost like a rehabilitation pathway like how joining army cadets used to be for at-risk youth and people looking for careers in the service.
But conversely, there's always going to be heat. Obviously these things have undercovers in them, obviously people are going to get doxxed in the long run, obviously the press will be running stories smearing participants forever and ever. So that still provides career damage for participants. It would be easy to be blackmailed. It's almost like joining a biker gang and you'll have that record for the rest of your life, while the actual benefits you receive are still fairly marginal compared to that rap.
But the media does lose it when they form, the ones which are in existence seem to persist, and I guess it is going to be a longlived social organization in ways many of the political orgs never seem to be. So they have proven to have staying power and may yet project political influence
Active clubs: are they worth it? I disavow nazism etc