It's also the most amazing hobby you'll ever find. You just need to stay clear of toxic people. I can show you enough examples of how incredibly retarded groups and some of the people in them can be.
Don't get me wrong; there are good people in bad groups and there are good groups with bad people. It's not black and white. But man, the politics. I've had enough re-enactment politics for a lifetime, and I'm just 21. I'm just avoiding politics as much as I can. Like, a guy in our ACW group (we do Federal) signed up but couldn't attend any events because the Confederate group he also was a member of, made it mandatory to be with their group at events.
Somehow, normal re-enactment procedure is to make this a huge problem, pick a fight with the Confederate group, compare at least one of their members with a famous Nazi on some social media platform and force the guy to choose a side. Because...Because OH NO LESS RIFLE IN THE LINE!!11, I guess? We just said "of course, we understand, that's absolutely your choice and you're always welcome to join us for an event". Our group impression is not going down the drain just because we're with one guy less. If there's anything that kills a group, it's people who don't really want to be in it.