New Discourses Bullets, Ep. 32
Young men have had it rough for a decade or more now. How are young men and adolescents growing to become them supposed to navigate the world they find themselves in today? Honestly, the basic advice hasn’t changed. Take responsibility, get to work, learn to be a strong, powerful protector and work to serve. In this longer-than-usual episode of New Discourses Bullets, host James Lindsay offers a homily to young men in the world today and talks about the importance of building and investing in themselves, their lives, and their families. Join him to hear his advice.
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6 comments
This was one of your best bullet points. I’m very lucky to have a family that provided so much love and support and this parable reaffirms my duty to make all of their efforts worthwhile. When my son gets older (he’s 8 now) this will be something I share with him. It’s difficult to impart this kind of wisdom to young men, but they are starving for encouragement and direction. We owe it to them to carry on the flame of enlightenment and truth.
Playing this for my 12- and 16-year-old sons today. We’re Christians, so I’m skipping the advice about girls! lol But the “grow up, be a man, use your gifts” is spot on. Thanks! I listen to your Marxism podcasts often. Very useful.
I used to think about things like this.
I used to be involved with hard work, and I continued to impose a certain level of duress on myself by not driving a car, relying instead on walking, using a bicycle and sometimes a bus. But society did not impose any particular demands on me in this area, and I gravitated towards a desk job that would challenge my intellectual skills, but not my physical skills.
In Dianetics we have the Black Panther Mechanism. In pop psychology we have “fight or flight.” There are actually several choices (that correspond roughly to different emotional levels) of how one can react in the face of clear and present danger. To fight is usually the most rational, if not always the most survivable. Besides fleeing one can also play dead, pretend the danger does not exist, ignore the danger until it is too late, or more or less willingly simply succumb to the danger.
Boys were raised to choose the more rational (if more dangerous) responses to danger. In a tough but fair society, boys would be trained in combat so they would have a fighting chance. They might even be allowed or encouraged to bear arms. Girls were generally raised to flee (assuming the men would stay and fight).
Many changes and developments in modern life have weakened these gender-related training patterns. Under the influence of criminal minds, fewer people today are trained to be skilled fighters. At various times and places, both men and women have demostrated their ability to fight. So I don’t see this decline as gender-related – though it has attacked the traditional male roles first – but more as an attack on humanity in general.
While we would expect men to take the lead in reclaiming their roles as fighters, in the end it will be more important that the willingness to fight in general is maintained and not worn away. The right to bear arms in the U.S. for instance, is not gender-specific, though we can imagine that most gun users in the late 1700s were men. The pro 2nd Amendment movement was probably a mostly male movement. Is the anti-2nd Amendment movement mostly female? I don’t know. But what I do know is that if you don’t have a gun in many situations you are forced to hide, flee, or succumb. You will not be in a position to fight. This is an example of how several issues touch on the subject of traditional male roles. Though the gender component is important, I think the general attack on the emotional level of society is also important.
I haven’t read this author. I haven’t heard this podcast.
I don’t usually consume this kind of material. I consider those who need to have their manhood reaffirmed are the ones who are suffering in todays culture. Those who feel they are misgendered by others or biology, have no question about their place or value. Their responsibility is to themselves, not to forfill others expectations.
I have been alive for fifty six years. I’ve used guns recreationally for plinking and target shooting. I’ve never used one defensively, and hope to avoid situations where this might become a reality. And by doing so, protect three things, myself, others, my own self worth and concience. I don’t need a gun to be a man. If you think you do, you have deep issues. I don’t need someone to tell me that I’m man, I have no doubts. I don’t need someone to tell me about a penis, I have one. I don’t need to tell others what they should be or how they should feel about it. This is also part of being a man, staying out of others business.
The psychological and emotional destruction of several generations of men is, in my view, the most severe and alarming societal crisis we need to address right now, right after we acknowledge the problem and acknowledge men’s humanity, of course.
I don’t usually comment on things ever but I had to say I just read that parable in the Bible to the kids last night and was thinking about it today and then randomly listened to this episode. Exactly what I needed thank you.