Over-sentimentality, over softness, in fact washiness and mushiness are the great dangers of the age and of this people. Unless we keep the barbarian virtues,gaining the civilized ones will be of little avail. ~ Theodore Roosevelt
I just finished watching Braveheart, the true story of William Wallace, the man who led a fight against an oppressive king and, at least in the movie, was spurred into action when a Lord killed his wife.
I know it’s just the movies, but men have always been protectors. Bad men exist. They’ve always existed. And good men have always killed them, or at least tried to.
Then, the other day, another Hollywood big shot was exposed as a scumbag, and I thought…
I thought about Cosby and Clinton and Weiner, and every other celebrity or politician who’s been exposed as having groped or raped or abused women for decades, whose actions are only brought to light after years of being deviants.
And I thought about the priests who molested and raped young boys, and the boys who had to have told someone at some point, and yet no one came to their rescue until it was too late. Until the damage had been done.
And I thought about these deviants, and how none of them have broken limbs or severed heads. None are face down in a river, and every one of them did what they did over the span of decades, sometimes even half-centuries, without ever being harmed.
Our society is soft, too soft.
I don’t care if you’re a liberal or conservative, male or female, at some point you have to see that this hyper-sensitive culture we’ve created allows for less freedom, it creates scenarios where victims aren’t defended and perpetrators are free to do their disgusting deeds for decades.
This has to end.
The participation trophies have to stop. Teaching our boys that they’re a part of an oppressive patriarchy has to end!
Not all men are soft, mind you.
There are still strong men everywhere. Strong men who stand by their principles. Who stand up for those who need help. Who commit acts of violence on the deviants who prey on the vulnerable. But there aren’t nearly enough of them.
Our culture has to change. It must go back to the principles that made it great. Self-reliance, toughness, grit, violence for the greater good. There are reasons beyond the deviants from within, there are enemies and cultures that oppose the values who seem to hold dear, but are too afraid to fight for?
Enough is enough!
Raise your boys to be good at being men, as well as being good men.
Raise them to be barbaric when the time calls for it.
Without the barbarian virtues that conquered lands, we cannot have the softer values we now praise more than ever. So even if you’re a feminist, a liberal, a soft human who hates violence, who wants to tax the wealthy at 100%, who wants to frolic in flowers and sing kumbaya ‘til the cows come home, you have to, at some point (and that point has to be soon), admit that we want our good men to be great at violence because the bad men will always be hiding out in the weeds. (Read This: There’s No Excuse for Being a Pussy)
7 Examples of the West Becoming Weak
1. Participation trophies.
It’s simply a destructive way of rewarding.
Young men want to win, and they should be encouraged to adopt the work ethic, discipline, and guts it takes to win – even if they skate by purely on talent.
The handing out of awards based on participation creates a generation who doesn’t know how to win, and as a result, we all lose.
We need more winners, tougher men, not fewer.
This is just wrong.
2. Serial sexual abusers (who remain unharmed).
We talked about this already. How are so many of these sexual predators walking around with all of their appendages? How are they unharmed?
A soft society, one that teaches violence is never the answer. One that views wealth as bad, success and wrong, strength as evil.
3. Anti-hunting without any logic.
Men are hunters and gatherers, and yet we have a crazy growing group of people who are completely anti-hunting. These same people are anti-slaughterhouses (I’m with you on this – although it’s the only way to get nutritious animals to the masses at a cheap price, or so it seems).
So they’re against slaughterhouses, but also against men going out into nature, hunting, stalking, and killing something that will provide sustenance for their family.
How soft and illogical can you be?
Hunting isn’t nice. There’s death involved. But it’s a necessary part of life for every part of the world, and just as lions need to hunt, so do men.
Only in our modern, soft society, could we have such a soft and weak view of killing an animal to feed one’s family.
4. The rise of violence is never the answer, ever.
This includes those who feel as though we should not kill animals for food. Yet, they kill plants, living organisms.
It’s a softness of our society that ignores the necessity for death. Death is a part of life, a part of its circle. It is not evil, it can’t be, it’s a constant. The lion kills the antelope. You cannot hate him for his nature, and you cannot hate a man for killing food that will feed his family.
You also should not hate a man for killing a bad man who is going to do evil things. We send our military off to kill bad men, then too many hate those doing what needs to be done and what the rest of us are unwilling to do. (Read This: The Good Guys Need Guns Too)
Violence is often the answer when there is a lack of logic or good on the other side. When one side is evil, they are not practical, and yes, ideologies on this planet are evil when they want to inhibit our freedom, and this increasingly soft society is bending over backward for them while turnings its back on the values that enabled such a free and prosperous society to exist.
Man up for shite’s sake. You cannot reason with everyone, or feel sorry for everyone. You can only be kind from a position of strength and be effective with your kindness.
5. Rules of Engagement (handcuffing our military).
To have a group of individuals who’ve never fought in a war, tell our military how to act, is beyond stupid, it’s soft.
The simple goal of war is to kill as many of the enemies soldiers as you can. To handcuff a military by telling them how they’re allowed to do so harms them, it’s also ignorant of the nature of war.
When our enemies set up firing positions in schools and churches because they know we won’t fire at either, you can see the kind of honor we’re dealing with.
A soft culture thinks war is never necessary, it places rules on its soldiers in that vain, and puts them in harm’s way as a result. It’s a weak way of thinking, a soft way of seeing the world, ignorant of how the world works, and it puts good men and women in harm’s way when we should be putting as many of our enemies in harm’s way as possible.
6. The decline of the family.
When an increasing number of men don’t stick around and raise their seeds, you know we’re in for trouble.
It’s a sign that we’re not raising men. We’re raising boys that never really grow up and accept responsibility for their actions.
Fewer fathers are sticking around. Fewer sons and daughters are growing up without male guidance (and we need guidance from both the feminine and the masculine, ideally). And our society is becoming soft…
… Go figure.
7. The rise of government control.
Both sides of the isle should agree on this, we’ve allowed – even given – our government so much control over our lives, which has to be a sign that we’re soft.
A tough society wouldn’t give up freedom under the guise of safety.
A tough society would allow a government to tell them what they can do on their own land and how they can manage it.
A tough culture wouldn’t turn its back on its own values and bend over backwards for values that don’t align with their own, and that millions have fled.
Tough cultures don’t do this, but tough cultures make it so good that they devolve into soft cultures, and that’s where we are.
Tough men won and defended our freedom, which gave way to soft men, which will create tougher times, which will force our culture to once again become tough.
Why not ensure that you’re living a tough life, as a tough man who’s good at being a man and raising your son or sons to do the same?
About The Author
Chad Howse: Chad’s mission is to get you in the arena, ‘marred by the dust and sweat and blood’, to help you set and achieve audacious goals in the face of fear, and not only build your ideal body, but the life you were meant to live.
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http://www.
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Civilization comes at a cost of Manliness. It comes at a cost of wildness, of risk, of strife. It comes at a cost of strength, of courage, of mastery. It comes at a cost of honor. Increased civilization exacts a toll of virility, forcing manliness into further recesses of vicariousness and fantasy. – Jack Donovan.
well said
If only every man read this…
I completely disagree with number 5, at least when talking about the American military.
First of all, the American military was designed to be commanded by a civilian (The President). There is a reason for this. It all has to do with a balance of power in the American government.
Second, we do not fight a war of attrition, we are fighting a war of insurgency. Our goal is to not kill as many enemy as we can. We are not fighting a conventional army in a conventional war, we are fighting an ideology. Ideologies don’t die just because you kill a lot of people.
Yes, the enemy we fight may not have morals or standards and would not hesitate to take out schools or churches. But our ROE actually allow us to engage the enemy in a school or church because it is now an area of operation for the enemy. Read FM 27-10 Chapter 2 Section IV. If a school, hospital, or church is occupied by enemy combatants, then it is no longer protected by ROE and is fair game.
Also, having rules of engagement give us the moral high ground. When we have the moral high ground, the enemy is more likely to surrender because they know they will be treated humanely. This means they don’t fight with their backs to the wall which in turn saves the lives of Americans and out allies.
Most importantly, the rules of engagement in the US Army never prevent a soldier from acting in self-defense. A soldier will never be put in harm’s way because of ROE. All American soldiers have the inherent right of self-defense.
To say that ROE makes us soft and puts soldiers in harm’s way is wrong, and you, my friend, are ignorant to the ways of the U.S. Armed Forces.
Educate yourself before writing on such matters:
FM 27-10 Chapter 2
Operational Law Handbook, International and Operational Law Department, The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center & School, U.S. Army, 2015, Chapter 5, Enclosure A
A few great points made.
1. Nazism was an ideology, and it died because they got killed.
2. Didn’t know that, thanks.
3. Self-defence, that’s one of the issues, we shouldn’t be putting our military on defence, the ‘don’t shoot unless you’re shot at’ isn’t right. They’re well-intended rules that have been taken too far.
With that. Good points. Maybe I’m ignorant.
Some would argue that Nazism isn’t completely dead, but it definitely isn’t prevalent anymore. Sure killing everyone helps, but fighting an ideology can be more complicated than that. Also, it’s a lot harder to kill everyone on the other team now cause we can’t identify our enemy well. WWII was still a conventional army vs army type of war. Very very different from an insurgency.
And I agree, our goal as the military is to take the fight to the enemy. Big picture, we are offensive; we must be.
But on the micro scale, the defensive is a very important aspect. You must defend your FOB, COP, patrol base, etc. Depending on the mission, you may also have to defend a certain site.
I agree that the “don’t shoot unless you’re shot at” is a dangerous mentality. And I agree that this mentality can be present.
But this mentality isn’t taught by doctrine, and any good officer or NCO will be sure to squash it. Soldiers can act in self-defense without the enemy ever firing a shot. Soldiers don’t just stand around and wait to get shot at. Good soldiers are trained well enough to recognize threats and eliminate them as soon as they do.
I think you may not understand the more intricate details of the military or ROE (and most people don’t, I certainly don’t know everything), but I do understand and appreciate your intent.
I agree with you, Chad. I practice BJJ. We work with the principle that the only defense against evil, violent men are good men who are better skilled in violence. Being violent doesn’t mean that you go about being angry and hitting anyone and everyone. It means that when duty calls it, we men shouldn’t back down from getting our hands dirty.