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Culture War Roundup for the week of January 5, 2026

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I don't think it's fair to label the guy "a shitty dad" over one tweet but the this tweet displays exactly the sort of behaviors I had in mind when I described the post-modern liberal ethos as "incompatible with forming healthy relationships and families" in last weeks thread.

Neuroticism, extremely short time-preferences, hyper-feminization, lack of emotional regulation, pre-occupation with one's own validation/gratification. These are not healthy qualities to have in a partner but they are endemic (and often celebrated) within the liberal striver class because they are the qualities celebrated and promoted by the philosophies of "Emancipation", "Self Actualization", "Deconstruction", "Breaking down barriers", and "Following your bliss".

It is trivially true that there are downsides to having kids.

We currently have a new baby in the house which means I have been getting less sleep than I would like and I have been getting less sex than I would like. I also have a lot less time and energy to pursue my own interests than I would like. Additionally, the former baby has noticed that he is getting less attention from mom and dad than he is accustomed to, and has been acting out a bit. We have had to rearrange the house to make space for the new arrival and reinstall a bunch of the "baby-proofing" we had previously removed which annoys me, it annoys the kids, and it annoys the animals. Every living thing in the house is annoyed. The thing is that these sorts of issues have been a fact of parenthood for as long as human beings have been making babies so complaining about them has the same energy as complaining that the sun rises in the east.

My point is that it is ok to feel tired, or bored. It is ok to not always be enjoying everything all of the time. What is not ok is to be a grown-ass man with apparent emotional maturity of a toddler. In that sense I suppose I am echoing @iprayiam3 and @PokerPirate user, irrespective of the kid aspect, if you can't handle 10 minutes of tedium or delayed gratification that's really something you need try and fix about yourself.

To come at the issue from a different angle. Are there downsides to being physically fit? Yes absolutely.

Do you think I like eating leafy greens more than I like doughnuts? Or that I like drinking water more than wine? Do you think I "enjoy" doing cardio. Do you think that there isn't some part of me that would just love to throw back a half-pint of tequila smoke a bowl and do a bunch of shrooms right now?

Eating healthy, working out, and having to behave responsibly are all very clear and significant downsides to staying in shape so why stay in shape?

Because despite all reason and logic to the contrary, good things are good.

It is good to take a kids bunch of kids and dogs to a park and play "kick the ball". It is good to catch your romantic partner looking at you like you're a snack.

Good things justify themselves.