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Culture War Roundup for the week of July 24, 2023

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With the release of the recent Barbie movie, the old gender debates on the internet have been reignited. (Admittedly, I haven't watched it yet, might pen down my thoughts once I do.)

I recently encountered another article by a heterosexual, middle-class woman discussing how we can assist young men in discovering their masculinity. The piece, confidently titled map out of the wilderness, repeats the narrative tropes that countless similar works in journalism tend to focus on.

Does it argue that men are disoriented because women are no longer subservient? Indeed. Does it accuse men of falling for 'destructive' ideologues such as Jordan Peterson and Bronze Age Pervert whose political ideologies aren't personally favored? Yes. Does it claim men are discontent because women wish for them to behave more femininely? Absolutely. Does it state there's a lack of 'positive masculinity?' Oh, for sure.

To credit the writer, Christine Emba, she does highlight some of the more sinister issues that venture slightly beyond the bounds of conventional discourse. She openly criticizes feminists and women in general for refusing to assist men, citing an instance where Obama was chastised for attempting to help boys, and thousands of women denounced him in protest.

What prompted me to respond to this article was a moment of blatant self-awareness by the author, who admits when reproached by a man that she doesn't want to be intimate with men who heed her advice (emphasis mine):

Where I think this conversation has come off the tracks is where being a man is essentially trying to ignore all masculinity and act more like a woman. And even some women who say that — they don’t want to have sex with those guys. They may believe they’re right, and think it’s a good narrative, but they don’t want to partner with them.

I, a heterosexual woman, cringed in recognition.

Yes, dear writer, you recoiled in acknowledgment. If you, a talking head opining on this topic, felt this way, consider the reaction of those numerous women with lesser self-awareness when they encounter these feeble, effeminate men.

However, all the discussions around gender roles, sexual relations, power dynamics, and 'incels' are missing the real issue. They're distractions, veils obscuring the core problem.



At the risk of being cliche, I'll reference Nietzsche's most well-known line:

God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we, murderers of all murderers, console ourselves? That which was the holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet possessed has bled to death under our knives. Who will wipe this blood off us? With what water could we purify ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we need to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we not ourselves become gods simply to be worthy of it? There has never been a greater deed; and whosoever shall be born after us - for the sake of this deed he shall be part of a higher history than all history hitherto.

Why has this single paragraph echoed throughout recent centuries as one of the deepest and most frequently reiterated explanations of modernity's moral crisis? Obviously, Nietzsche, a self-proclaimed atheist, doesn't imply we've executed deicide in the literal sense. What we've done is obliterated any transcendent reason for existence. There is no apparent reason why young men should exhibit concern for their neighbors, work towards self-improvement, curtail their desires, or even make an effort to contribute to society.

For a young man in a contemporary world that is entirely individual-centric, what is the appeal of any altruistic act?

Regardless of the religion you choose, these systems provided us with a motive beyond primal, materialistic pleasures to care. They provided us with an aim to pursue. Most importantly, they offered us a social framework within which we could strive collectively with others and receive commendation for our benevolent deeds.

Nietzsche's suggested solution is that the New Men must 'become deities' to be worthy of God's murder. Regrettably, as we've found out, not everyone can ascend to godhood. Certainly some of the highest status and highest agency men can create their own values, but what about the rest of us?

How is a young man in his twenties, armed with a useless college degree and forced to work at a supermarket to get by, supposed to find purpose in what he's doing? How can he feel accomplished, or masculine, or empowered? He definitely can't rely on God or religion for that feeling. If he tries, he'll be overwhelmed by relentless mockery and cynicism from his society.



Returning to Ms. Emba's proposed solution, she states that men need to experience masculinity by:

by providing for their families and broader society, by protecting their tribe and others, and by successfully procreating.

This, she asserts, is 'Constructive Masculinity.' Let's look past the glaring issue that it's a woman attempting to define what masculinity should be - the question remains: why?

Without some larger mission, most men aren't going to be motivated whatsoever. Men need a reason to exist. And not a poor, weak reason like 'following your dreams' or 'getting money' or 'being a good person.' Men need something to strive for, something worth dying for, something that they can use to shield themselves from the terror of the void.

Of course this problem is applicable to far more people than just young Western males. This lack of meaning, lack of purpose, is at the core of modernity's societal problems. It waits like a tiger in the shadows, seizing us in our moments and weakness and pulling us into a black pit of despair, nihilism. Emptiness.

When you're on your deathbed, where will you look for comfort? What force or being or god will let you face your own death without flinching? What water will purify you?

How will you cleanse your hands of blood?

How will you cleanse your hands of blood?

If there is no god, and we replaced him, there is no cleansing anything. We're in charge. We are so terribly free.

The point of god is to be the final judge of man, to decide between life and death. Women are life, men are death.

In this scenario, it is the role of men to take up the mantle of god in nature and control what lives and what dies.

The blood on god's hands goes all the way up to the collarbone.

Only one choice, judge or be judged.

Only one outcome, in the long run.

We serve death, and become him.

Like our forefathers before us.

How black exactly do you want your pills?

Dillard says that evolution loves death more than it loves you or me.

She was so close. The sky is blue, and God loves the infantry.

What are your thoughts on the Hock?

If there is no god, and we replaced him, there is no cleansing anything. We're in charge. We are so terribly free.

The point of god is to be the final judge of man, to decide between life and death. Women are life, men are death.

Yes Nietschze argues that, I don't. We aren't in charge. The reason we can even exist with billions of men competing in a similar status hierarchy without killing each other is due to religion. Sure, we killed the outright belief in God, but the very nature of God means that He can never be truly killed.

The point of God is to be the final judge of humans. He decides between life and death. He is the bridge between the red society we inhabit, and the beautiful future society we can become. He's never truly dead unless we give up on the hope that the future can be better than the present.

Or we just make our own judgements and swing the blade with our own hands.

No gods, no masters. Just men.

So you're proposing we worship the individual over the collective?

Not in the least. There is nothing to worship. We are not even individuals. We are the temporary combinations of two bloodlines, struggling to reproduce our genetics into the next generation.

Women choose who reproduces, men choose who doesn't.

We are not even individuals.

If not us, who is? If no one is, then what is the use of not defining whatever we are as individuals?

Semantics. I just don't think we are distinct from our physical bodies, nor our genetic heritage. We inherit much of what we are, and thus are not really distinct from the line of our ancestors, or our offspring.

Damn son. That's the blackpill right there.

The elephant in the room is that worship of anything else, like the State or the Volk, has been taboo since the Allies won the war.

I mean, fair point.