Boys are The Problem
The week's coming to an end and I'm not in the mood for finance talk or any more banker bull. There is, however, a topic that has always interested me which gets little attention in the press. Today, I was surprised to find an article that addresses said issue, so I would like to hear what the monkeys have to say about itt.
I am sure a lot of you guys will have strong opinions and I can't wait to hear them. We are all attached to this issue which the mainstream loves to keep under wraps. This is a topic which may wind up costing America an infinite price in both human and labor capital over the next century...yet few care to discuss it aloud.
I don't know if it is fear or ignorance, but today it's time to bring it up.
America's Domestic Military Operation
In the Valentine's Day edition of The Weekly Standard, P.J. O'Rourke brings up the issue of young man control. Or as I like to call it:
The Systematic Cultural Castration of American Heterosexuality
Though the article makes Liberals the focus of the issue, I am a lot more concerned with the core of the subject. One which is not explored with nearly enough depth...in this article or anywhere else in polite society.
So tell me... are young men the cause of America's social ills?
Better asked, is the non-medicated, non-castrated, non-pacified, non-emasculated, normal/ natural, aggressive and action seeking nature of the adolescent/teenage/college-age boy/man something America should fear?
From everything I read and everything I see in the media. I would say the answer is yes.
Back in the day...
When I was young I got beat up all the time. That having been said, I won a lot more fights than I lost. I broke windows of homes. I shoplifted. I pinched girls' booties. I called shy, quiet boys frooties. I set garbage cans on fire.
Had I learned that it made a proper villain out of you, I probably would have drop kicked a house cat or two, while spit roasting a field mouse.
In spite of this animal behavior, reeking of aggression and oozing of intolerance, I turned out to be a functional member of society. Never have I killed or robbed or raped or done any of the things, my boyhood behavior would have forecasted ...according to today's logic.
Today, a kid like I was gets zapped with Ritalin, Prozac or whatever's in style by the time he's 9. He is spayed and neutered with such zeal that even getting something as normal as morning wood is not easy by the time he hits puberty.
He is constantly badgered and put down and made to feel guilty. He constantly gets shamed and is taught to feel ashamed not for who he is, but for what he is.
His main concern in life is how to conform to American society's feminized image of masculinity.
A chick with a dick.
His main concern is to just fit in and be like everyone else.
Or...am I imagining things?
Michael Savage talks about this issue constantly. It's one of the three or four big things that's really at the heart of bringing down America.
If a little boy pinched my little daughter's booty, little fucker would have gotten the shit kicked out of him like a man he thought he was when he was doing it.
@rebelcross
I'm hard pressed to find anything bigger
@ Argonaut
That's fine, but then you'd be doing a dime for assaulting a minor, while that minor does a juvie stretch...both ridiculous outcomes, yet deemed just.
You really think a kid acting out is an attempt to be a man?
Affirmative Action perhaps? Welfare State? It's a worthwhile debate, this is definitely among the cream of the crap.
Avoiding the issue. Again.
Be careful Midas. You are directly confronting 98% of Patrick's unique visitors (college kids looking to break in). The lust after a wall street job is more about social acceptance than the money (hell even making money is about social acceptance).
I find myself in the above cohort. Then again, can you blame me?
Ironic, as you post this I am watching Gangland.
My coach in college used to call it the pussification of America's youth....LIBOR, I too am watching Gangland, SPIKE TV?
This is wrong on so many levels but it's so sad that it seems to be accepted in many parenting circles. You speak of the "The Systematic Cultural Castration of American Heterosexuality," I would also highlight that the inverse of your example is also a large problem in some social settings; pushing extreme masculinity/heterosexuality on young boys/adolescents who don't fit the mold of a "tough man."
Both cases are sickening and pathetic, I just wanted to point out the other side.
My kid is going to start a strict steroid regimen at age 6 and go to the NFL at 11. If Ryan Fitzpatrick can do it, anyone can.
Ryan Fitzpatrick is a 6'2 225 stud who was smart enough to go to Harvard. He was one of the best QBs in the history of the Ivy League with a big arm and tremendous athleticism.
That's not repeatable via steroids. It's a combo of winning the genetic lottery and years of practice.
Being a young man who was medicated because he was "ADD,"I have VERY strong feelings about this subject. I could probably rant for the next few days, but I feel someone else has already said it better than I ever could:
http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/sfo/279126743.html
It's part of the best of craigslist and it's written by a former marine. Called "advice to young men from an old man."
+1 for the excellent and funny Craigslist link.
thanks for the article surferdude, gave me a much needed boost
Hahah Midas. you and I would probably never have gotten along, for one thing I was a quiet and shy kid (one of the frooties!) and I used to hate other kids that behaved similar to what you used to. But I guess a percentage of boys definitely goes through this phase and I don't think its right to control this behaviour with an iron fist. I remember that the other 'destructive' kids who used to bully me for being shy and quiet were barely ever punished if caught. Heck, once the principal even remarked that 'boys will be boys, what can you do?'
I kind of agree and disagree with some of this stuff. Being rowdy and tearing shit up is cool, but being a prick to other people or giving them beatings isn't. Also, ADD is a scam and drugging kids is the worst. They did this study where they took a group of ADD kids off of processed food for a week and gave them fruits and vegetables, and, lo and behold, no one had ADD any more.
We are pussifying this nation. Drugging kids because they are active. Everything has to be PC because everyone has tissue paper skin. Expecting the government and police to be our parents when we are grown.
Home run Midas.
Great post Midas. I couldn't agree more and people on both sides of the political aisle are responsible for this. I grew up fighting kids in school on a daily basis and loved every minute of it, people shouldn't be taking that away from our youth.
Midas, what seems to be the issue I am avoiding?
Great post midas +1, what bothers me is that every tough guy talks about bro law or whatever else they hear from Budweiser commercials but how many actually man up and own up to their decisions
Being a man has nothing to do with getting drunk, picking fights, hooking up with chicks...
It has everything to do with courage in the face of fearful situations.... owning your responsibilities when it's easier to walk away... controlling your temper.... committing to something and someone beyond your own indulgences....
It's people of your generation who give drugs to their kids in these days. Parents are the biggest cause, not the kids. Not that I blame them, but if we think there is a solution for destructive, or masculine as you call it, behaviors, why not try it? By the way, medication works for many people. It's those unfortunate ones who speak up louder.
Being a man means having a dick. All the other shit is just what society tells us. With that said, this country has gone way to far with things. 50 years ago we were too far right and now we have swung too far left. I actually see it as an advantage since you have to ignore the bullshit fed to you and act just a little alpha and you reap all the benefits. Finance is one of the last bastions of old school male behavior.
18% of poll responders to the recent WSO poll were women ... can a lady pitch in?
I'm only like 1.5 paragraphs in, and I've already literally LOLed 3+ times. I love O'Rourke because he never fails to crack me up. I urge everybody to read it, especially my liberal WSO friends.
Great post, Midas.
With regard to the pussification of America's youth, I put some blame on the media/entertainment industry. Kids these days grow up watching shows like glee and dancing with the stars, no wonder they're soft.
That Craigslist posting...am I missing something?
I find it odd that the guy insults conservatives for being thin-skinned and always playing the victim, then proceeds to do that himself for the next ten lines. Hypocrite. But then again, it's pretty easy to pass judgment on people from the far-left bastion of the Bay Area. Some of what he says is good, but for the rest, I'll take his last advice--97% of all advice is useless.
Pretty sure the guy dissed Republicans (more specifically conservative republicans) and I don't see how he played the victim for the next ten lines.
So yes, you missed something.
No need to get defensive dude. I just don't agree with everything he says. He seems convinced that everyone is always trying to screw him over; it's in his language and his word choice.
Granted, I don't know his background story that led him to his viewpoint, and I'm not going to judge him for it. It just seems counterproductive to me; I used to be pretty paranoid and distrusting as well, and it didn't really work for me. And he said conservatives were actually worse than Republicans (I identify more with the latter than the former, but that's besides the point). From his angry, sarcastic tone, it seems to me that it's he who has the thin skin.
Just my two cents.
No, I think what led to the pussification of America are the wanna be gangsta rappas and shit like Jersey Shore, that are teaching a young one to be some worthless loser bumming strange pussy from dirty hos at da club, while living with mom, maxing out credit, and having no education.
Dancing with the stars is not pussyfying men; 50-100 years ago any man of society had to be adept at ballroom dancing
i say let them become losers more money and prestige for me!
unfortunately the more likely case is more money and prestige for non-drugged up cream of the crop immigrants.
they took my job!
Check out Art of Manliness.
Great article from the front lines of the revolution.
Good find. I first heard of that "human wall" story this morning... very touching.
I can make fun of Justin Bieber too.
Dur Durka Dur!
+1 on craigslist article
Monogamy is killing us. Nothing makes you more of a man than spreading the seed. We need legalized and regulated prostitution or some social acceptance allowing men to do what we were born to do.
Why do you think there is only one bull in a cow field?
Legalized prostitution? Who pays for what you can get for free?
what ""MONOGAMY" are you talking about when you are cheating on your wife or girlfriend?
Did you just say you feel less of a man being with your girlfriend or wife and more manly sleeping around with prostitutes??? you are nowhere close to being a man or human; YOU ARE AN ANIMAL!!!
Oh Daba lol
DABA, I think ANT is bragging that he is getting everything he wants from you for free (leaving him more money for hookers if he so inclines). I would say you deserve to be treated better than that.
Uhhhh!!!???
Is there a chick on here throwing monkey shit at me? This whole article is about not being emasculated.
Let me give you a great analogy about the male sex drive so you can understand us: It's like if you were stuck in the best/largest shopping mall in the world but could only wear clothes from one store for your entire life. Think about it.
I would love to be dressed in prada all the time, all my life!!! Comparing your girlfriend/wife to a store in a shopping mall makes you nothing less than a jerk.
Whoa, what did I miss?
Jose, if that's your "great" analogy, I'm gonna guess you've only seen women on TV. Most girls would LOVE to be head to toe Dior or Chanel for the rest of their lives
If you want to reduce it to biology, spreading the seed works best for fish and insects; human babies are the neediest of the entire animal kingdom and without proper care will never reach puberty and carry on the progeny. If you really want to "spread the seed" you gotta be able to care for it. And for everyone's sake I do hope that you don't actually "spread the seed" but use condoms when you are "slaying hos"
Moreover, human sexual behavior is guided by psychology rather than biology, so if you chose to engage with someone you consider inferior and disposable - that's a reflection of deeper issues.
In general I agree with Argonaut. I went to elementary and middle school with a bunch of fucking neanderthals that got into fights every single day. These tough guys are not more "manly" than men that have good manners and treat everyone with respect. I am going to raise my kids to be gentlemen, not fucking boors. Of course, this is a free society, so those of you that prefer to be around neanderthals and that want your children to act like neanderthals are perfectly welcome to do so. I just don't want to associate with those kinds of people. I would imagine they wouldn't want to associate with me, either.
Having said that, I do think that as a society we over medicate children that are difficult to control. I think this is where good parenting comes in. Sometimes it is easier to rely on modern medicine to control children than it is to work hard to parent them properly. Also, I do think people are often overly sensitive and should take a chill pill.
I too, feel that we overmedicate kids, but it has nothing to do with "boys being boys", it has more to do with shitty parents that shouldn't be allowed to raise a cat, nevermind a human being. Any time I saw bratty kids acting out, their parents' behavior gave a clear indication as to why.
I don't know. Being able to drop a cocksucker is pretty manly. You reduce the frequency as you get older, but even in my advanced age I still reserve the right to kick in teeth.
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