It takes little work to demonstrate that men are in trouble. The very idea of the "incel" cries out that something is wrong. To help understand this idea of "man" I turn to the writing of Walter Ong.
A tangent, if you'll permit me. You stated "To have an identity you must have boundaries." I have often wondered why God created the universe, but perhaps the answer is contained within the idea of (self-imposed) boundaries. God can only fully be God when there's "non-God" around. He is who He is, but it's a lot easier to be Yourself when You have something to compare Yourself to. Food for thought. Thanks for the article!
Yes. This is purely speculative theology, but I would be inclined to agree. How does God become the Creator? By creating. There are implications to this that many are uncomfortable articulating, but by becoming something, by asserting himself and revealing himself as Creator does this then somehow limit God? I think the Orthodox distinction between the essence and energy of God is helpful, in that God is unknowable in his essence but becomes known in his energy.
Thoughts like these are subversive and underground today but one day they will be held as self-evident and we will look on the current world with shame.
Agreed. They were once so commonplace that nobody thought about it. But there is a lot of political debates people misunderstand because they just don’t know these things.
If contests are the key to developing healthy men, and contests may include verbal battles witnessed by a third party, then what effect do "hate speech" laws have on healthy male development?
Thought you might be interested in this related post. I believe I identified organized team sports as being the perhaps the most important single development in the blooming of civilization. The rest of it is provocative but closer to the truth than most will find comfortable. It’s called “How the Hive Killed America.” https://afterpunk19.blogspot.com/2024/02/how-hive-killed-america.html
From we need workers not thinkers to go woke go broke to what we have here is a failure to communicate to talk to me but don't talk to me. People are funny.
This may have been true in the past, but in my experience, men do not like challenge, "contest" as you put it. I am skeptical of all these male improvement efforts on the right. It all sounds great in theory, but I just don't see the men wanting to improve in real life.
I really love the deep dives you do on authors. I feel like I get all of the key points and none of the fluff. Looking forward to the next Ong article
Thanks Riley! Writing right now…
A tangent, if you'll permit me. You stated "To have an identity you must have boundaries." I have often wondered why God created the universe, but perhaps the answer is contained within the idea of (self-imposed) boundaries. God can only fully be God when there's "non-God" around. He is who He is, but it's a lot easier to be Yourself when You have something to compare Yourself to. Food for thought. Thanks for the article!
Yes. This is purely speculative theology, but I would be inclined to agree. How does God become the Creator? By creating. There are implications to this that many are uncomfortable articulating, but by becoming something, by asserting himself and revealing himself as Creator does this then somehow limit God? I think the Orthodox distinction between the essence and energy of God is helpful, in that God is unknowable in his essence but becomes known in his energy.
http://www.worldwisdom.com/public/viewpdf/default.aspx?article-title=Frithjof_Schuon_and_the_Perennialist_School_by_William_Stoddart_.pdf
When the student is ready the master appears.
I will read Ong cover to cover thanks to this!
Thoughts like these are subversive and underground today but one day they will be held as self-evident and we will look on the current world with shame.
Agreed. They were once so commonplace that nobody thought about it. But there is a lot of political debates people misunderstand because they just don’t know these things.
If contests are the key to developing healthy men, and contests may include verbal battles witnessed by a third party, then what effect do "hate speech" laws have on healthy male development?
It is a good question and you are boring into the heart of the problem. Those laws are not something that originates with men.
Men need to test each other in games in order to know who will be up to the job in war.
Take away the war and the games lose their meaning. Take away the war and we play with women’s rules.
Definitely.
Thought you might be interested in this related post. I believe I identified organized team sports as being the perhaps the most important single development in the blooming of civilization. The rest of it is provocative but closer to the truth than most will find comfortable. It’s called “How the Hive Killed America.” https://afterpunk19.blogspot.com/2024/02/how-hive-killed-america.html
I will give it a look. Thanks for sharing.
From we need workers not thinkers to go woke go broke to what we have here is a failure to communicate to talk to me but don't talk to me. People are funny.
This may have been true in the past, but in my experience, men do not like challenge, "contest" as you put it. I am skeptical of all these male improvement efforts on the right. It all sounds great in theory, but I just don't see the men wanting to improve in real life.