The Defence of Tradition Manhood: Various Approaches By John Steele

Many internet sites are reaching the conclusion that one of the key problems a defence of Western survival faces is the decline of traditional manhood. We are well aware that feminism has been like an acid for manhood, eroding away now for decades. Then, there is the gender agenda, and all the various deconstructions of masculinity and heterosexuality done by academics, a poison that flows down into society, such as through schools, leading to a crisis of boys, who hardly can study and achieve, when the dark hearts of feminist teachers are against them. I have heard this first hand. Then there are the destructive effects upon testosterone by oestrogenic chemicals, a product of our wondrous consumer affluent society.

In many respects, those striving to regain traditional masculinity must pull themselves up by their bootstraps, in acts of sheer will power. Men should strive to engage in activities that increase testosterone levels, such as weight lifting, martial arts such as boxing and wrestling, and owning and legally shooting firearms. These is much room though for cultivation of the mind, to see masculine values as worthy of embracing. Here are some books, briefly summarised to get young men on the right track.

Nothing too heavy first, just light reads. We have Frank Miniter, The Ultimate Man’s Survival Guide: Recovering the Lost Art of Manhood, (Regnery, 2009). This is an overview book, entirely suitable for beginning men, defining the terrain. The book has an opening gripping manhood story involving surviving the Spanish “running with the bulls,” which is one dramatic test of manhood, of overcoming fear and getting a job done; saddling up even if one is afraid, as John Wayne once said. “Being a man is being a mensch. Being a man means doing the right thing regardless of who’s looking; it means biting the bullet and taking the hit (in life) even when you are not going to profit – especially when you are not going to profit. Being a man means suffering in silence, knowing how to keep your mouth shut but still not being afraid to speak up. … It means speaking softly, yet carrying a big stick. … It means knowing how to survive, lead, and show others the way.” (p. xiv) No wonder the feminists have a passion to destroy what they define as “toxic masculinity.”

Miniter explores this concept of manhood around themes organised into chapters, including, survivor, provider, athlete, hero, gentleman, romantic, pal, and philosopher. This defines the ultimate male as a warrior-philosopher, as depicted in Plato’s Republic. Thus, there needs to be manly equipment, such as a bug out bag (and entire books have been devoted to setting up such kit for various environments); knowing what makes a good survival knife, and survival gun; navigation equipment and skills, starting a fire without lighters and matches, dealing with wild and feral animals, including humans; first aid; how to fight and defend oneself, as well as things related more to an urban environment such as good dress and grooming, and the lost art of being a gentleman. There is a chapter about bow to be a romantic, but that seems a bit quaint now, given the gender crisis, but who knows, it might be worth a try. There is even a chapter on smoking, good quality cigars, naturally. Just typing this on this cold afternoon in the dying light, with Victorian rain tap dancing on my tent, makes me want a good cigar, but, those days have gone.

The final chapter discusses the qualities that a man should have, including wisdom, justice, courage and moderation. Samurai Miyamoto Musashi is quoted as listing 21 things in “The Way of Walking Alone,” and my favourite bad ass one is: “Though you give up your life, do not give up your honour.” Tell that to low T “men’ like Trump and Pence. Compare these mice to say Davy Crocket (1786-1836), who died at the battle of the Alamo, with my hero, Jim Bowie,  fighting Santa Anna’ troops. A former slave who was allowed to live, political correctness even then, said that Crocket’s body was found surrounded by at least 16 dead troopers, and his knife was embedded in one of them!

A lighter read, but still along the same lines as the Miniter book, is Rod Green, Man Up! (Michael O’Mara, 2010). This is a how to book, telling urban men how to do things like navigate, build a compass, catch fish, find water in the desert, how to land a small aircraft, how to escape from quick sand, how to deal with various wild animals, and even how to darn a sock. This is probably a good gift for a teenager to get him stared.

Finally, after working through these mainly utilitarian books, important never the less, the young man may need a spot of deeper philosophy. A good starting point is Jack Donovan, The Way of Men (2012), which is an extended discussion of what manhood is, defined in terms of the warrior qualities, those attributes needed to defend oneself, family and one’s home. These tactical virtues are strength, courage, mastery and honour, the qualities needed to defend the perimeter. One might question why manhood should be conceived this way, rather than via qualities such as wisdom and knowledge. Indeed, I agree here, that the Donovan account needs to be expanded, but his aim was to go for qualities that were cultural universals, true even of primitive mean. Still, even here, knowledge and wisdom, defined relative to the environment, would constitute an import part of manhood in my opinion, and traditional societies such as the Australian Aboriginal one, would accept these qualities as defining a man. Make it knowledge and wisdom in the practical affairs of life, rather than pointless academia.

Thus, here are some starting notes for the would-be man, and lord knows, this generation of computer same obsessed young men, need it. Without the restoration of traditional manly virtues, you can kiss everything goodbye, for the Leftist anti-man is set to destroy all in a nihilistic frenzy that we got a taste of in 2020.