The men of our civilization, one generation after another, even through war, famine, and migration, fell into their roles as sons, brothers, husbands, and fathers quite naturally and easily. The culture undergirding a man’s place in relation to his family and society changed but slowly, across many generations. However, in the last four decades, cultural changes brought about by a myriad of events political, social, legal, and economic have stripped men of many of the traditions once thought de rigueur to the development of a civilized, family man.
In the media and on the street, the bonds of country and kin don’t seem to mean much any more, and neither does decency or common civility. Excellence is little valued now that everyone is considered equal. The Great Leveling has taken its toll. Standards are mocked. Value is equal to your ability to do what you’re told, to your fitting in with a sackless regime.
Everywhere around us we see other men, but why is it difficult to connect? How hard it is to discuss injustices even with our fathers, brothers, and friends, lest we appear weak and not in control! We gather in spaces not bound by place on websites such as this one to talk about what is happening, to share information, and to make plans for how to proceed.
This is a brotherhood without borders. We come here to share our experiences, our research findings, and our hopes for our people.
We have obstacles set before us by others, so let us not add to them ourselves. Throw off everything that weighs you down–dogmas, obsessions, insecurities–and open up your minds to new methods of resolving specific problems.
As the great stoic Marcus Aurelius in his Meditations put it,
“We are all working together to one end, some with knowledge and design, others without knowing what they do; like men asleep, but they too are laborers and co-operators in what goes on in the universe.”
Let us be the men who are awake.
