By Dane Hicks
The Anderson County (Kan.) Review
The more I read, see and experience first-hand the more I fear for the American Man. The younger ones are endangering our legacy, and I think the only solution for them may be the U.S. Military.
Yep, the non-so-silent assault of feminization directed at us by popular culture (I'm pretty sure the Russians are behind it) has found its mark in the 18-30 year-old Millenial age group primarily on or near college campuses. Treatment starts with immediate exposure to a drill instructor.
I know… the thought of a mean ‘ole staff sergeant ordering your baby boy around for a few months of basic training and then a minimum enlistment period of, let’s say, 3 years – it’s probably enough to force you helicopter mom’s & dads of the 1990s to seek your own solace in chai tea and valium. But trust me, I have the best interests of both your boys and America in mind.
You see, as they are right now, a lot of your boys aren’t going to make it. Though liberal, feminist culture works hard to convince us all otherwise, the Laws of Nature which still apply to the real world simply won’t condone the survival of many of your young men with as few Real Man traits as many of them now exhibit. Women, with whom your sons will eventually need to copulate in order to ensure the continuance of the species, are concerned as well.
“There's just no masculinity anymore,” laments a 28 year-old woman replying in an article on a national women’s magazine website. “Between wanting to talk about their feelings, drinking girlie drinks, and dressing like an Abercrombie and Fitch model, there just aren’t many men out there who act like men.”
Depending on where she’s looking, I have to concur. It’s less true in rural areas, where most young men to a large degree still have to have a job – as Dave Ramsey says, to “go out and kill something and drag it back to the cave.” Masculinity is sustaining itself in rural areas, but we all know rural populations are shrinking as suburbia and cities grow.
And college campus towns are the worst. Armies of them, laying off a semester in pursuit of yet another major and maybe delivering pizza or working in a call center part time. They still tap mom and dad for cash regularly. They whine a lot about themselves and voice an opinion on everything whether or not they know the topic. They’re pale and pudgy with soft, moist hands – physiques honed by sitting inside apartments away from sunlight watching Netflix, playing Warcraft and eating Ben & Jerry’s Half Baked Ice Cream. What young gal wouldn’t swoon for a dude like that?
Call it coincidence, but they are the first generation whose fathers (us) did not face a military draft. My generation hasn’t been able to pass along any semblance of military bearing or heritage or values to our sons, because most of us never served after America’s military went "all volunteer.”
My father-in-law served in WWII, my dad was drafted Korean War -era, my older cousins were drafted for Vietnam – but the phenomena of having masses of men called by their country ended in the mid-1970s. Our own fathers taught us what they learned and what became ingrained in their character from their military experience, but our own sons – now in their 20s and early 30s – suffer with generational problems in choosing a direction, exhibiting gumption and getting off their rear-ends to get anything done.
Their fathers (us) never learned the valuable lessons of soldiering to pass along to them. We didn’t have to learn to absorb new information and learn quickly under compressed training and education timeframes; we didn’t have to learn to work as a team and be accountable for not letting that team down; we didn’t have to get used to functioning under stress; we didn’t have to learn that our attention to detail and our basic punctuality might be the difference between life and death – for ourselves or for someone else. These were the lessons taught so well by the military that men of my era were never forced to learn, so we couldn’t pass them along to our sons.
Instead we imagined they needed Ritalin for fidgeting in school, told them not to climb on the shed roof because they might die and assured them the reason they didn’t make the baseball team was because the coach just didn’t like them.
So we got what we got – sons who don’t know a drive belt from a Phillips screwdriver, who whine and moan too much and are more likely to idolize Ben Stiller than John Wayne.
If you’re one of the lucky ones with a son that bucks the trend, God bless you. For the rest, the cure starts by putting their feet on the yellow footprints.
–Dane Hicks is president of Garnett Publishing, Inc., and publisher of The Anderson County Review in Garnett, Ks.
Nothing to do with being in the military...some of the problem is (1.)no man in the home (2).not being able to correct be discipline the young men(females also). without being turn in to the law ������(3.) The female (mother)mess the young man up.then he goes out and find a female to finish the job.,�������� Where I grew up in the big state of Texas.there was fathers and mother's in the home ...we /they were raised with morals/values/standards/responsibility.and let's not forget being in church being taught the way of the word..all father in our neighborhood did not go to the service .and did a grand job of raising MEN with their full responsibility..... It is not the times in which we live.and I believe, it's not the service job /church to teach you to be a man and a Woman . Some where we as those that knows have fallen short of the call.am I my brothers keeper...p.s with all of the "" don't judge me"""being said .. most of us throw up our hands and let U do what u do...and being a weak male and and a female that keeps him that way ������oh well.just to add .my husband says males are not being raised to be men and fathers and females are not being raised to be wifes and mother ������ ok I'm finished.
ReplyDeleteToo much female bashing in my opinion. The trouble with both young men and sometimes women is that they have become sofa surfer supremes. Studies have shown that "boys" will live at home well into their 20's. While "girls" leave home at 18. Teen pregnancy is down but still exists. And remember that it takes both male and female to create a life. Females have no choice but to become single parents while sofa surfing daddy's work long enough to buy the bling and drugs. The majority don't pay child support or even play a role in their baby's life. Daddy's flirt with law inforcment and are in and out of jail for DUI's, disorderly conduct an drugs. For them the jail has a revolving door. So they get a job, child support is withdrawn and they quit their jobs and move to a new sofa or back to daddy and mommy's house. Most don't have cars because of their DUI's. No one wants to buy those SR22's or blow into the box. So they borrow rides and sofas. So who is to blame? Should we blame it on society? You've already alluded to Mom's as being at fault. Question is, where are the macho dad's that allowed these boys to grow up to be dependent boy children? Dad's step forward and discipline your son's and teach them how to be men. Teach them how to be parents and functioning members of society. Dad's teach them how to get their hands dirty in honest labor. And teach them how to get a higher education so they can in turn teach their sons what it means to be a man.
ReplyDeleteYes you definitely make some excellent points. I believe that military background would have helped instill some of the deficiencies that you're siding here. But I like your analysis
DeleteI have never heard anything so ridiculous in my life. Just what do you consider "masculine" in a man? His body odor? The ability to shoot a gun? Holding down a minimum wage job? Grunting and growing body hair? Because that's what this diatribe sounds like.
ReplyDeleteYou fault "femininity" for young men being overweight. 75% of adult males are overweight or obese in this country. This has nothing to do with femininity; it is lack of exercise and poor diet. Then you fuss about students perhaps changing a major or tapping mom or dad for money in college. Oh, heaven forbid that young men should try to get an education! (By the way, have you priced a college education lately? It is practically impossible to afford one - but heaven help the young person who doesn't have one!)
It's "feminism" that causes our addiction to technology? Prove it. I have known parents to park their kid in front of a TV set or a video game for hours on end, just to keep from having to (gasp!) interact with their child. Poor parenting is an equal opportunity employer in the U.S.
My four sons are responsible, able citizens, good listeners, respectful of others, employed and educated. My husband and I PARENTED them. We did not need the military to "straighten our kids out." We raised them with morals, standards, and responsibility.
Before you start blaming the "liberal, feminist culture" for your problems, perhaps you need a reality check. We no longer live in the kind of world where being able to shoot a gun and follow a plow are the only qualifications for success. Perhaps the ability to communicate (what you refer to as "whining" and "voicing an opinion") will get you further in today's world than grunting and hitting people.
Sorry, Dane. The only thing we can really blame the Russians for is rigging our elections.
Dane's the guy who printed a story about "coons" in the local newspaper. He's real classy. He should be fired.
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ReplyDeleteDane this is probably why you got a divorce.
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