Ex-Navy SEAL Jocko Willink: 'Toxic masculinity' and the powerful dichotomy of being a man
Boys and men shouldn’t follow the advice of a recent report by the American Psychological Association called “Guidelines for the Psychological Practice with Men and Boys.”
These guidelines imply that “traditional masculinity” – such as stoicism, competitiveness, dominance, and aggression – are harmful.
These guidelines are wrong.
Stoically controlling your emotions is necessary. Competitive spirit drives success. Dominance – and the mental and physical strength required to dominate – is far superior to a lack of strength, which results in being dominated by someone else.
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And aggression is a means to an end. Without aggressive action, you will likely be on the receiving end, bowing to someone else’s aggression.
Of course, it would be nice to conjure up a world where those “traditionally masculine” traits are outmoded and unnecessary.
Perhaps in that fantasy world everyone could just let their emotions spill out.
Instead of competition, in that imagined world everyone would win.
Rather than looking to dominate, in this imaginary realm everyone would collaborate and live as equals.
And finally, in this fictional domain, aggression would not stand and people would simply hug each other and get along.
But that world doesn’t exist.
Would it be nice if it did? Sure. But it doesn’t.
The world is a hard place. Life is tough. Human beings are not always benevolent and kind. You cannot count on charity, tolerance and compassion.
If you show your emotions, you might get taken advantage of. If you make emotional decisions, they will likely lead you in the wrong direction.
If you lack competitive spirit, you will probably lose on many fronts: in being hired, promoted, negotiating a salary, and even in finding a romantic companion for your life.
Finally, if you are not aggressive, you will not be able to capitalize on opportunities. Good things in life don’t just appear on your doorstep – you have to be aggressive and make them happen. Failure to do so will result in missed opportunities. Instead of you being in control of your life, life will be in control of you.
So: Be stoic, be competitive, be dominant and be aggressive.
But it isn’t that simple, and this is where things become difficult. It’s important to not go too far with any of those traits.
GO READ THE WHOLE THING.
The problem with Leftist thinking is that they believe the world can be made perfect. That we can remove ALL the negative traits of human beings and thus have Utopia. That is fantasy and incorrect. If you remove the negative traits you also remove positive outcomes.
ReplyDeleteCase in point. I'll make it real simple so a Leftist could understand.
There was a Star Trek episode - the original Star Trek with William Shatner - where Kirk was divided into a duplicate of himself. One Kirk was good and touchy feeelie. The other mean and corse. And of course, the enterprise was in danger. The positive nice Kirk couldn't find the muster to make a decision and face the danger to the ship. The mean Kirk when faced with the truth of the danger, though blustery - could not come to a decision and became cowardly.
In order to save the ship, the two Kirks had to be melded together to create a commanding self to save the ship. Both Kirk types were needed to make decisions and take command. Aggression plus reason was needed. Neither one of the Kirks could do it alone.
We as human beings we need both halves of our selves to function - the positive and the negative. We use the positive to control the negative - not eliminate it and that's what this article is making clear.
The American Psychological Association should represent the acme of learned and experienced people who hold the public trust to define and refine understanding of mental health. They also enjoy influence, if not control, over the legal definitions of what constitutes mental dysfunction. The various state and federal legislative bodies look to them for guidance in crafting and enforcing laws and regulations that can result in behavior and beliefs being defined as criminal or non-criminal.
ReplyDeleteA bit of diligent search via Google will reveal the sordid history of the the APA's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which is in its fifth edition. Early editions defined homosexuality as being aberrant mental function. The most recent edition ("V") does not. The story of how homosexuals and their progressive allies in the APA engineered that change is Orwellian. It presages a similar revision for pedophilia, and that won't be the end of it.
What will happen when normal and rational is declared to by dysfunctional? We are going down that path when people who accept God's clearly stated prohibition of homosexuality are declared to be h8rs, and "hate speech" now is almost a criminal act. At this very moment in some European countries it is illegal for parents to remove their children from government mandated classes that indoctrinate in favor of normalizing homosexuality. That is also true in some places in the US. Look for increased demands to force private schools and homeschooling parents to be forced to teach certain topics in certain ways.
In this manner we get a glimpse of life in the Work Progressive Utopia.
-- theBuckWheat
Good example, WC!
ReplyDelete