02-15-2022, 12:55 AM
(This post was last modified: 02-15-2022, 12:58 AM by JasonBlack.)
imo, Trump's biggest sin was being kind of a dick on twitter. A few items on his civil rights record were unacceptable (ex: trans military ban. wtf....), and his spending was abhorrently high even before the 'rona, but as far as tangible damages are concerned, Woodrow Wilson, Andrew Jackson all rank as much, much worse than Trump when you look at policy rather than just rhetoric. Of those three, the only one I can say something redeeming about is FDR, who, in spite of policies which could only be called evil, played his social role well as the self-assured patriarch who kept everyone's spirits strong through a crisis.
tbh, that's really what we need now. There is a shortage of true patriarchal figures in the west. Conservative men today are mostly rebellious bad boy types, internet trolls or business types who are too libertarian to want to lead much. As for women or liberal men...no, that's just nonsense. A patriarch needs to have intense conviction, but combined with self-restraint and external calm, less "macho" and more severe. We're talking more the Charlton Heston "speak softly and carry a big stick" kind of strength (think Charlton Heston or Liam Neeson, with a touch more aggressive edge) Ironically, it was the socially conservative GIs, a generation which produced patriarchs in abundance, which did the most to undermine raising strong, well-adjusted men with dawn of the welfare state in the 60s: an era that also sparked widespread births out of wedlock, crime, fatherless homes and child poverty even as overall income inequality was at low points (the boomers are also partly to blame here. They really acted a fool and screwed up a lot for the then-child Gen Xers).
This is the biggest reason I'm fairly pessimistic about this crisis. We've failed to teach boys to be men over several generations, to the point where mature masculinity is unrecognized at best and vilified at worst. Feminism doesn't last through crises, but when they cave and turn to men to rescue them, the men won't know how. They were never either properly instructed, nor offered any rewards or respect for being so, and as a result, I have my doubts that they will be able to properly wield real authority when it is most needed.
tbh, that's really what we need now. There is a shortage of true patriarchal figures in the west. Conservative men today are mostly rebellious bad boy types, internet trolls or business types who are too libertarian to want to lead much. As for women or liberal men...no, that's just nonsense. A patriarch needs to have intense conviction, but combined with self-restraint and external calm, less "macho" and more severe. We're talking more the Charlton Heston "speak softly and carry a big stick" kind of strength (think Charlton Heston or Liam Neeson, with a touch more aggressive edge) Ironically, it was the socially conservative GIs, a generation which produced patriarchs in abundance, which did the most to undermine raising strong, well-adjusted men with dawn of the welfare state in the 60s: an era that also sparked widespread births out of wedlock, crime, fatherless homes and child poverty even as overall income inequality was at low points (the boomers are also partly to blame here. They really acted a fool and screwed up a lot for the then-child Gen Xers).
This is the biggest reason I'm fairly pessimistic about this crisis. We've failed to teach boys to be men over several generations, to the point where mature masculinity is unrecognized at best and vilified at worst. Feminism doesn't last through crises, but when they cave and turn to men to rescue them, the men won't know how. They were never either properly instructed, nor offered any rewards or respect for being so, and as a result, I have my doubts that they will be able to properly wield real authority when it is most needed.
ammosexual
reluctant millennial
reluctant millennial