Young men should buy a gun. You can get one cheaper than an Xbox. Its fun as hell going to the range especially with friends but even if you don't have any friends, the guys at the range are very helpful and happy to see a newbie getting into the hobby. There are outdoor ranges for some sun and fresh air and indoor ranges when its raining. It never gets stale. If you get bored of shooting a handgun, then you can buy a shotgun. Next you can move up to a rifle. There are lots of accessories for every gun. You can choose from hundreds of scopes, you can add a light, you can change out parts to make it look cool. You can paint it. When you get really good you can build one to be exactly what you want.
Besides being a fun hobby, its also practical. You can conceal carry to defend yourself and your girlfriend when out in public. You can use it to defend your home and family. And, when the SHTF, you can shoot commies all day long. What's not to love?
I knew absolutely nothing about guns until a few years ago when a buddy brought me to an outdoor range as the "pandemic" was winding down. I totally sucked and not only couldn't I hit the target but I had no idea where the bullets were going. But I really enjoyed it. Everybody there was of a similar mindset and really good people.
I was living on Long Island at the time and we'd just had all the riots in the City and the lockdowns and then talk of vaccine mandates and even camps for people like me who refused to get the jab. I just felt that if things continued downhill that my family was really vulnerable. Despite my choice of moniker, I'm not a big guy and I'm not particularly good at fighting.
So I went to the range and then I bought a shotgun, one of the few types of guns you could buy in NY. Then I moved to Florida and got my wife and I handguns. Ever since, I've just loved going to the range, talking to the people, and improving at hitting targets. I also enjoy buying parts and learning how to put them on and taking the gun apart to clean it. Its a much more productive use of my time than the stupid shit I used to do. And bottom line, its very empowering. You learn very quickly to respect the power you're holding in your hand.
There's an awful lot about the hobby that I think would be positive for young men. You get to work with your hands, not only shooting but taking apart and putting the gun back together. I have no mechanical ability but its pretty easy to figure things out and if not, there's plenty of YouTube videos to show you how. You're outside. You're socializing with people who have similar interests. There's even women who enjoy shooting at the range. And at the end of the day, you at least have a chance of defending yourself and, if need be, taking a bad guy out.
I got my start with guns from looking up the real life models of the guns in Goldeneye 007, now I build them for one of the largest manufacturers in the country.
I’d argue for getting a basic Palmetto State Armory AR-15 first. Rifles are much easier to become proficient with than pistols, and are also excellent home defense weapons. Other options would be Smith and Wesson M&P Sport II.
I came back to this article to forward it to someone else and came across your post.
Here's another thing. I got a message a while back from the young, single daughter of a friend who's in the first year of a professional job in a large city. She's complaining that all of the men she meets are whiny, neurotic, needy, and immature and asks me where she goes to meet "real men." I told her you have to hunt them in their natural habitat, and the vegan section of Whole Foods was't it. One of the places I mentioned was to take lessons at a gun range.
Great stuff. I remembering living in SoCal when the entertainment industry was exciting, where creative asymmetry could suddenly break into wildly expansionist dynamisms. But, no longer.
I support all you say. As for getting boys/young men into doing better things than watching idiot media, I would encourage more out of door activity (boy scouts, with as many boys as possible), competitive sports, building things (modelling, robotics, coding), even doing paying student jobs.
Quickest way to redpill a teenage boy is get him a job at a fast food or retail place. Let him see how much work goes into a meager paycheck and how much the government takes out of it. Let him work with loser adults so he can understand why he needs to choose a serious skillset if he goes to college or tradeschools.
Indeed. Student jobs are ideal for making some entry level coin, learning some basic skills, learning how the workplace works, learning how taxes work (as you say), and figuring out that you need much higher level skills eventually if you intend have any success in the world.
You forget to mention that the wokerati have a visceral hatred for the standards of common decency and even simple reality-recognition, because the mere existence of these things feels like an assault on their feelings about themselves. They hate the contrast and they seek to erase it, not by improving themselves or even just trying to be normal, but by eliminating normality altogether.
Best example of how stupid these people got with streaming? They threw a ton of money at a narcissistic no-talent former D-List cable TV actress and her man-child spare drone mummy died and I'm so sad prince. That alone deserves a file box and a personal security escort to the door for whatever brain surgeon came up with that idea.
Best/worst example of how truly it is TFU? A Gentleman in Moscow. Wonderful story. Well, done...except...I'm sorry people. There were no Black Soviet Commissars. I'm sorry. There just WEREN'T. Stop trying to shoe-horn BIPOCs into historical situations where they never appeared. It's just such eye-rollingly stupidly obvious pandering that it's offensive. What's next? Asian Zulu warriors?
Well in games you now have an assassin's creed game (a series that generally tries to stay fairly historically grounded) set in feudal Japan where the main (player) character is a black samurai assassin. normally they would never pull this sort of thing, but we all know the Japanese are white-adjacent and so don't get the normal rules. Colonizers even!
There is historically one black guy who was in Japan for a bit, but he definitely wasn't a top secret assassin and just the whole idea of making the feudal Japan game about a secret assassin focus on a black guy is hilarious and absurd.
Hey, after the latest (I guess) portrayal of Anne Boleyn...
As per usual, the real test is, "Can we do it both ways?" How about a movie about ancient Africa with Chinese and Caucasian actors playing some of the parts, can that be done? Didn't think so.
"developed a tendency to evaluate entertainment media on political rather than artistic merits" -- I recently wrote about this from the fandom perspective; a lot of this seems to come from groups of fans who intentionally used media to facilitate activism via what they call "cultural acupuncture. I can recommend the book "By Any Media Necessary" to see how this strategy was openly laid out. A lot of these fan activists have since joined the industry, so it makes perfect sense that this activist-politically tinged output has proliferated.
I will disagree with you on Bros-- The issue isn't that it's a gay romcom, it's that it wasn't advertised to women at all. Straight women are a big part of the audience for gay content, it's how Heartstopper did so well and became a series, and Red, White & Royal Blue also fits that formula. Those are gay romcoms but were also very clearly aimed towards female audiences. The Bros marketing was very "bro-y" for lack of a better term, and definitely seemed aimed at men. It's why the original Queer as Folk US succeeded, by targeting women, and the reboot failed, by squarely aiming for the "queer community" which isn't large enough to sustain a show.
I've written about this as well--I don't mean to sound self-important but just to say there is a lot behind this approach, the commodification of gay sexuality has a very large (straight) female audience. A lot of it has its root in fandom culture and the concept of "slash" which has a primarily female audience. This is why "queer baiting" has become such a commonality amongst celebrities, it's not necessarily for "points" as much as it is to appeal to those audiences that want to imagine that these people are actually gay/bi.
Good piece and I liked how you tied together the increasing wokeness with the largess of cash from low interest rates and desperation to pump out content for streaming. I do think those played a factor, and hadn't thought explicitly about that connection before.
I think you can extend this idea to the rest of the woke left; they are not just parasitic in culture but in every institution they become part of. They do not create anything or produce anything. Instead they shame successful institutions into hiring them and then they start hiring more of themselves and imposing their diktats until the institution either rots from the inside (Washington Post, Harvard) or pushes back to save itself (New York Times, Univ of Florida).
The best decision I've made in my life is to stop watching cable television. Every program promotes homosexuality and perversion. The only new show I've seen in three years that doesn't feature perversion is THE OUTLAWS (on Amazon Prime Video). As far as Hollywood goes, the highly touted TOP GUN: Maverick was tweaked a bit to make the CCP happy. If there is anything good that can be said about the COVID lockdowns is that it changed Americans' viewing habits. No one goes to movies anymore.
Few drink that watery obscenity called Bud Light and Disney has ruined several previously entertaining movie series.
Young men should buy a gun. You can get one cheaper than an Xbox. Its fun as hell going to the range especially with friends but even if you don't have any friends, the guys at the range are very helpful and happy to see a newbie getting into the hobby. There are outdoor ranges for some sun and fresh air and indoor ranges when its raining. It never gets stale. If you get bored of shooting a handgun, then you can buy a shotgun. Next you can move up to a rifle. There are lots of accessories for every gun. You can choose from hundreds of scopes, you can add a light, you can change out parts to make it look cool. You can paint it. When you get really good you can build one to be exactly what you want.
Besides being a fun hobby, its also practical. You can conceal carry to defend yourself and your girlfriend when out in public. You can use it to defend your home and family. And, when the SHTF, you can shoot commies all day long. What's not to love?
Sadly, almost everything I know about guns I learned from playing Call of Duty.
I knew absolutely nothing about guns until a few years ago when a buddy brought me to an outdoor range as the "pandemic" was winding down. I totally sucked and not only couldn't I hit the target but I had no idea where the bullets were going. But I really enjoyed it. Everybody there was of a similar mindset and really good people.
I was living on Long Island at the time and we'd just had all the riots in the City and the lockdowns and then talk of vaccine mandates and even camps for people like me who refused to get the jab. I just felt that if things continued downhill that my family was really vulnerable. Despite my choice of moniker, I'm not a big guy and I'm not particularly good at fighting.
So I went to the range and then I bought a shotgun, one of the few types of guns you could buy in NY. Then I moved to Florida and got my wife and I handguns. Ever since, I've just loved going to the range, talking to the people, and improving at hitting targets. I also enjoy buying parts and learning how to put them on and taking the gun apart to clean it. Its a much more productive use of my time than the stupid shit I used to do. And bottom line, its very empowering. You learn very quickly to respect the power you're holding in your hand.
There's an awful lot about the hobby that I think would be positive for young men. You get to work with your hands, not only shooting but taking apart and putting the gun back together. I have no mechanical ability but its pretty easy to figure things out and if not, there's plenty of YouTube videos to show you how. You're outside. You're socializing with people who have similar interests. There's even women who enjoy shooting at the range. And at the end of the day, you at least have a chance of defending yourself and, if need be, taking a bad guy out.
That was a cool story. It kind of makes sense why you moved to Florida, at that!
I got my start with guns from looking up the real life models of the guns in Goldeneye 007, now I build them for one of the largest manufacturers in the country.
Any discounts for fellow Substackers?
I’d argue for getting a basic Palmetto State Armory AR-15 first. Rifles are much easier to become proficient with than pistols, and are also excellent home defense weapons. Other options would be Smith and Wesson M&P Sport II.
I got my first AR from Palmetto. They also have great deals on ammo. Love that company.
I came back to this article to forward it to someone else and came across your post.
Here's another thing. I got a message a while back from the young, single daughter of a friend who's in the first year of a professional job in a large city. She's complaining that all of the men she meets are whiny, neurotic, needy, and immature and asks me where she goes to meet "real men." I told her you have to hunt them in their natural habitat, and the vegan section of Whole Foods was't it. One of the places I mentioned was to take lessons at a gun range.
Great stuff. I remembering living in SoCal when the entertainment industry was exciting, where creative asymmetry could suddenly break into wildly expansionist dynamisms. But, no longer.
I support all you say. As for getting boys/young men into doing better things than watching idiot media, I would encourage more out of door activity (boy scouts, with as many boys as possible), competitive sports, building things (modelling, robotics, coding), even doing paying student jobs.
Quickest way to redpill a teenage boy is get him a job at a fast food or retail place. Let him see how much work goes into a meager paycheck and how much the government takes out of it. Let him work with loser adults so he can understand why he needs to choose a serious skillset if he goes to college or tradeschools.
The McSweatshop wakes people up.
Indeed. Student jobs are ideal for making some entry level coin, learning some basic skills, learning how the workplace works, learning how taxes work (as you say), and figuring out that you need much higher level skills eventually if you intend have any success in the world.
You forget to mention that the wokerati have a visceral hatred for the standards of common decency and even simple reality-recognition, because the mere existence of these things feels like an assault on their feelings about themselves. They hate the contrast and they seek to erase it, not by improving themselves or even just trying to be normal, but by eliminating normality altogether.
Right, different on the outside but somehow all the same on the inside.
Best example of how stupid these people got with streaming? They threw a ton of money at a narcissistic no-talent former D-List cable TV actress and her man-child spare drone mummy died and I'm so sad prince. That alone deserves a file box and a personal security escort to the door for whatever brain surgeon came up with that idea.
Best/worst example of how truly it is TFU? A Gentleman in Moscow. Wonderful story. Well, done...except...I'm sorry people. There were no Black Soviet Commissars. I'm sorry. There just WEREN'T. Stop trying to shoe-horn BIPOCs into historical situations where they never appeared. It's just such eye-rollingly stupidly obvious pandering that it's offensive. What's next? Asian Zulu warriors?
Well in games you now have an assassin's creed game (a series that generally tries to stay fairly historically grounded) set in feudal Japan where the main (player) character is a black samurai assassin. normally they would never pull this sort of thing, but we all know the Japanese are white-adjacent and so don't get the normal rules. Colonizers even!
There is historically one black guy who was in Japan for a bit, but he definitely wasn't a top secret assassin and just the whole idea of making the feudal Japan game about a secret assassin focus on a black guy is hilarious and absurd.
Hey, after the latest (I guess) portrayal of Anne Boleyn...
As per usual, the real test is, "Can we do it both ways?" How about a movie about ancient Africa with Chinese and Caucasian actors playing some of the parts, can that be done? Didn't think so.
"developed a tendency to evaluate entertainment media on political rather than artistic merits" -- I recently wrote about this from the fandom perspective; a lot of this seems to come from groups of fans who intentionally used media to facilitate activism via what they call "cultural acupuncture. I can recommend the book "By Any Media Necessary" to see how this strategy was openly laid out. A lot of these fan activists have since joined the industry, so it makes perfect sense that this activist-politically tinged output has proliferated.
I will disagree with you on Bros-- The issue isn't that it's a gay romcom, it's that it wasn't advertised to women at all. Straight women are a big part of the audience for gay content, it's how Heartstopper did so well and became a series, and Red, White & Royal Blue also fits that formula. Those are gay romcoms but were also very clearly aimed towards female audiences. The Bros marketing was very "bro-y" for lack of a better term, and definitely seemed aimed at men. It's why the original Queer as Folk US succeeded, by targeting women, and the reboot failed, by squarely aiming for the "queer community" which isn't large enough to sustain a show.
I've written about this as well--I don't mean to sound self-important but just to say there is a lot behind this approach, the commodification of gay sexuality has a very large (straight) female audience. A lot of it has its root in fandom culture and the concept of "slash" which has a primarily female audience. This is why "queer baiting" has become such a commonality amongst celebrities, it's not necessarily for "points" as much as it is to appeal to those audiences that want to imagine that these people are actually gay/bi.
Good piece and I liked how you tied together the increasing wokeness with the largess of cash from low interest rates and desperation to pump out content for streaming. I do think those played a factor, and hadn't thought explicitly about that connection before.
Absolutely brilliant. Thanks for putting this together for us, and in one tidy package. Very helpful!
Awesome article and totally agree but you should avoid quoting raging misogynist FDB as much.
The guys an arse.
Even a broken clock...
Hmmm maybe 😂😂. Sorry if that came off as rude. I was very very hot and in military uniform when I wrote it 😂😂
It's more funny - I have some history with ol' Freddie....
https://substack.com/@milesmcstylez/note/c-52637691
I even liked that post 😂
That third woman is in blackshirt! That's gotta be racist somehow…
Unless the force is rainbow then it is not woke enough to crash and burn.
South Park speaks more truth than most news outlets.
Ant that the truth.
I think you can extend this idea to the rest of the woke left; they are not just parasitic in culture but in every institution they become part of. They do not create anything or produce anything. Instead they shame successful institutions into hiring them and then they start hiring more of themselves and imposing their diktats until the institution either rots from the inside (Washington Post, Harvard) or pushes back to save itself (New York Times, Univ of Florida).
Liberals Are Destroying Themselves
And One Another.
Why ?
Because They Are Each
Their Own Answer.
Living In A World
Where The Right Questions
Are Never Asked.
This podcast will explain a lot about the apparent left that is not real:
https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/PmruNLMn8Kb
Great article. Loved that read. Entertaining too, 😁.
Do they realise, the only way to read their to shirts is to stare at their chests? Is that feminist?
The best decision I've made in my life is to stop watching cable television. Every program promotes homosexuality and perversion. The only new show I've seen in three years that doesn't feature perversion is THE OUTLAWS (on Amazon Prime Video). As far as Hollywood goes, the highly touted TOP GUN: Maverick was tweaked a bit to make the CCP happy. If there is anything good that can be said about the COVID lockdowns is that it changed Americans' viewing habits. No one goes to movies anymore.
Few drink that watery obscenity called Bud Light and Disney has ruined several previously entertaining movie series.
We all know what must be done to parasites.