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.
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.
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.
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.
The spouse factor is real. I upped my Netflix subscription last night to avoid paying for ads even though I never watch it. Other than old Star Trek episodes (ironically, the woke TV of its era) they have nothing that isn't specifically written to shit all over my race and gender. But my wife - who is NOT woke - nonetheless laps it up anyway. Bridgerton features a black Queen of England and half the men are black, this is absurd and a clear attempt at erasure that in no way reflects 19th century Britain. She doesn't care. It's got lots of women gossipping and getting married and romance, and that's what matters more.
Luckily that trash has finally ended. Probably she'll find something else now, but if she doesn't I'm tempted to end it ASAP. We don't need it because we can buy what we want on the Apple TV store where you only pay for content that you want, instead of for a streaming sub.
Ultimately, that's the issue: woke people are completely obsessed, and most non-woke people dislike it but not enough to forgo entertainment entirely.
I read an excellent article about the art world that made a complementary point. The world of high art started looking for something new to capitalize on in the 60s. Low culture, low art, "street culture." Now they're making the same gamble that they can do it again with the "BIPOC" coalition and all marginalized cultures from everywhere. Unfortunately for them it's just not working out the same way.
"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.
Damn, that's an incredibly well written comprehensive overview of the problem that manages to go far more in depth than a YouTube video could do. Not just worth saving, but worth printing out for future proofed reference.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 😂
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.
Absolutely brilliant. Thanks for putting this together for us, and in one tidy package. Very helpful!
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.
Great article. Loved that read. Entertaining too, 😁.
The spouse factor is real. I upped my Netflix subscription last night to avoid paying for ads even though I never watch it. Other than old Star Trek episodes (ironically, the woke TV of its era) they have nothing that isn't specifically written to shit all over my race and gender. But my wife - who is NOT woke - nonetheless laps it up anyway. Bridgerton features a black Queen of England and half the men are black, this is absurd and a clear attempt at erasure that in no way reflects 19th century Britain. She doesn't care. It's got lots of women gossipping and getting married and romance, and that's what matters more.
Luckily that trash has finally ended. Probably she'll find something else now, but if she doesn't I'm tempted to end it ASAP. We don't need it because we can buy what we want on the Apple TV store where you only pay for content that you want, instead of for a streaming sub.
Ultimately, that's the issue: woke people are completely obsessed, and most non-woke people dislike it but not enough to forgo entertainment entirely.
That moment when you see your sister in a meme… just kidding… but made you think.
I read an excellent article about the art world that made a complementary point. The world of high art started looking for something new to capitalize on in the 60s. Low culture, low art, "street culture." Now they're making the same gamble that they can do it again with the "BIPOC" coalition and all marginalized cultures from everywhere. Unfortunately for them it's just not working out the same way.
"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.
Do they realise, the only way to read their to shirts is to stare at their chests? Is that feminist?
Damn, that's an incredibly well written comprehensive overview of the problem that manages to go far more in depth than a YouTube video could do. Not just worth saving, but worth printing out for future proofed reference.