The Way of Men

by Jack Donovan

Masculinity is about being a man within a group of men. Above all things, masculinity is about what men want from each other.

Some researchers believe that the human brain can only process enough information to maintain meaningful relationships with 150 or so people at any given time.

The fireteam-to-platoon sized gang is the smallest unit of us. Beyond us is them, and the line that separates us from them is a circle of trust.

People like to make friends. Being on the defensive all the time is stressful. Most people want to trust other people. Most people want to be able to relax.

Vir is the Latin word for “man.” The word “virtue” comes from the Latin “virtus.” To the early Romans, virtus meant manliness, and manliness meant martial valor.

“Civilized” virtue is about being a good person, a good citizen, a good member of a particular society.

Strength, in the strictest physical sense, is the muscular ability to exert pressure.

Humans are unequal in their aptitudes. This is one of the cruel but fundamental truths of human life.

The experience of being male is the experience of having greater strength, and strength must be exercised and demonstrated to be of any worth. When men will not or cannot exercise their strength or put it to use, strength is decorative and worthless.

Courage implies a risk. It implies a potential for failure or the presence of danger. Courage is measured against danger. The greater the danger, the greater the courage. Running into a burning building beats telling off your boss. Telling off your boss is more courageous than writing a really mean anonymous note. Acts without meaningful consequences require little courage.

It is not the strongest man who will necessarily lead, it is the man who takes the lead who will lead.

Heracles was depicted wearing the skin of a powerful lion he killed.

I have that wooden Lion Carving

This is the way that we were trained "brain washed" to grow up. Go to school, get a job, get married, and live in the rat race. Only now (and ironically through being locked up via Covid-19 restrictions), do I understand the importance of digging into my tribalism of being a man. The importance of being strong. The importance of being opinionated and standing up for your beliefs and values. The importance of not worrying what others think and the fear of being cancelled. I would not recognize myself a year ago and I'm glad I have made the shift.

One of the problems with massive welfare states is that they make children or beggars of us all, and as such are an affront and a barrier to adult masculinity.

This is the mission of the left. They call all masculinity "Toxic" therefore if they can minimize the self worth of men, they can control more by making sure that we the people are dependent on the government for welfare programs. Any objection to the belief and you are called every "ist" in the book. Men want to be men. They don't want the government "parent" to take care of them. Being locked down inhibits our natural instinct to get out and PROTECT PROVIDE & PRESIDE (order of man).

Masculine loathing of dependence is a bulwark to the therapeutic mother state.

Mastery is a man’s desire and ability to cultivate and demonstrate proficiency and expertise in technics that aid in the exertion of will over himself, over nature, over women, and over other men.

To be honored is to be respected by one’s peers.

For instance, the slogan “Honor Diversity” is popular with gay rights advocates, who reject traditional, hierarchical ways of defining both honor and masculinity. “Honor Diversity” is an interesting slogan, because it essentially means “honor everyone and everything.” If everyone is honored equally, and everyone’s way of life is honored equally, honor has no hierarchy, and therefore honor has little value according to the economics of supply and demand.

Honor is a man’s reputation for strength, courage and mastery within the context of an honor group comprised primarily of other men.

Being a good man has to do with ideas about morality, ethics, religion, and behaving productively within a given civilizational structure.

Men of ideas and men of action have much to learn from each other, and the truly great are men of both action and abstraction.

A man who is more concerned with being a good man than being good at being a man makes a very well-behaved slave.