Member Editorial

VOTE NO TO THE BAILOUT

2008-09-24T12:09:00.000-07:00

I thought the unedited comments below from Thurston Bell would be of interest to you.

Well Street is presently seeking Constitutional Protection and absolution for its lawless lifestyle and gambling with the Money of the Nation by Section 4 of Amending Article 14 of the U.S. Constitution.

When this is done, by constitutional amendment, nobody will be able to question the losses and debts of these People because it will all be the Public debt that must be paid.

Holy Private Law Batman! What about everyone else?

America has been riding this lie for far too long, and now the Rich want to avoid paying the Piper.

VOTE NO!

Call your Congressman and Senator, to VOTE NO!

And if they do not vote NO, then you will not be voting for them.

This propblem is rooted deeply into history.

It is exposed and predicted in the Historical recitation of the U.S. Supreme Court in Craig v. Missouri, 29 U.S. 410 (1830), which well explained that any and all emition of paper bonds and bills, of States, Municipalities, Corporations and others, was simply wrongheaded means of depriving the final holder of the paper of the value that they were lead to believe that they were receiving.

Congress ignored this in 1913 by enacting the Federal Reserve Act and allowing the Banks to flood America with cheap credit all through the 1920's...until 1929.

After forcing America to their knees and helpng us fight a War against a National Socialist Germany which was not very distinguishable from the U.S. (See West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette, where the Pledge of Aliegence hand salute is described as a Nazi Salute with the hand down-side up) we have seen about 2000% inflation.

We have allowed the creation of even more commercial paper and means of betting for and against paper and events on Wall Street, that it is plainly naked legalized gambling.

Now the elite of Wall Street want their losses made into a debt that is constitutionally guarateed and unquestionable.

Sounds like a Crime to me.

Perhaps we need a reset on the values of everything, and a return to our actual sustainable values.

Thurston Paul Bell

MORAL DISASTER IN THE SCHOOL SYSTEM

2008-05-29T04:01:00.000-07:00

Only a day or two after reading the story about the 11 year-old girl sexual predator in England I saw a CNN report that eight middle school children have been expelled from their school in South Carolina for having sex while on a field trip to Washington, DC.

The chaperones made one visit to their quarters in the evening and said there would make a second by 12AM. Since they did not show up for the second visit, five children went out on the prowl looking for sex. They were girls, and they found a room with five boys and had a middle school orgy.

Chalk-up a great victory for the purveyors of sluthood in our education system who have taught children that there is no right or wrong, only choices. They have taught that the authority of parents and church are meaningless, and that “rights” carry no responsibility of self-restraint.

After attending our public education system and having been taught things deviant, given unmonitored access to material that was once rated-R, and exposed to sexually graphic music blaring through the government controlled public airwaves 24/7, on what basis were 8 of the 10 students expelled?

After being fully indoctrinated into the public policy of permissiveness, I am sure that the hypocrisy shown to them by their expulsion makes those children in South Carolina wonder why they are being punished for emulating the leader of our government, or following knowledge given to them by the sexual and media education of the school system.

Education used to be about discipline and cultivating good thinking habits. From what I have seen of my own education which endorsed pornography in the most subtle manner, it is clear that academia has lead our children away from discipline and down a path to sluthood.

Education was supposed to help people properly exercise freedom, which was always about possessing the ability to do the right thing, not just anything. With the elimination of moral absolutes, there is no right thing and there is no wrong thing.

The expulsion of these children from school is inconsistent with all of the messages of permissiveness taught to them. The tacit approval of the debauching of this society by the government and media has taught them that right and wrong are capriciously determined by power and authority, not a formula of goodness and morality.

Their actions were consistent with their education and lack of moral training.

Misfit

THE WAR OF FEMININE PERMISSIVENESS

2008-05-25T07:23:00.000-07:00

A change has occurred to the “woman as victim, man a perpetrator” television scenarios that have dominated programming for many years. This season I have been shocked to see programs depicting more men as victims of vindictive and falsely accusing women.

A recent program ran an installment where an accused (male) child is defended by a female defense attorney who argues he is mentally defective because of his exposure to pornography and the overall sexualization of children by this polluted culture of permissive media.

The defense attorney even brought up the girls being dressed as sluts and whores, or are wearing T-shirts that say ‘Hustler’ on them.

Has this fictional story now raised the awareness in the minds of the people (actually the reporting staffs of the media) to the slutification of our girls, and the predatorization (yes, I made up this word, we will need it as we will be seeing more of this) of our boys? .
From the stories from England and South Carolina written about previously, it appears clear that girls can be predators. They are products of modern American education that teach there is no right or wrong, or personal restraint.

Entertainment finally addresses the situation of boys sent to school where girls dress in the slut fashion of the day and wear ‘Hustler’ T-Shirts, and then go home where mom and dad are still at work, and they have unmonitored time to access all things sexual and deviant. The script pointed out that the government controlled airwaves blast “music” of everything sexual and lurid that can be recorded. Yet, there was no address of the tacit endorsement and exposure of pornography in the media shown to children that leeched into the education system of America in the 1980’s. I was there. I saw it.

The media might be recognizing that they have inextricably altered the moral content of Western civilization to the point that there is little shelter for those who would like the choice of virtue and decency in their world.

The programming beamed to young and impressionable minds that can create predators of children who are without discipline, self-restraint, and an understanding of consequences, are carried to us in the marketplace of ideas under the guise of “freedom.”

This is a fallacy and a ruse, for freedom can only be about possessing the right to do the right thing, not just anything.

Doing just anything is permissiveness, which has no moral absolutes, no right thing wrong thing; only choices.

When children are taught in a feminine permissive environment they cannot understand consequences. They cannot practice self-restraint and discipline that they have never been taught. They cannot distinguish good from bad beyond the mere power of the authority defining good and bad and issuing a punishment.

Businesses these days cannot find workers in America, because the work force is undisciplined, lie, cheat, steal, and is generally bawdy in nature—a condition blamed on what educational establishment has produced.

The schools complain that the children are undisciplined, lie, cheat, steal, and do not administer corporal punishment. Teachers cannot enforce discipline because they teach there is no right/good or wrong/bad behavior. Still they complain about lack of discipline.

Parents are in fear for their lives for disciplining their children who have been taught at the school how to call the police and file an abuse complaint if they do not get what they want, or have to endure a parental effort of discipline.

Freedom cannot exist without discipline, self-restraint, and responsibility. The wheels of commerce are grinding to a halt because of lack of disciplined and committed workers, the earnings of the porn industry grow ever larger, and more men are in prison in America than anywhere else.

America has been the victim of the “War of Feminine Permissiveness,” because it abandoned the moral, personal restraint of patriarchy—the natural learning ground of human behavior.

Misfit.

A CASE OF BRITISH OUTRAGE

2008-05-21T17:49:00.000-07:00

A case of outrage occurred in England recently, when a 20 year-old man was not found guilty, for his two efforts to rape an 11 year-old girl. For all practical purposes she behaved as a slut in training under the eyes of her parents and the modern permissive educational system of England.

This child misrepresented herself in an adult chat room dating sight where she used language and talked of things that made the judge blush. She elected to meet with the young man in two instances days apart, to which she had cried attempted rape in each case. On the second of the two alleged instances she left her school grounds while on lunch break.

Why aren’t the parents suing the school for not securing the child?

Where were the Parents? Why have they not been investigated for child neglect?

Why is this mixed-up narcissistic deluded product of modern childrearing and liberal anything goes education not in the foster care of the state?

In light of all of the teacher sex cases in this country, we now know that sexual predators are no longer just men.

It seems that the British judiciary understands that girls can be dynamic and dangerous human beings, when left to their own devices. Yet, it seems hesitant to announce that the society of feminine permissiveness it has crafted is to blame for outrageous behavior.

This case raises new questions that I am certain Western civilization will ignore.

What is the age of consent for being a sexual predator?

If women are equal to men, and girls equal to boys, will the women’s interest groups acknowledge that this girl in England is a sexual predator?

When will the courts acknowledge little girls can be sexual predators?

Since this little girl has a brain and nerve endings as other girls, and similar to boys, does this mean that all are potential sexual predators?

If we educate such children about sex, and all things deviant in our public education system, send them home where mom and dad are still at work, (sorry only Mommy is at work because there is no Daddy) and they have unmonitored time to access all things sexual and deviant, do we think that they will not access this information?

In a civilization that preaches endless permissiveness and the lack of right or wrong choice so as to avoid the concept of discipline, can a child ascertain how to do what is right and enjoy the benefit of dong so?

This case has caused outrage in that the young-man was not jailed.

So why is there a clamor in England for the 20 year-old to be imprisoned, since there is state policy to teach that there are no right or wrong choices?

He was the adult, but he is a product of the same educational system, so was he not merely just as irresponsible as the 11 year-old, having received the same training?

England has lead the way, and America will follow.

The disaster here will be on an even larger scale.

by Misfit

THANK YOU MILEY CYRUS

2008-05-03T18:13:00.000-07:00

In the hoopla of recent headlines regarding Miley Cyrus, and the video of the discussion on Showbiz Tonight on CNN, the voice of reason has come out of the morass of the featured disjointed commentary.

To my amazement, the featured panelists on Showbiz Tonight presented a rare voice of reason by stating that "the adults failed..." and that 15 year-old Miley could have said "No, not yet..." to the requests of the acclaimed photographer's request to stage the suggestive photograph.

These two women have pegged Miley’s issue and the situation of our nation. Adults not drawing the line have resulted in the sexualization of our children as well as making sex an icon of our society.

It is a crime that there was no man on the program to provide a Fatherly opinion. But we all know that Men are either religious zealots or rapists in the eyes of media and academic culture.

Do these comments of women suggest that the winds are changing since the last Disney starlet received breast implants at the age of 17?

Marketing at the allegedly wholesome Disney Corporation led the prior groomed starlets Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera down paths of indisputable degeneracy. Spears and her horrible choices (tongue kissing Madonna on MTV), and Aguilera and her naked pregnancy poses in and on the cover of a magazine that asks if she is still "Dirty."

Miley's predecessors have answered the question as 'Yes, we are still dirty after we graduated from innocence at Disney to whoredom in the broader world. Just like Madonna went from 'virgin' image immediately to 'slut'. Meanwhile, we in broader society have to live with being inundated by this garbage, even if we do change the channel.

Is there anything wholesome and lovely left of our humanity for our little children to inherit?

Certainly not within the confines of the media that have inundated us with this perverse culture. We have allowed our pre-teen daughters to be sold the message in teen and glamour magazines, that to be grown up is to be a slut.

We are coerced into buying clothing that results in our daughters being dressed as bawdy women in the slut fashion of the day, and at the same time we parents are expected to teach them morals by drawing the line and telling them not to act as they are dressed.

Now more than ever, society has clearly made parents up to be great hypocrites in the eyes of their children, and adults just cannot see it.

Miley's case may give us a voice though. For women have made the point of asking the question, " ...is this an appropriate public photograph for a 15 year-old?", as the question coming from the mouths of women might indicate that like France's turn about against its addiction to nudes and lurid advertisement, our nation may have had enough.

It may now be time that men can ask, 'What message is being sent to 15 year-old boys, who have been the target to the exposed teacher sex rampage in the schools, by the permissive messages of our media?' without being called names and devalued.

We all know the pressure on the young is extreme, even without inducements and messages from the Media and the impulse loosing effects of alcohol and drugs. So then, our message as fathers and Rebuilders of Society is an important balancing act to moderate a society which, if indeed free in any capacity, will always have the loose women and philandering men, but, if it is to survive by the creation of personal affinity between the personalities of individual men and women, will never place the images of sluts on the pedestal and pillar positions as builders and centers of society.

As men, who want good, wholesome, romantic, and feminine women for our own lives, families, and sons, watch this contrived controversy unfold, what will we say to our girls about the unbridled narcissism of our culture, and the naked sexualization of children?

What will we say to our boys who are assaulted with images to make them feel inferior and undeserving?

What will we say to make some effort at having something true, good, and wholesome in our lives, and give to the world in the form of our responsible, self-controlled, accomplished, self-respecting, and mature children?

The media and the women who run the women's and teen girl magazines are not doing the job of preserving and nurturing any true and wholesome core of our society. They are being well paid to do precisely the opposite.

Will you as a Man dare to resist the power? Will you speak up and oppose this War waged against the nature and self-seem of our children?

Misfit

THE ATTACK ON POLYGAMY

2008-04-23T14:22:00.000-07:00

I have been considering the ramifications of the Yearn For Zion raid in the law since no 16-year-old girl ever called the State of Texas.

There is little hope that these people's lives will ever be returned to them now that the children have been taken from them.

But, like the Emerson Case, where his life was destroyed, the law of unintended consequences will reveal more truth of what the government seeks.

First of all, the Children are not being returned under guise of their well-being and an investigation of their fathers for bigamy.

If only the Husbands are the criminals, and the State cared about the children, why are they not with their mothers (wink,wink)?

I am certain that the children only need to be swabbed for DNA and then returned to their mothers. It is not like they are going to disappear; the Rangers can keep them on the compound, which is gated.

Or is it that the Mothers are unfit, because they have religious beliefs regarding polygamy that is founded in the Old Testament?

The welfare of the Children is not what it is all about because the State almost always says it is best for the children to be with their mothers—except in this circumstance.

This incident really concerns religious freedom, and the State says that you can believe anything you want, as long as you do not actually practice it.

Second, the bigamy law will now have to be placed on trial and found to be just as unconstitutional as the sodomy laws in Texas were found in Lawrence v. Texas.

This is that open door that the Religious Right claimed that the Lawrence case would bring in polygamy, and actually give hope of the return to Patriarchy instead of Proxy Matriarchy of modern Christianity.

The Rule of Informed and Consenting Adults will now take the Texas Bigamy law down and make America safe for patriarchy again.

Right...

I am certain that it will now be constitutionally challenged up to the U.S. Supreme Court who will refuse to hear the case, which means that:

Two men can be married.

Two Women can be married.

A Man and a Woman can be married, as long as the Man can be held criminally liable for procreating with the woman.

BUT, a Man cannot have more than one Wife, and certainly cannot procreate with them, even if they agree as Informed and Consenting Adults.

SO....WHAT DO WE LEARN FROM THIS?

The U.S. Supreme Court will refuse to hear the case when faced with their own ruling on Lawrence v. Texas. The Federal Courts and Texas Courts will reject the logical precedent of the U.S. Supreme Court and find these men guilty as they prove that they were living in the homes with the Women even over a night or two here and there.

Thus, the line of truth will be clearly shown, that like criminal law, family law is about punishing any family. (in Support of this point I offer this from my recent filing in PA Superior Court):

"The following quote from Dennis Laurence Cuddy, Ph.D., Former Senior Associate with the U.S. Department of Education. Historian, Political Analyst, and Witness before Congress for the U.S. Department of Justice, reveals what appears to be what is actually in operation in the reasoning of the Courts in cases such as this.

It is an actual state of WAR against the Family structure that is inherent in the Academic, Political, and Judicial Areas of Social Services:

“In the third volume of Arthur Calhoun's A SOCIAL HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN FAMILY, published in 1919 and widely used as a social service textbook, one reads: "The new view is that the higher and more obligatory relation is to society rather than to the family; the family goes back to the age of savagery while the state belongs to the age of civilization.”

(As if Civilization did not spawn from family?)

Nakedly, plainly, those in charge of society are twisted and consumed with their own brilliance and wisdom, which now rules to destroy any ability for any known Society of present or past to function.

Today, the law makes it illegal for Men to Procreate and be poor, while poor Single Women receive all of the benefits of the Socialist Society, and artificially inseminated Lesbians are lauded as forward and liberated thinkers.

It will be nakedly obvious when this is played out. The WAR on Men will no longer be deniable.

Men will tear this Judicial System and Government apart. The People will watch the Foreigner do this, and embrace them as Liberators.

Why does this war exist?

Western Aristocracy is consumed with Ruling by the Sword and de facto Rule by ownership of things.

Western Aristocracy knew that it could not maintain power in the face of prodigious individual families that could out populate, and thus out produce them.

There is probably little coincidence that the Western World continues to represent a smaller and smaller portion of the World Population, as the Polygamous world is growing.

My GOD is not mocked. The meek who understand Patriarchy, the value of Men, and Children, the Nurturing Nature of Women, and the requirement of yielding to natural laws, SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH.

The Wickerman - original 1973 film

2008-01-09T15:06:00.001-08:00

Brothers,

For this past Holiday Season a friend gave me a very disturbing movie.

It was the original The Wickerman, made in 1973.

It was billed as a Horror movie, with eroticism, and was probably so at that time.

Horror and eroticism are obviously much more advanced to our modern desensitization.

I say these things as I am compelled to mention how shocked I was due to the Overt Christian dialogue. It is a wonder as to how this Film was ever made.

I can suppose that my friend had no idea the significance of this film to me in my present conundrum as well as my work on fully understanding the Message of Elder George and the disease of Western thought. When I queried my friends thoughts on the movie he had nothing to comment, while I, after the shocking ending of the Film, delved into the TRUE nature of the Protagonist as well as the Natures of the Overtly Christian and Overtly Neo-Pagan cultures who are shown to be clashing in this story.

For my Brothers who are followers of the Bible and Christianity, there is much to ask oneself regarding the behavior of the Christian Protagonist of the Story, so I encourage you all to find this Film and consider the substance for yourselves.

In so far as the background elements of the Story as presented I laughed out loud to myself when I realized that the Neo-Pagan culture presented in the Film as the "Natural" and "indigenous" ways of the People was actually and admittedly introduced and constructed by ...a Western Victorian Aristocrat.

So here in this film is a prime example of aristocracy, filled with its pride of accomplishment and science, modern reason, giving people a false construct to live in. Selling it as the Natural Way. Indoctrinating the youth, and finally coming apart because of the fact that the cornerstone idea of the neo-pagan culture is an un-natural horticultural product...genetically selected fruit.

Who selected this? The Aristocracy of course!

I saw in this film a great illustration of Elder's point about aristocratic feminized Western thought.

I saw a great illustration of the feminized western thought of the Christianity lived by the protagonist, only when reading about the scenes of his life that were left on the cutting room floor.

Thus, in the tension of cultures in this film I saw the reigning question of Elder's...and that being; is there a Natural Way of life that can be adopted by those of Western Thought? Because both cultures were ultimately polluted, and unsustainable.

I found this film compels me to see how much materialism is ingrained into faith of Western Christianity It also makes a compelling argument against blindly believing anything that is marketed as or claiming to be natural or of nature, for some things are found to be quite unnatural and destructive to nature when their actual foundations are examined.

I find it shocking to see that Elder's Message indicting western aristocratic thought and control plays out in this Film.

I find it shocking that there is really the greater point of conclusion, that replacement of the Natural way of life with an unnatural one is unsustainable, even if you market it as 'Natural' or 'Christian', is madness.

As with all forms of healing, wrongness must be recognized and admitted before it can be repaired. For us this means that if we are so enamored in pride at our much ignored foundational documents and laws that are the pillars of Western Civilization, that we fail to see how dead they have been made by Western Civilization itself, then we cling to that which a false construct wearing an air of greatness, but having no substance, something that claims to be natural and of natural rights, but actually having nothing but war against such rights.

If we are incapable of recognizing wrongness, the madness of today is perpetuated.

Thurston Paul Bell

WHAT DOES YOUR PATRIARCHY LOOK LIKE?

2007-12-18T14:09:00.000-08:00

My Brothers,

Since Elder George’s article regarding Action where he mentioned the beginning of the Cuban Marxists Revolution, I have wanted to write something to all Men in light of the under whelming response to that particularly important article.

The Mechanics of Elder’s article is basically beyond reproach. The Mentioning of techniques and mechanics applied by Men of the Past who instituted change from where there was previously nothing, are important subjects for study and understanding so that each of can see the things that we can do as a single individual on a daily basis, and not be ineffectual by being overwhelmed by the magnitude of the task at hand.

The lack of response to the Article was similar to the Gospel story where the Rich Young Man came to Jesus and asked what must he do to be saved, Jesus told that single individual that he was owned and controlled by his wealth, and needed to get rid of his materialism and then follow HIM. The Apostles watched the Young Man walk away from the Man who they later would individually Name, suffer for, and die for, while separated by great time and space, for their testimony that HE was the Moshiach (Messiah).

Later, from the event surrounding the inquiry of the Young Man who was entrapped in his materialism, Jesus sent the 70 out to the whole land, without purse, or food, or change of clothes (anti-materialist presentation) to bring his message to every town and city.

Is that no different from 50 Seasick men coming to Cuba with Castro, men with a mission to first immediately survive and build their numbers?

The nature of OUR message is where we diverge from the Materialist messages of Both Marxism and Capitalism. Both ideas are failures. Both ideas are extremities of the same beast of Materialism.

This is the heavy part of the message:

Both ideas have no place in the relationships between Man and Wife, Men and Women.

Man and Woman are no better leaving through separate doors from a strip club than they are when one is going through the door to the welfare office and the other going into prison.

I implore you brothers.

This idea of Elder George’s is OFF of the TABLE of ideologies and ideas that you have been sold by two arms of materialist propaganda who made you literate only for the purpose of consuming ITS ideas alone. Both Capitalism and Marxism, in whatever quantity and combination, both devalue YOU as an Individual.

Some of you are well wary of Elder’s work in observation of the Patriarchy of Islam, and how Islamic people embrace his message.

Let us be clear. Islam represents a type of Patriarchy, not the ONLY form of Patriarchy. Just as Mormonism was once a form of Patriarchy, but never was the only form of Patriarchy.

So Mormonism and Islam are like two automobiles driving to and fro moving People around meeting their needs for their Society and Companionship, while Materialism in all of its forms fails, like an automobile on Blocks, or an Engine merely mounted to a stationary object where people are enslaved to keep it fed and running, but producing no result.

Just as I saw in one of those Italian Produced Bible Movie’s in TBN, there was this scene where Martin Landau playing Jacob is talking with Judah, who has returned to his camp and tent, asking what he should do about Tamar, the Wife of his Three Dead son’s who is now pregnant, who obviously sinned with someone and was due the death penalty, Jacob says ‘Judah, you have left my Camp, you have left my House, you have labored to establish yourself. You must dispose of this issue without me, but in a manner consistent with the beliefs in Justice that you have established for your People.’

I never personally considered the possibilities of these words being in the Torah, due to my tendency of absolutism, yet they are reasonable and just. For who was even Jacob to tell his Adult and independent Son what to do in his own house?

Thus I offer you a glimpse of a Middle Eastern Patriarchy, the foundation of Western Faith; a Picture foreign to life as we know it today, a life that does not work.

Elder George's Book says to me, 'Dare to dream it!'

So…what does your Patriarchy Look like?

Share your vision of it with someone.

Thurston Paul Bell

PAPER MONEY INSTEAD OF PATRIARCHY

2007-12-11T05:45:00.001-08:00

In response to the recent Dow Jones story of Iran moving from dollar monetized oil sales while the Bush administration rattles its sabers in the form of two carrier battle fleets in their region, I penned the following thoughts.

It’s all about paper money, the power to print paper money creates a position of absolute power of all those who are slaves to materialism/Mammon, which is the majority of people.

Threaten the paper money of America as Saddam did prior to our invasion and find yourself dead like him, and destroyed like me, or legislated against by HR 1955 like Ron Paul and others who are awakening could be. They realize that government cannot assure, insure, nor provide a safe, stable, and successful life. They have decided they want protection FROM government and its intrusion; they want to find a way where they themselves make the choices instead of unaccountable bureaucrats.

Iran has now declared war against American paper money and American bank accounts by refusing to trade in dollars. Did you know that most of our oil has been coming from Iran?

That’s why America destabilized Iran in 1953, swept out a democratically elected leader and put the totalitarian Shah in power for BP Oil (a British concern). Seems the British have owned us for quite some time since the war of 1812. I know they own me, for the shirt I wear at work has BP printed on it, not AMOCO.

Patriarchy was a collateral casualty of the ultimate goal of the controllers and destroyers of mankind, a bonus of sorts, just one of the many dominos of power falling to the power of the banker’s printing presses. With paper money Congress became the co-conspirator for endless power with the banks by creating all the money they need to finance their endless expansion of power.

Next to fall was the wealth of families, given over to the trust and protectorate of banks, and not left in the hands of fathers of families whose duty to their blood (children) is infinitely more real that the balance sheet of an accountant is does what he is told is legal.

SunTzu said, “No war can be successful if the people do not give their silver and their sons.”

Those who control war now have your silver and also send your sons and daughters to die.

This is the result of a society by government and its endless unaccountable bureaucracies, instead of a society built on patriarchy, where REAL MEN are held to account.

The family is destroyed.

We have been betrayed and abandoned.

The enemy is distorted Western thought.

Nothing will change if we do not start thinking differently and take action.

Thurston Paul Bell.

PATRIARCHY: LIFE IN BALANCE

2007-10-21T06:27:00.000-07:00

Men's activists indicate that we live in a social structure that reserves many special rights and privileges for women and none for men. Perhaps the most obvious example is the female's exemption from compulsory military service and dangerous combat, a practice common in even the most egalitarian-minded societies and which most people,myself included, accept and support. "Equal rights" are simply not desirable in many instances, because most people want women to have the privilege of protection. My question then becomes, what compensating rights, privileges, or special treatment do men deserve?

The work of anthropologists Robin Fox and Lionel Tiger may help answer this question. They vividly describe the social structure of primates in The Imperial Animal, which in their view is essentially a system for ensuring the success of a breeding group. They maintain that this basic structure, with important modifications, persists and will always persist in humans: alpha males in the middle, surrounded by all the females and young males, and all the other adult males on the fringes. The alpha males lead, resolve disputes, breed with their choice of females, and work together to maintain their position. The adult females demand help with their young from the alpha males, acquaint their male offspring with the alpha males as a means of promoting them, and ward off (or occasionally run off with) other adult males. They are always protected from invaders, and strive for access to the alphas males. On the fringes, the non-alpha males provide defense from predators, challenge the alpha males in dramatic ways, and occasionally partake in liaisons with adult females.

What makes this system stable is the attention paid to the alpha males; indeed, without a patriarch or set of patriarchs, the primal group dissolves completely. The demands on the patriarch can be so onerous that some find they don't like it and wander off, either tolead a solitary life or one with the other non-alpha males. Unless a new adult male takes over the role, a group without a patriarch scatters, and each of the pieces joins up with another group that does have male leadership.

The natural human system is similar an many respects. The often-heard adage that "If you look at those who hold a lot of power in society, you'll find they're almost all men" is a true statement, and the "If..." part is emblematic of the primal tendency to ignore marginal males such as military conscripts, workplace fatalities, the homeless,and so forth, while star-struck by the high-status guys. The term "male-centered culture" as well reflects the invisibility of those in the outer circle. The "old-boys" network is real, and exclusive; just as real but less recognized are the challenges involved in maintainingmembership such as enduring harassment by the females, challenges by younger males, a lack of privacy, and so forth.

In this system, there is no mechanism of patriarchs promoting or caring for lesser males. In fact, lesser adult males mostly constitute a threat to the patriarchs. Lesser males must usurp authority; they are not given it. This is another reason besides the undesirability of"equal rights" that petitioning the power structure for relief from injustices against males is unlikely to succeed.

Of course, we are not exactly like apes. Fox and Tiger mention a few characteristics of humans which distinguish them from the other primates, with the supposition that these changes were necessary for survival: people make deals to share food and resources, men play an important part in raising the young, and as men began hunting together male bonding evolved. All men were eligible to participate in the hunt.

Because men so easily and routinely bond with each other, as only the alpha males do in the primal system, I believe men have a capacity for the role of patriarch to a much greater degree than the other primates. However, a limited number of positions can ever be available in large human groupings, and usually involve stiff competition. Until recently, the family offered most men a means of expression for their primal tendency to lead, resolve disputes, reproduce, help raise the young, take responsibility for defense, and so on.

In The Decline of Males, Tiger says we are devolving into the primal system with the human modifications greatly diminished. This comes as a result of industrialization, which causes individuals to act as independent contractors, instead of an integral part of society. The devolution consists of men living increasingly on the fringes offamily and political life, and marginalized to the point that they must sneak around to engage in male bonding. Today family courts routinely drive men away from their families and out of their homes. Laws and institutional rules increasingly disallow normal male behavior, and cries to ban an all-male golf club fall on many a sympathetic ear. In my workplace, the only time men seem to spend together is their lunch hour playing cards in the corner of the cafeteria. Men's activism against these recent changes often takes a strident, revolutionary tone, underscoring their place on the fringe.

Based on these facts, I suggest the set of compensating rights, privileges, and special treatment that men can fairly claim for themselves is the legitimate position of patriarch. This position includes responsibility and authority to provide for and protect womenand children, to raise girls to be capable women and boys to be capable men, and to coach each other actively in their performance of the role. As Elder George states frequently, "Men provide the environment and means that enable women to bring forth life and nurture it."

If the baboons can do it, why can't we?

Marc Roemer