“Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.”
So goes the saying from author G. Michael Hopf’s post-apocalyptic novel Those Who Remain.
While it can be debated whether history can accurately be boiled down to the cyclical theory articulated in those words, there’s no doubt about one thing: America is facing hard and trying times — and it will take strong men to save the Republic.
Whether you call it conservative, constitutionalist or any other name, the right-wing movement in America is not engaged in a simple electoral debate. This is literally a life-and-death battle to salvage the nation from an enemy that wants to corrupt our children, tank our economy, destroy our freedom, and kill anyone who disagrees with their agenda.
Because the enemy — the globalist establishment — has seemingly endless money, resources, and political influence at its disposal, victory will take a bold generation of men and women who care more about truth, freedom, and the wellbeing of their posterity than about momentary comfort.
If the Right truly wants to harness such a force, then it must learn how to attract and develop such men.
Make no mistake: Every conflict throughout history has been settled by men who are willing to fight. Every successful movement has likewise been led by men who are willing to fight.
And “fight” does not only refer to armed conflict, although that has been one manifestation — America’s own War for Independence is an example.
But being willing to fight in the public square and the realm of ideas is just as important. The military component of the War of Independence would not have succeeded without the efforts of strong, hardened statesmen such as Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin; without all the many pamphleteers and public speakers and fiery preachers who convinced colonists of the cause of liberty.
And the ancestors of these men, the first colonists, displayed strength and courage in crossing the sea and settling an unknown land to secure freedom for themselves and their descendants.
That’s the spirit that is needed at this point in America’s history. But for so long, it has been seriously lacking. Anyone who is involved in conservative activism realizes that much — in many cases, most — of it is driven by women.
Naturally, there’s nothing wrong with having women involved. On the contrary, thank goodness that they’re stepping in and making a difference.
But the lack of male representation raises the inevitable question: Where are all the men? And in cases where one sees married women in large numbers making up the body of activist organizations, one wonders: Where are the husbands?
Far too often, today’s men are content to let their wives do community work while they take it easy at home watching football with a beer in hand, or go out bar-hopping with “the boys.”
Many such men excuse themselves with the argument that they work hard all day to provide for their families and thus deserve to spend their leisure time in recreation and relaxation.
No one denies that they work hard — something that’s very admirable. And no one is denying their right and freedom to enjoy the spoils of their labor in the hobbies and pastimes of their choice.
But do we believe the great men of our past — Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and countless others — didn’t work? That they didn’t have family responsibilities? That they didn’t have a million things on their plate? That they didn’t come home tired after a long day or look forward to the weekend after a long week?
Of course they did. But they were men. And they did the things that a man must do — regardless of how they might have preferred to spend their time.
But part of the problem is that those who seek to destroy our nation have deliberately reprogrammed our society to make men complacent. The endless talk of “toxic masculinity,” “rape culture,” “mansplaining,” “women’s liberation,” and “sexism” has made far too many men afraid of their own strong, assertive nature.
What the Right must do is reawaken — rekindle — the seemingly forgotten sense of real, unapologetic masculinity. The movement must not be afraid to appeal directly to men, offering personal development, brotherhood, leadership opportunities, and a voice.
This is not only what’s needed for the betterment of society at large; it’s a winning strategy for the American Right.
If you look back to 2016, this is part of what contributed to Trump’s success. In the few years preceding the election, there was a growing masculinity movement that was both in-person and online in the form of the “Manosphere.”
This was a subset of the broader new, hard-right (“alt-right,” before the term became co-opted by Neo-Nazis) that was focused on combating society’s prevailing feminist narrative while teaching men how to be more confident, successful, competent, educated, cultured, attractive, and physically fit. Influencers within the Manosphere would write on topics as diverse as weight-lifting, military history, psychology, and Renaissance art.
Initially, a portion of the Manosphere was aligned with the “pick up artist community.” But it should be noted that, over time, most of this segment’s most visible icons matured, as did their audiences:
Mike Cernovich got married and had kids, and now regularly tweets about the virtues of family life.
Roosh Valizadeh, creator of the men’s interest site Return of Kings and author of numerous books about picking up women, converted to Orthodox Christianity and forsook his womanizing ways to the point of taking all of his books on the subject off the market. He now exclusively blogs on matters of faith and salvation.
Donald Trump capitalized on the groundwork that had already been laid when he launched the presidential run — itself the catalyst for a conservative socio-political wave — that successfully took him to the White House. He was unapologetically masculine and unfazed by accusations of sexism or machismo.
In the aftermath of the 2022 midterm’s disappointing results, energy in the American Right has waned. To reinvigorate it to the level needed to pull off victory in upcoming cycles, the Right must embrace the true principles that stir men and move them to action.
If we want to not only activate conservative men, but win over men who previously hadn’t considered conservatism, we must give them something to captivate them.
