Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Self-policing.

Men, we have met the enemy, and it is us.

The problem isn't some abstract, like "the culture." Culture is driven by behavior, and we've let the behavior of men degenerate with nary a peep from the good men. The re-paganization of our society is happening on our watch. What are we going to do about it? Trying to build safe zones for our families is, at best, an incomplete, if ineffective solution.

Sure, it starts with tacking the dirty old man/men who impregnated 14 year olds in the Texas FLDS compound to the wall. Ditto the brother who pimped out his sister. May they reside where daylight has to be pumped down to them.

But it continues by ostracizing Roger Clemens if it is found to be true that he had sex with a fifteen year old. It is further followed up by doing the same to Billy Ray Cyrus for his boggling publicity whoring.

But it takes more than that. Demand better, of ourselves and our culture. It will take objecting to the dirty jokes, sexualized language and leering, even when they come from our friends and colleagues. It will take standing up for better standards in our own communities, even at the risk of ostracism to ourselves. And it will probably even require tactical, arms-length alliances with people who hate our very guts (gender feminists). Nevertheless, they have their own sometimes-screwy, sometimes-sound, reasons for objecting to the same problems and can reach people who won't give us the time of day.

When good men do nothing...

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Be reasonably civil. Ire alloyed with reason is fine. But slagging the host gets you the banhammer.

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