Interesting Perspective on the State of American Manhood

**Mephisto** · 07-15-2013, 08:07 PM

Originally Posted by gugi

it came about because you suggested that a good way to correct divisiveness is for people to examine and change their core beliefs.

That was not me. But I stand corrected. I was only replying to that specific post. I jumped in after some of the debate on multiculturalism started. Anyway, I get a little trigger happy when people bash religion and blame all social problems on religion. Anyway, I stand corrected....

**Mephisto** · 07-15-2013, 08:08 PM

Multiculturalism is an ongoing experiment. How can you say it has failed? I do not believe in some place where we can all live in harmony but we have no other choice.

**WhiskerHarvest** · 07-15-2013, 08:41 PM

The historical mistreatment of cultures in America are well documented and unless we learn from those examples we are doomed to repeat similar mistakes.

My whole point originally was very focused on the attitudes and beliefs of men in America currently. We often can't move forward until we look behind us and see where we have been. And yes, historically we have struggled and failed many times to take the most rightous actions but hind sight is 20/20. The great triumph in the American expirement is that we have formed a great nation and continue to strive to keep America great. This whole thread is a testament to that!

Back to the business at hand and the original theme. The breakdown of American society today is exacerbated by the simple fact that men are missing from the equation. I am a stay at home dad, my youngest is recovering from autism and I quit school and shut down my business to come along side her in her time of need. If you want to learn how to be more loving, start at home with those closest to you.

I have learned more about accepting a person whole heartedly and being non judgmental in the last year from a 3 year old than from any book, class or church. The difference is practice. I have had to examine my beliefs everyday to determine how to most effectively help my daughter and in return I have transformed into a far better person!

American society as a whole is very complex and is currently somewhat hostile. But get microscopic and look at individuals around you. What can you do to positively change the environment you exist in?

Now if you will excuse me gents, I am off to pull in my trash can and the neighbors so they don't blow away. Then, I grab my new favorite razor and it's harvest time!! The little one is napping!

**edhewitt** · 07-15-2013, 08:58 PM

Originally Posted by OCDshaver

I'm not sure what point you're making the formation of a nation seems to never be very pretty. But in any case it seems to prove another example where multiculturism failed.

Not really multiculturalism, more like an invasion followed by attempted monoculturalism.

**edhewitt** · 07-15-2013, 09:01 PM

Originally Posted by Mephisto

That was not me. But I stand corrected. I was only replying to that specific post. I jumped in after some of the debate on multiculturalism started. Anyway, I get a little trigger happy when people bash religion and blame all social problems on religion. Anyway, I stand corrected....

Not all of societies problems are caused by religion, but religious extremism seems to cause quite a few. This is not pointed at any particular religion.

**gugi** · 07-15-2013, 09:27 PM

Originally Posted by WhiskerHarvest

We often can't move forward until we look behind us and see where we have been. And yes, historically we have struggled and failed many times to take the most rightous actions but hind sight is 20/20. The great triumph in the American expirement is that we have formed a great nation and continue to strive to keep America great. This whole thread is a testament to that!

Yes, it's certainly very helpful to examine the past and try to not repeat the same mistakes that ended up in bad outcomes. Being more open-minded and accepting of others, seems to me like a good thing, though, not like a problem. It is history I'm looking at as a reference - whenever the dominant group has tried to suppress a minority they have had to either exterminate it completely, or assimilation took far longer (if ever), than if they had taken a more tolerant approach. This shift towards less aggression and more acceptance of others' beliefs, traditions, and way of life is not unique to USA though - it's a global phenomenon. The european union is perhaps more striking example than US - these are countries who have fought for thousands of years, and the last large scale war ended only 2 generations ago.

Originally Posted by WhiskerHarvest

Back to the business at hand and the original theme. The breakdown of American society today is exacerbated by the simple fact that men are missing from the equation. I am a stay at home dad, my youngest is recovering from autism and I quit school and shut down my business to come along side her in her time of need. If you want to learn how to be more loving, start at home with those closest to you.

I am not quite sure I understand the argument here. In what way are "men missing from the equation", how is this more prevalent than in the past?

And of course enjoy your shave!

**cudarunner** · 07-15-2013, 09:33 PM

Many Posts back; it was mentioned about the difference between being a ‘boy’ and a ‘man’. (Responsibility)

While it’s only a clip from a movie, I feel that it speaks volumes about how both young men and woman should live their lives.

Take about 6 minutes to view and listen. After that it gets back to the whole of the movie!

To Sir, With Love (1967) (Part 3) - YouTube

**gugi** · 07-15-2013, 09:39 PM

Originally Posted by Euclid440

It is not just the US that has developed a class of people that has learned how to avoid work and trust only in technology. It is this learned behavior that allowed 4 trained pilots to allow technology to fly a Jetliner into the ground here in California the other day.

Technology was also the reason that there were only 3 fatalities out of the 307 people aboard. I, however, think it is a bit premature to generalize from that accident.

If you go back to your example and compare the amount of work involved in glass blowing nowadays with the amount of work that was required to do so, say 400 years ago, you could make the exact same argument that those glassblowers are lazy work avoiding slackers who have their life sweet and easy. There is a huge amount of dumb energy and labor intensive work in melting that glass before it could be blown, that is now done by powerful machines instead of humans.

**Sailor** · 07-15-2013, 09:45 PM

Originally Posted by gugi

Yes, it's certainly very helpful to examine the past and try to not repeat the same mistakes that ended up in bad outcomes. Being more open-minded and accepting of others, seems to me like a good thing, though, not like a problem. It is history I'm looking at as a reference - whenever the dominant group has tried to suppress a minority they have had to either exterminate it completely, or assimilation took far longer (if ever), than if they had taken a more tolerant approach. This shift towards less aggression and more acceptance of others' beliefs, traditions, and way of life is not unique to USA though - it's a global phenomenon. The european union is perhaps more striking example than US - these are countries who have fought for thousands of years, and the last large scale war ended only 2 generations ago.
!

Nowadays there are small groups, minorities in fact, that keep a bad noise about 'our culture' vs them. Usually you know these folks for not being capable of even writing proper mother language. They also forget that our culture ( in my country) is mostly adapted from influences from east/west/south. In my country there are still so much differences in our cultures, even in spoken languages between different parts of the country. Without influences from elsewhere we even didn't have Christianity (nowadays it seems that it doesn't do so well as more and more people are resigning from the church).
That is not to say we should accept everything those immigrants are doing but rather accepting that that it is ok to keep their old cultures as long as they do not clash with our laws (not cultures).
Whenever cultures clash, they both seem to show their ugliest parts. However, in time they learn to live together and melt. Both change, maybe minority has the burden of changing more than majority. It just takes time for few generations. Not a new phenomena.

**edhewitt** · 07-15-2013, 10:01 PM

Originally Posted by cudarunner

Many Posts back; it was mentioned about the difference between being a ‘boy’ and a ‘man’. (Responsibility)

While it’s only a clip from a movie, I feel that it speaks volumes about how both young men and woman should live their lives.

Take about 6 minutes to view and listen. After that it gets back to the whole of the movie!

To Sir, With Love (1967) (Part 3) - YouTube

I was in 8th grade when this movie came out! I have a copy in VHS and DVD, don’t waste your money on the remake!

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