The Testosterone Crisis

American Thinker ^ | November 22, 2008 | Ed Kaitz

[neverdem]

The sweeping Democratic electoral victory has left many conservative Americans concerned about their children's future.  With the federal government, educational establishment, entertainment industry and media thoroughly in the hands of the left, disturbing questions surface concerning the kinds of values our children will begin to accept as "mainstream."  Matters get worse when one considers what might become forced indoctrination in "community service" organizations as a prerequisite for college admission.

These concerns were on my mind during a recent outing with my young children to a local playground.  While I watched my kids try to scale walls, climb ropes, and navigate through other challenging structures various male voices I had obviously missed on previous visits to the park suddenly resonated.  "Try it on your own" or "you don't need any help with this one" the gaggle of fathers would say as their sons and daughters sized up various obstacles.  And while many of the moms cringed on the benches the young ones tripped, fell, clawed, and cried at times but they usually ended up victorious.

The ancient Chinese thinkers would have called my local park a microcosm of nature -- a dynamic reciprocity between the forces of feminine yin and masculine yang.  It is as natural for the moms to be overly concerned about the bumps and bruises as it is for the fathers to be encouraging independence and self-reliance.  Yin and yang represent two complementary energies in nature, the balance of which determines the health and harmony of a marriage, a family, a village, and even a nation.  These same Chinese philosophers warned however that unhealthy families, like unhealthy nations, are usually the victims of an overabundance of either the feminine yin or the masculine yang.

Chinese emperors for example attempted to head off this underlying and menacing threat of imbalance by castrating their ministers.  Why?  Too much yang testosterone in the palace would lead to dangerous factions and competition.  More eunuchs around the court meant the palace would be a better reflection of the harmony in nature.  Imperial concubines would also be sheltered from potential male rivals of the potentate, but this was entirely incidental to the theory.)

While an excess of yang energy was considered explosive and dangerous, what happens in a country like contemporary America when there seems to be a dangerous oversupply of feminine yin?

In his book The Suicide of Reason Lee Harris argues that our present state of liberal democracy has led to "eliminating the alpha males from our midst, and at a dizzyingly accelerating rate."  Instead of supporting and valuing testosterone's virtues we're "drugging our alpha boys with Ritalin."  In addition, one could view Barack Obama's election as the triumph of yin over yang.  Obama's policies promise to cast the father out of America's parks and replace him with the more "caring" and yin oriented federal government.  For Lee Harris however the feminization of American men comes at an extremely high price:

"The end of testosterone in the West alone will not culminate in the end of history, but it may well culminate in the end of the West."

It was in ancient Greece for example when the West began to associate the masculine yang voice with freedom and self-reliance.  Why?  Because when Athenian citizens perused the known world they noticed something rather curious: in no country other than Greece did citizens enjoy freedom or the virtues of democratic government.  Famous Greeks like the fifth century B.C. physician Hippocrates attempted to explain this fascinating anomaly. What Hippocrates and other Greek observers all tended to conclude was that the rest of the world's subjects must be "effeminate" or else, like the Greeks, they would have demanded -- like real men -- to be left alone by their leaders. 

In his essay On Airs, Waters, and Places for example Hippocrates notes that those who endure life under a despot are "cowardly, as I have stated before, for their souls are enslaved."  Greeks however are "independent, and enjoy the fruits of their own labors," and in addition they "encounter dangers on their own account, bear the prizes of their own valor, and in like manner endure the punishment of their own cowardice."  The good doctor concludes with a rather chilling observation: "A man's disposition will be changed by his institutions."  In short, what Hippocrates argues is that the more "maternalistic" the government, the less the citizenry will value freedom.

We can now start to understand part of Obama's appeal.  Alpha males in this nation have been browbeaten in every profession, most notably in education.  Indeed, the largest percentage ever of young, educated Americans in a presidential contest threw its support behind Barack Obama.  In addition, whereas John Kerry received 51% of the female vote in 2004, Barack Obama garnered close to 60%.  When black Americans overwhelmingly supported Obama to the tune of 90%, how much of this support was a product of race and how much was simply a product of a culture in which 70% of children are raised without fathers?

Both political parties now believe that they can garner votes by playing the yin, or compassion card.  We've seen this with the Bush Administration and its heavily statist "compassionate conservatism."  On the other hand, Democrats in congress thought that extending loans to unqualified borrowers was an act of compassion.  An excess of yin is now causing many of our states, like California, to go broke.  Despite these examples an "uncaring" America was the chief rallying cry of Barack and Michelle Obama during the recent election.

In his classic work Democracy in America Alexis de Tocqueville entitled one of his chapters "What Sort of Despotism Democratic Nations Have To Fear."  Near the end of the chapter there is a rather sobering observation:

"It is indeed difficult to conceive how men who have entirely given up the habit of self-government should succeed in making a proper choice of those by whom they are to be governed; and no one will ever believe that a liberal, wise, and energetic government can spring from the suffrages of a subservient people."

Will Americans become so subservient under an Obama administration that a future yang style candidate like Ronald Reagan becomes impossible?  A healthy nation, like a healthy family, should have a proper balance of yin and yang.  Ideally, the relationship should be a balance between yang's independence, competition, and merit, and yin's more gentle, cooperative, and egalitarian energy.  We're at a critical moment in our history however when the forces of yin in American threaten to bury, not complement, yang.  Despite what the radical feminists might tell you, alpha male energy is natural and necessary for many things, including national survival.

There's an eight year old boy in my neighborhood who still rides his bike with training wheels.  There's no father at home.  Is America looking at training wheels writ large?  We know that most contemporary, estrogen-heavy Europeans would like to rid America of its testosterone.  They may just get their wish.

[Gabz]

There are lots of smart, responsible people of both genders in this world. There is no reason for disrespect.

There are those here that will vehemently disagree with you.

[little jeremiah]

Currently, due to political correctness, leftists running the education system and the entertainment industry, oh, and the MSM as well - a vast number of men and women both are irrational and driven not only by emotions but by the lower passions.

Lack of personal responsibility and being driven to instantly gratify every whim, and feeling no compunction about either, have infected men and women alike.

[berdie]

Oh, well. You know what they say about opinions. ;)

[raptor29]

I agree that the liberal virus has infected both men and women in large numbers. My primary point throughout this thread however, is that on balance, it is women who bear more of the blame for the viral spread, given their voting more often favors the left-leaning candidates and programs. And men have allowed this to happen by not standing up to the very types of mindless criticisms directed at me throughout this thread. And it’s time for that to change. And if any of us needed any more evidence of the problem, they need only read the posts of these so-called ‘conservative, Free Republic women’, who sound fighteningly similar to their sisters in feminism on the left.

[berdie]

Your post is spot on.

[BykrBayb]

The women on this thread have upset you to the point of revealing more of your ugly ignorant vapid soul than you planned. Or maybe in your sick twisted way it’s exactly what you planned.

You have been bested by the very people you have fantasies of being better than. Which has reinforced your fear that the women who you thought stole your masculinity were right about you all along. They stole nothing. If there was ever anything there to begin with (and that’s a big if) then you willingly gave it away.

You are performing routine maintenance on your self inflicted neutering, by engaging women in a battle of wits, for which you have no ammo.

Face it. You have a lot of growing to do, and you’re way behind.

[OneWingedShark]

>But then you blow it:
>
>>society gives precious little respect to men; is it any wonder that males aren’t “wanting” to me men?
>
>Only those who fall hook line and sinker of the BS that is promulgated by those who wish to
>ignore the reality of real men fall into that category.

How did I blow it? Tell me that society, in general honors the man’s position? Oh, wait man’s position [provider] is easily filled by a woman, and a man can’t fill a woman’s position [homemaker]. (Actually, this is a lie as much as it is truth; men and women are NATURALLY better at given things, generally speaking... this does NOT negate that they are both human, and able to learn/function-in-non-optimal-conditions.)

Or, if you disagree with the observation that “women are just as good as men” (at whatever), then why is the man oft portrayed as stupid/ineffectual? Despite the man’s general tendency toward “cold hard logic”, somehow it’s feelings, getting along, and relationships that are important? [to the exclusion of rationality/practicality, I mean.]

When I said “is it any wonder males don’t want to be men?” do you think I was being absurdly precise, or using the literary technique of hyperbole?

But honestly, disregarding “self-fulfillment” and all, does society welcome “real-men”? Are they outcasts? Are they castrated, figuratively speaking?

Or would “Real Men” shake up society in a way that would be interesting, in the Chinese sense of the word?

[ReneeLynn]

Oh, you are priceless and spot on.

Don’t bring a knife to a gun fight.

[Tired of Taxes]

Clinton dismantled our military and intelligence, while committing our troops to the Blue Helmets command. I would not want him serving in that sort of environment. It would not be upholding the US Constitution but that of the UN.

I couldn't agree more with you. Hopefully, the GOP will take control of Congress again in two years and Obama will be a one-term President. Then I hope your son can follow-through with his career plans. Until then, I hope fewer Republicans enlist. Sadly, the party in power cannot be trusted to support the troops they send into war.

[berdie]

O.K., Raptor. I went back to your”In Forum” posts.

Looks to me like you were a pretty big supporter of Sarah? So why would you denigrate the ladies of this forum who for the most part believe as she does?

Or do you just like to argue? ;)

[pandoraou812]

I’m trying nice.........for the moment. We’ll see what happens.

Hmmm seems to me that with some men being nice just doesn't work. I tend to try to ignore such men as much as possible.

[Tired of Taxes]

They have selfishly and mindlessly sold this country down the river over their precious abortion rights and other emotionally-driven giveaway programs. And all the while, too many men sat back and didn’t step in and change some thinking. And now, as always, men will have to somehow fix things, although we’re getting to the point where we approach being beyond the capacity to fix this mess.

You think women are to blame for this mess? LOL. Most of the people in power are male, so mostly MEN have created this mess. How are women to blame? Did we hold a gun to their heads and force male candidates to push big government spending programs? Are we holding guns to their heads and forcing men to be gay and prance together in the streets and assault Prop 8 proponents?

Come on, Raptor29, grown men make these decisions on their own, and they alone should take responsibility for their actions.

[Twink]

“The Mommy Party” exactly.

I still have faith in our people, but it’s getting difficult. The last few decades at least, people fell for the entitlement line and the nanny state crap. Seems more fall for it nowadays.

[Twink]

True, Some American Men seem lost and they are slammed daily. Our entertainment industry has been doing this for at least 2 decades. The joke is always on the man, stupid man. The Lifetime Channel, or as we call it here, the Women and Children in Distress Channel, (or as my husband calls it, the Hate Men Channel), perpetuate it.

Then we have all the tv shows and movies where homos are always good or funny and seemingly have no negative traits.

Disagree with you on telling a spouse to shut up. That’s disrespectful. Although, I can think of a few people, men and women, in our social circle I’d like to tell shut up.

[Tired of Taxes]

O.K., Raptor. I went back to your”In Forum” posts. Looks to me like you were a pretty big supporter of Sarah?

I noticed the same. I was about to comment on that, too, but for a very different reason: Aside from her positions on a few issues (such as life and gun ownership), Palin is more in line with the Democrats. She's a populist in favor of government programs; for example, she advocates more funding for public school education. (That's why I was not a fan of Palin.)

So, Raptor29, in what way do you oppose big government social programs, as you say you do? Who did you support in the primary?

[Twink]

Any spouse telling another to shut up just boggles my mind. Although, we know some couples where I’m hoping one tells the other to shut the hell up.

[Allegra]

No, seriously...shut up.

You've been spewing your meaningless noxious misasma all over this thread and you've become rather tiresome.

Go find some other tree to mark as your territory and relieve yourself of your bile.

Despite what you think, you really don't have anything constructive to contribute.

[Twink]

PC at its best. I wish Conservatives would be more outspoken, too. However, you’re not completely correct since it isn’t all women or all men. The blame should be placed where it’s deserved, the liberals, men and women.

Our social sphere, the last 5 decades, has shifted to women, liberal women and liberal men. And, look where that has taken us. All that compassion and *feeling* based decisions and programs...they suck.

Back in the neighborhood I grew up in, men (and women) stood up for what was right. If something happened in the neighborhood or on the street, people came outside and got involved. It doesn’t happen so much today. Seems like people are afraid and not just recently.

About 9 years ago, I got into it with a few preteen skate boarders (in my former nice little suburban neighborhood). A little incident I didn’t think much of...went on my way after blasting them and trying to make them see that the outcome between them and a 2 ton vehicle wouldn’t be in their favor. A couple hours later, my two little kids (7 and 8 at the time) are playing on our lawn. I’m upstairs getting my 18month old and 3 yr old from their naps. Kid on each hip as I go to the door greeted by a 19 yr old (who I thought was a minor at the time) threatening my kids and me for harassing his little pre teem skate board friends. Fortunately, a neighbor/friend called while he was threatening my little kids, she was on her way to work and sent her teen over (babysitter for us) to help out. Teen takes the baby and toddler, while I call 911 and get the 7 and 8 yr old inside. 10 minutes or so later, cop shows up. Cop is an ass. Accuses me of being racist because 19 yr old (who I still thought was a minor at the time)is black. Ass Cop basically tells me I’m prejudiced because kid is not white. I tell ass cop he may have grown up in white bread land but I grew up in philly so his little snide remarks mean nothing to me. And he leaves telling me I need to be more understanding. RME. While all this is going on, male neighbors are standing around, watching this teen guy threaten a woman and do nothing.

During all this, I have my poor husband on the phone. He’s at work, his wife and kids have been physically threatened (kid threatened me and raised his hand to me and me thinking he was a minor backed off, if I had known he was of legal age I would have bashed his head in). His work mates and boss tell him to get home. So I call my nephew who is a cop in a neigboring town. I was shocked the cop did nothing. Being from a family of cops and firefighters, this attitude was new to me. My nephew told me to go the police station and ask to see the cop’s official statement/form, etc. He was sure it wouldn’t be accurate and he was right. By this time, my husband gets home. freaking out. Poor choice on my part to call him at work during all this but he’s who I call,not realizing at the time he would be freaking out. So I go to the police station, ask to see the report, see it’s not accurate, wait for Officer Ass to get back to have it corrected, and have a nice conversation with him. He informs me that Teenager is 19 not a minor. And has a record. Then asks if I want to press charges.

Once I found out he was an adult, didn’t need the cops or pressing charges crap. When the Ass cop told me he was 19 I told cop tyvm we’ll handle this on our own. And we did. I don’t know who scared him more, me or my husband.

We put a For Sale sign up a couple days later and moved out.

The times are different, at least in this area.

[pandoraou812]

Good for you. I love the fact my family is never threatened by anyone. I've taken verbal abuse from being married to a biker but I am never scared. He is mean looking & can easily hold his own if need be. Since we've been together there has been less crime on our street & my yuppie neighbors love him & so do their children. Plus he rarely tells me to shut up. If he does it is usually because I talk through his favorite shows lol. He values my opinions & I value his.

[metmom]

Real men don’t blame shift either.