Dealing With Wimpy Arm Chair Quarterbacks

[JD Spydo]

I just responded to a thread over at the General Discussion part of the Forum and after I did I felt like it was truly time we talked about what I had addressed on that one thread. I was telling one Brother that you can't assume that other people ( mostly men unfortunately :rolleyes: ) are red blooded Americans ( or other prideful great nationalities too) who would stand up for what's right>> also you wouldn't call the cops on every minor altercation you might run into in public. And that you couldn't demonstrate a Martial Arts move on them without them getting upset like a little kid :rolleyes:

But in the past 6 to 7 years I've been seeing a trend develop with American men in particular that truly upsets me. And I really hate to say this but most men that I run into anymore are truly nothing but wimps :rolleyes: I Can't tell you how many times I've pulled one of my Spyders out to open a package or to use it on a job that came up and you would have a man cringe and say "Isn't That Illegal :eek: ???" and then they will say in a sickening self righteous way "I never carry a knife or a gun at all">> and they will continue to say how bad it is for me to do it :rolleyes: And sad to say it's mostly "MEN" that come at me that way.

I've actually had more women not get upset and ask me what kind of knife they should carry in their purse. Just this year alone I've helped 2 gals get Victorinox Swiss Army knive while their husbands or boyfriends would opt not to carry one :confused: What is happening to the men in our society to where they are becoming wimpy about most everything. What is even a more weird dichotomy is that they will sit on Sunday afternoons and go crazy over NFL football games and talk tough like they could play the game themselves but yet cringe when they see one of my Spyderco pocket knives ( not even a fixed blade :rolleyes: ) OK I know I'm not the only one who sees this first hand.

[Evil D]

Welcome to the new world order Joe, where the idea of "strong men" is considered sexist and even seen as some form of "rape" to some people. You're not allowed to be strong or you're surely oppressing someone.

[MichaelScott]

I think there have always been men like that but their numbers seem to be on the rise. One psychologist thinks that it began in the 80's when “missing” children hit milk cartons across the country. Although the actual percentage of missing kids was extremely small this didn’t stop the parent panic and helicopter parenting that exploded. Got a problem with Jimmy down the block, called you an idiot, I will talk with Jimmy's mom. Your teacher gave you a time out for being an entitled little snot, lets go see the Principal. You saw “Trump”chalked on the sidewalk? Call the Campus Cops, seek counseling. (That is a true incident.)

Unreasoning fear also plays a role. In my family, all of the males except my son and one nephew who is a cop, think that there is no reason to have a gun. And, carry one, holy crap, why? I know they are smart enough to figure that out. Two of the, were in the army. But what drives their behavior? Most of the news concerning guns and knives is focused on innocent people being the victims of "senseless" violence. Now, a tiny number of violent incidents may not make sense right away, but almost all do. Sex, money, revenge, drugs. Pick one. What puzzles me is that all of my male relatives will automatically buckle up in their insured cars because, well, you never know. They can’t wrap their heads around the same argument when it comes to carrying a gun or a knife. I think they are afraid of up close and personal violence and have never experienced how quick, ugly and devastating it can be.

As to the shocked and fearful reactions that come from seeing a three inch serrated blade open a carton, what can you say?

Colorado has no law prohibiting open carry of firearms. You will see people in our little town occasionally going about their business with a semi-auto or a wheel gun on their hip. The only people who react are tourists. One UPS guy was carrying a Glock on his rounds. Many of us here are carrying concealed. Things are changing. The local bakery, long a hang out especially during the cold winter months, was recently bought by two men from California. Last week a “No Weapons”sign appeared on the door. I intend to have a, hopefully, civil conversation with them explaining that many customers have, carry and like guns and that policy is going to cost them their business. I think though that their clientele will reduce to air head, radical leftist, vegan paranoids who will love sipping tea and whispering about that guy with an evil black gun on his hip.

[MacLaren]

Wow. I hear ya JD.
Some of those "men" need a reality check.....

[JD Spydo]

Welcome to the new world order Joe, where the idea of "strong men" is considered sexist and even seen as some form of "rape" to some people. You're not allowed to be strong or you're surely oppressing someone.

Yeah unfortunately you might just be "spot on" I've also noticed that many more men are taking on roles that in the past you normally only seen women do. The two times I've been in the hospital this year I couldn't believe how many men I seen as RN nurses>> OK I know there has always been some male nurses but not like I'm seeing now>> I've also heard that a lot of guys who were medics in the military would opt for nurses jobs until they get more training to do what they really want for a career. Also I can't believe how many men I see in these shopping malls that are in beauty salons doing women's hair which in the past you hardly even seen :confused: ? OK there's nothing wrong with it per se but in the past you just never seen that hardly at all.

And David your point hits the bulls eye because I've had far more women get rude and in my face than I have with men and in the past it wasn't that way at all. I've even had two women in the past year confront me like they wanted to fight me because of something funny I might have said whereas I've had men ( younger and bigger than me) act like they were literally afraid when I got upset about something and I"m a 64 year old presently crippled man for GOD's sake :rolleyes: The examples I could give could go on for hours but this has manifested greatly in the past 10 years or so and it's just flat out weird any way you look at it.

[MacLaren]

Some of those "men" need to work a few days on the chain gang.
Lol, I'd like to see em then lol...

[The Meat man]

JD, Evil, and Michael, I agree. The perception of true manliness has really gotten skewed in today's entitlement and litigious society.
Contrary to current popular belief, being a real man does not mean being a savage, sexist barbarian who thrives on violence. And I get really tired of hearing the concept of manliness constantly disparaged as such.

I really enjoy the Art of Manliness website - it is like a breath of fresh air and common sense in this time of "wimpy armchair quarterbacks". Lots of great articles and information without any bombast or chest-beating.

[JD Spydo]

Some of those "men" need to work a few days on the chain gang.
Lol, I'd like to see em then lol...

If a lot of these guys ( in their 20s & 30s) had to grow up in the 60s & 70s like I did not to mention having an older Brother at the time who was a Sargent in the Marine Corp :eek: who used to beat me like a much unwanted step child :eek: :rolleyes: most of them would opt for suicide I'm ashamed to say.

Back in that time period if you hadn't been in at least one good fist fight within the past month or so most guys would figure you to be a chicken or a wimp. It truly was a completely different time for sure. But even guys out of that era were no match for guys from the Civil War of the 1800s who I heard many had to do their own amputations in war battles :eek: yeah most of us are really soft compared to many of our grandfathers and beyond.

But to cringe at the sight of a pocket knife and we have the possibility of being in another World War :eek: ?? GOD help us is all I can at this point. Because I doubt if we as a nation have the backbone to do what is necessary. It's really sad to see it happening right in front of me in my lifetime and how things have drastically changed for the worst

[MacLaren]

Some of those "men" need to work a few days on the chain gang.
Lol, I'd like to see em then lol...

If a lot of these guys ( in their 20s & 30s) had to grow up in the 60s & 70s like I did not to mention having an older Brother at the time who was a Sargent in the Marine Corp :eek: who used to beat me like a much unwanted step child :eek: :rolleyes: most of them would opt for suicide I'm ashamed to say.

Back in that time period if you hadn't been in at least one good fist fight within the past month or so most guys would figure you to be a chicken or a wimp. It truly was a completely different time for sure. But even guys out of that era were no match for guys from the Civil War of the 1800s who I heard many had to do their own amputations in war battles :eek: yeah most of us are really soft compared to many of our grandfathers and beyond.

But to cringe at the sight of a pocket knife and we have the possibility of being in another World War :eek: ?? GOD help us is all I can at this point. Because I doubt if we as a nation have the backbone to do what is necessary. It's really sad to see it happening right in front of me in my lifetime and how things have drastically changed for the worst

Lol, amen. Those "men" are living in a fantasy world.
However, it's one that we've allowed somehow.

[JD Spydo]

JD, Evil, and Michael, I agree. The perception of true manliness has really gotten skewed in today's entitlement and litigious society.
Contrary to current popular belief, being a real man does not mean being a savage, sexist barbarian who thrives on violence. And I get really tired of hearing the concept of manliness constantly disparaged as such.

I really enjoy the Art of Manliness website - it is like a breath of fresh air and common sense in this time of "wimpy armchair quarterbacks". Lots of great articles and information without any bombast or chest-beating.

Extremely well said "Meat Man" And I totally agree with the Proverb you put up>> Proverbs has always been one of my favorite books in the Bible. I will most definitely check out that website. Because all of these recent protests I've been seeing with two different factions of people not even really knowing what exactly it is that they are protesting really makes me sick in a lot of ways. Oh I very much believe in protesting!! But I also believe you better really have your ducks in a row and know what it is you stand for. But 80% of these people I see protesting recently very much need a laxative :rolleyes: because most of them truly are "full of it" and full of themselves as well.

But we are seeing our society drastically change right in front of our eyes and not for the better either

[Jazz]

Mostly a bunch of spoiled little brats these days. I hate to say it, but I really can't stand being around young people, for the most part.

Men and women are different, and should act their roles. I'm not saying I shouldn't do housework, etc. Don't get me wrong. I'm completely done with all this retarded political correctness.

[MacLaren]

Mostly a bunch of spoiled little brats these days. I hate to say it, but I really can't stand being around young people, for the most part.

Men and women are different, and should act their roles. I'm not saying I shouldn't do housework, etc. Don't get me wrong. I'm completely done with all this retarded political correctness.

I know exactly what ya mean.
They are the ones that go overboard with everything.

[bearfacedkiller]

America’s pastime is what I call being recreationally offended. I think some of it is the prevelance of victim mentality. People go through their day looking for things to be offended by. Now everybody walks on eggshells trying not to offend anybody and if you aren’t walking on eggshells you are a barbarian.

I consider myself a very caring, compassionate and empathetic person but I also don’t care what others think of me and my beliefs and I don’t get offended by people who look at the world through a different lense than me. We seem to have an issue in our current culture differentiating between those two things.

[MacLaren]

America’s pastime is what I call being recreationally offended. I think some of it is the prevelance of victim mentality. People go through their day looking for things to be offended by. Now everybody walks on eggshells trying not to offend anybody and if you aren’t walking on eggshells you are a barbarian.

I consider myself a very caring, compassionate and empathetic person but I also don’t care what others think of me and my beliefs and I don’t get offended by people who look at the world through a different lense than me. We seem to have an issue in our current culture differentiating between those two things.

Yes.
But, to be traumatized by a d*** pocket knife?? Unbelievable.
Its just like ya said, they look for stuff to offended by or traumatized by.

[JD Spydo]

America’s pastime is what I call being recreationally offended. I think some of it is the prevelance of victim mentality. People go through their day looking for things to be offended by. Now everybody walks on eggshells trying not to offend anybody and if you aren’t walking on eggshells you are a barbarian.

I consider myself a very caring, compassionate and empathetic person but I also don’t care what others think of me and my beliefs and I don’t get offended by people who look at the world through a different lense than me. We seem to have an issue in our current culture differentiating between those two things.

Yes.
But, to be traumatized by a d*** pocket knife?? Unbelievable.
Its just like ya said, they look for stuff to offended by or traumatized by.

I wish you guys could have seen the face of that guy who literally freaked out about my Spyderco pocket knife. And what was even more disgusting was that the women there were not at all really bothered by it. One of them even asked to use my Stainless RESCUE later that day and sure I let her use it.

It is as though most of our young men have been emasculated :eek: I don't know any other way to say it :confused: The CIA once used a mind control program called MK Ultra ( and yes they admitted to it) that could make people do things way out of the ordinary. With all this 4G & now the new 5G technology I've wondered if there might be something along the lines of electronic "mass brainwashing" Because when you look at many of the younger generation who are literally addicted to these new high tech cell phones as though it was a powerful narcotic it does make one wonder >> well at least it makes me wonder what is going on.

I just got my first Android phone and I wish I had my old one back. Because I truly wonder if these new high tech toys don't have a severe mind altering effect. Because if you took a phone away from one of these young people I truly believe that it would be like literal heroin withdrawal and I would bet on it. I think many of them might even end up in the psyche ward :eek: :rolleyes:

[tvenuto]

I think one manifestation of this is what is currently being termed "toxic masculinity." That phrase has a problematic built-in ambiguity. You can understand it as: "masculinity taken to such a degree that it becomes sociopathic." Which in my opinion is the correct usage. However, it can also be understood as: "all masculine tendencies are toxic." Which, to me, is where the danger lies.

The world needs masculine and feminine both. Being masculine has strengths and weaknesses, just as does being feminine. Society spent many many decades (centuries?) denigrating the feminine, calling them weak, physically, mentally, even spiritually. Maybe, then, we're reaping the consequences of the actions of past males. The pendulum has swung back the other direction: the feminine must be celebrated and all masculinity is toxic. This, of course, is no less of a mistake than we made previously, and has different, but in my opinion no less serious consequences.

I think one major consequence is one that we're feeling now: men who are aware of the social mores around them are suppressing masculine tendencies, in themselves or their children, which is leaving a power vacuum that only the actual sociopathic are filling. This causes a feedback loop where the most visible standard-bearers of masculinity are becoming more extreme, which sends more people to the "other side of the aisle" as it were. And so it goes.

I just hope it doesn't take us as long to correct course on masculinity as it did for femininity. I fear we don't have that long this time...

[JD Spydo]

I think one manifestation of this is what is currently being termed "toxic masculinity." That phrase has a problematic built-in ambiguity. You can understand it as: "masculinity taken to such a degree that it becomes sociopathic." Which in my opinion is the correct usage. However, it can also be understood as: "all masculine tendencies are toxic." Which, to me, is where the danger lies.

The world needs masculine and feminine both. Being masculine has strengths and weaknesses, just as does being feminine. Society spent many many decades (centuries?) denigrating the feminine, calling them weak, physically, mentally, even spiritually. Maybe, then, we're reaping the consequences of the actions of past males. The pendulum has swung back the other direction: the feminine must be celebrated and all masculinity is toxic. This, of course, is no less of a mistake than we made previously, and has different, but in my opinion no less serious consequences.

I think one major consequence is one that we're feeling now: men who are aware of the social mores around them are suppressing masculine tendencies, in themselves or their children, which is leaving a power vacuum that only the actual sociopathic are filling. This causes a feedback loop where the most visible standard-bearers of masculinity are becoming more extreme, which sends more people to the "other side of the aisle" as it were. And so it goes.

I just hope it doesn't take us as long to correct course on masculinity as it did for femininity. I fear we don't have that long this time...

That is a most interesting and very believable rundown "tvenuto" >> I've heard the term "toxic masculinity" at times but I must admit that it sounded so silly to me at face value that I never really got a contextual meaning of it. But when you think it through it has been in our face for probably at least 2 to 2 & 1/2 decades now. All of the sitcoms on TV and most of the movies in many cases have the man of the family portrayed as dysfunctional, bumbling idiot who never has a clue :rolleyes: . Also just look at the way most of the liberal mainstream media who obviously was for Ms. Clinton and the way they lied and distorted everything that they said about Mr. Trump>> and I'm in no way going to bat for either one of them because this country is now run by multi-national corporations who try to tell us what is trendy and the politically correct way to think. And it's a fact that the MSM tried to make it a male versus female dog & pony show :rolleyes:

For some strange reason corporate America has been trying to destroy the family unit as we have known them for centuries if not millennia. It really blew their skirts up when the "Donald" was able to pull it off because they were **** bent on having a woman for President no matter how corrupt or horrible she might be. No I didn't have a dog in that fight and the only reason I bring it up is because of the "male versuse female" circus that the mainstream media tried to make it into. It had very little or even nothing to do with the very important issues that face this country>> no it was male versus female and it didn't have anything to do with anyone actually being qualified to do the job it was all ( because really neither one of them were qualified IMO)>> so it was all put in the scope of "political correctness". And I'm seeing society in general trying to play down the importance of having a man leading the family as was done since civilization began.

Yeah it makes perfect sense for them to make men look like idiots and to also become less and less important to society as we used to know it. No wonder the NFL and the WWE have such high ratings :rolleyes:

[ChrisinHove]

Whilst I’m pretty much a “tea drinking, air head, radical leftist, vegan” (i.e. European, although only slightly paranoid, and not vegan etc) and the connection between masculinity and carrying a gun into bakery is a little lost on me, I do recognise this same wimpy trend.

Ironically, their sartorial trends have largely been in the opposite direction, with rugged clothes, tattoos and 19th century style full beards.

However, I do think that whilst young guys can still engage in (ideally full-contact) team sports and/or martial arts, rather than just watching it or simulating it on an x-box, then there is still some hope for character development.

[tvenuto]

Whilst I’m pretty much a “tea drinking, air head, radical leftist, vegan” (i.e. European, although only slightly paranoid, and not vegan etc) and the connection between masculinity and carrying a gun into bakery is a little lost on me, I do recognise this same wimpy trend.

Ironically, their sartorial trends have largely been in the opposite direction, with rugged clothes, tattoos and 19th century style full beards.

However, I do think that whilst young guys can still engage in (ideally full-contact) team sports and/or martial arts, rather than just watching it or simulating it on an x-box, then there is still some hope for character development.

Interesting note on the sartorial trend, perhaps seeking the masculine aesthetic to balance out the lack of actual masculinity? "This shirt makes me look like I'm ready to chop wood, although I'm physically not ready." And I'll add the counter-example that almost all "trendy" pants are "slim-fit" and can't be worn by men with muscular legs.

I just look **** good with a beard...

[MacLaren]

Theres a heckuva a lot a good kids out there imo.
Don't think theres not.
It's just that certain bunch make a lot of noise. imo, anyways.