Modern man is the natural consequence of the last 50 or so years. Our ancestors fought to get rid of most dangers, tribulations and discomforts in society. They succeeded. And they had a noble purpose in mind when they did it: because they themselves experienced so much suffering, so much hopelessness, so much death, because they lived through war after war, because they lost loved ones to famine, pestilence, and human evil, they wanted to make damn sure that their children and grandchildren could live a "better" life. They gave everything to build a safe world, to create a life in which we could all live comfortably and peacefully, protected from outside evil by strong institutions and rigid laws. They were much better men than we are. And they managed to eradicate, for most people and in most cases, most of the dangers that claimed so many souls during their lifetime. But evil can never be completely erradicated, so when mankind found itself safe from outside enemies, we created internal ones, just to have something to fight against, as man needs to fight against something if he wishes to not be a wandering, purposeless beast. The problem is, external dangers forced men to either become fighters or perish, and when we are not confronted with tangible, explainable threats from the outside, we forget the fact that enemies and evil STILL exist, thus becoming weak, cowardly sacks of bones.
Your ancestors were fighters
Maybe not prizefighters, but fighters nonetheless. And your granddad did most likely take part in quite a few fist fights. Fighting was their bread and butter. They fought against sickness, death, danger, lawlessness. If modern man was to exist 100 years ago, we would be absolutely crushed under the weight of every single actual problem that our ancestors faced and conquered. Put a millennial hipster in the time period of the Dust Bowl Migration, and he'll crumble within seconds. Hell, we all would. That says a lot. Our ancestors were fighting men, and they fought and died trying to improve the world. They experienced so much suffering that they grew calluses in their hands, but also in their minds. Nothing could break them. The proof of that is that you are alive right now, reading this, in the most comfortable time period that has ever existed. Show some damn gratitude.
Our ancestors were fighting men, and they fought and died trying to improve the world. They experienced so much suffering that they grew callouses in their hands, but also on their minds. Nothing could break them. The proof of that is that you are alive right now, reading this, in the most comfortable time period that has ever existed. Show some damn gratitude.
And then there's us
Those men would be ashamed of what we've become. Modernity has sucked all fight from us. We hide behind excuses of every sort to justify why we are so goddamn weak: "I don't need to learn to protect myself, the police is there." "I don't have time to work out." "Strength isn't necessary nowadays." Cope, cope, cope. I wish we could see our ancestors looking down on us. Maybe if we could observe the look of disgust in their faces we would grow stronger and save humanity from the mess it's gotten itself into. Every single small difficulty has the power to emotionally break us, because we are so pampered that we cannot even begin to fathom how fucking tough life can be. Our spirits have not been tested, so they remain soft and delicate. A man doesn't grow strong out of chance, he grows strong out of repeated exposure to suffering and danger. And guess what, suffering and danger also give men a purpose. So yeah, we are safe and comfortable, but we are also purposeless, soft, and oh so weak. Thanks modernity.
Become a fighting man
Maybe we'll experience a real crisis in our lifetime, one that actually requires strong men to fix it. Maybe we should start preparing, maybe we should start toughening up. But no amount of theory will make you a fighter. Fights will make you a fighter. Not only literal fistfights, but fights against your own weakness, against your fears, against your vices. That's how you'll become a fighting man: by picking up those challenges that call to you, and crushing them. Do things that you are afraid of or that you are too lazy to do. Quit things that you are addicted to. When the next great crisis arrives, you don't want to be the powerless soyboy that cries out for someone to save him. You'll want to be the strong man that protects and saves his loved ones, the capable man that has fought his whole life, so he knows how to behave when real trouble comes knocking. Become a fighting man. Even if no crisis ever comes, at least your ancestors will look down on you with pride in their eyes. At least you'll honor their legacy. At least all of their suffering won't have been in vain.