What Is A Man?

THE BIG LEBOWSKI - What— what makes a MAN, Mr. Lebowski? Is it being prepared to do the right thing, whatever the cost? Isn't that what makes a man?

THE DUDE - Mmm... Sure. That, and a pair of testicles.

What does it mean to be a man in the 21^st century?

100 years ago, when Rudyard Kipling explored the subject in his poem "If," he explicitly ascribed virtuous, heroic behavior to men:

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you
....
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same
....
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!

I usually avoid these "Meme of the Week"™ discussions, but I've thought a lot about this one, since long, long before this essay. Seems kind of a shame to post it on the weekend, when I know not too many folks will read it, but it was either this, the accelerated Iraq pullout, or Why I Didn't Go Bicycling Today. These other topics don't excite me as much. I may write about Iraq tomorrow, but I won't be able to write about the other topic, since I will go bicycling tomorrow. There, assertive definitiveness is manly, isn't it?

Which brings us to my point, that the so-called "masculinity" du Toit writes about transcends gender today.

Men are still different from women in a number of important ways. These haven't changed, and won't change.

Viva la difference!

Society has changed, however, and will continue to change. Today, what's important is to Do the Job, and to Do it Well, whatever the job at hand may be. The gender of the doer—as well as the race, creed, class or sexual orientation of the doer—is irrelevant.

[I'd had similar thoughts myself, but in the interests of fairness, here I'm paraphrasing Graydon, a commenter to this excellent post on the subject. In the interest of full disclosure, I came to read this post via Yahmdallah's comment on Sya's blog!]

Many men are angry that society has changed. The reason for their anger is fairly obvious. The Old Way assumed men were the only ones who could, in fact, Get The Job Done, if the Job were anything of consequence in the Man's world. This unique responsibility conferred status automatically to a man, which was fair in that context.

Today, though, no matter who we are, we have to earn our status through our competence. Being A Man today still means being a male who can Do the Job Well, which confers the same status as Being A Woman, a female who can Do the Job Well.

As for violence, which du Toit considers a masculine virtue, I consider it the opposite, a destructive vice which seldom solves anything. Violence should be, at most, the last, worst resort for resolving disputes between/among adults. Of course we need to teach this to our children, so that someday they can grow up to be competent adults.

When is an animal most dangerous? When it's afraid, becase that's when it's most likely to resort to violence. In short, violence is for cowards. For pussies. Real Men are competent, and brave, enough to find better solutions. Mohandas Gandhi was ten times the man John Wayne ever was.

Same goes for Real Women. Ever heard of Aung San Suu Kyi?

Maybe we should just say Real Adult. Because, apart from competence and courage, the rest is mainly just fashion. And a pair of testicles.

Sure, this way is harder the the Old Way for some, especially for men, but it's fair. And it's fact. There's no going back. Du Toit, along with other unreconstructed whiners, needs to face this reality.

C'mon— stand up and be a Real Man Adult about it!

Posted by Me at 21:16 link

Death, Destruction, Chaos — & Misunderstanding

I read Instapundit today for the first time in quite a while. He was raging against Ted Rall's latest column, in which Rall writes from the perspective of a recruiter for the Iraqi resistance forces, whose job has been made much easier by American actions. "Rall... writes this like he means it. He really is a loathsome human being." Instapundit supports his position by linking to a similar statement from Andrew Sullivan.

That folks like Sullivan and Instapundit miss the point, and seek to stir up additional hatred between already-divided segments of America, doesn't surprise me anymore. Earlier this week, "Citizen Smash" (formerly "LT Smash"), went after "Tom Tomorrow" over a cartoon pointing out the hypocrisy of "chickenhawk bloggers" who support and promote war from the safety of their computers. Again, the point was missed completely, as "Smash" protested that he and a few other warbloggers were actually members of the military. OK, fine; clearly the cartoon's not about you. What is your point?

What I really want to know is whether these folks are really as dense as they appear to be. If not, what stupid game are they playing? And why?

It's not helping anything. We need to find common ground and common goals. Further polarization only makes things worse.

In the interest of better understanding, a few points to ponder for right-wing readers:

• We Americans who opposed the Iraq war love America as deeply as you do, we just didn't — and don't — believe this war was justified.
• Our hearts break each time another American soldier dies, too. The difference is that we place the blame less on the hornet's nest, and more on those unwisely poking it with a stick. Additionally, many of us feel deep sadness for the innocent Iraqi civilian victims of this war, and we don't get a sense of that from the right wing. We tend to think of the right wing as heartless because of this.
• We don't want the terrorists to win, but we believe the present course of American action in Iraq is only creating more terrorists. We feel the lesson of Israel and the Palestinians is clear: violence creates more violence, which creates more violence, which creates more violence.... Nobody wins, except maybe arms makers and undertakers.
• We don't like politicians much, either.

I hope that helps. Now, would someone from the right-wing please explain Ann Coulter?

Anyone?

Posted by Me at 22:43 link

One of Those Days

I've noticed that the political stuff isn't much of a crowd-pleaser, so that leaves my life. A lot of days, there's not much of interest to report. Today, as you may have guessed, is one of those days.

Actually, today was noteworthy if only because I found myself unexpectedly in possession of something I haven't had in quite a while — spare time. I realized I'm fully up-to-date with schoolwork, and with paid work, too. I abandoned my big plan, to ride around Salem Lake again, because of the windy, cool weather (it's 25° cooler than this time yesterday; we had 30 mph winds earlier). So, I stayed home. I finally watched The Matrix, which means I'm now only what, four years behind the rest of the world in my movie viewing?

I also watched a mountain bike movie, Kranked IV, which like The Matrix was very cool to look at, if a little wanting intellectually. It's just a bunch of people doing crazy stuff on mountain bikes with a loud soundtrack. What's not to like? One of my favorite things about the whole series is that they show enough crashes for viewers to realize they shouldn't try these stunts themselves, but not so many as to sensationalize them.

Also today, I realized that, at least for the short ride to school and back, my 10-year-old mountain bike is faster than my "new" 25-year-old road bike. I had time to compare the numbers from last week with those from this week: I'm 2 mph faster on the MTB. I think I look cooler, too.

I'm still eagerly awaiting the bike stuff I ordered on eBay. Didn't come today. I bought a rear wheel to replace the one I "borrowed" from my friend's bike when I destroyed mine by ramming it into a curb full speed in the dark a few months ago. My friend rarely visits me here (can't blame her!), but she will be here in a couple of weeks and I did promise I'd put her bike back together in time for her visit.

My mechanic friend at the bike shop has been on the lookout for a good used wheel, but several months of no luck finally convinced me to take action myself.

I was pleased to find just the right wheel for a very low price on eBay. Then, after I'd agreed to buy it, I realized I'd need different gear shifters for my bike (old wheel had 5 gears, new one has 6), so I ordered those. Then I re-read the description of the wheel I'd just bought and realized I might need a new gear cassette, too (possible bad bearings). Fortunately, my bike shop friend has the correct 6-speed freewheel, used (but only barely), in hand. In the end, my "bargain" will have cost about the same as a new wheel. Except my bike's old enough that I couldn't have bought one of today's new wheels anyway, without also upgrading to new shifters and derailleurs — besides, today's new 8/9 speed wheels + gears might not have fit my bike, anyway! Bicycling seems a simple sport, until you break something....

On the cool side of things, I've found that my mountain bike, which I've often described as a "cheap Chinese bicycle" is actually much better than I'd realized. Or at least much more expensive, judging by prices on eBay. Not that I'd sell it. We've been through too much together....

So, that was my day of slack. What do you do on your unexpected days off, or do you never have them?

Posted by Me at 23:19 link

America's Largest Unions Endorse Dean

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Two major unions formally delivered their support to presidential candidate Howard Dean on Wednesday, giving the Democratic front-runner an army of supporters and extra cash in his bid for the party's nomination.

The executive board of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees voted unanimously to endorse Dean, and the Service Employees International Union announced it was backing the former Vermont governor.

The endorsements were expected, with news coming last week that AFSCME, 1.5 million-member strong, would coordinate with the 1.6-million member SEIU in making known their preference in the nine-way race.

"We have a candidate who represents our values and who can defeat this president," AFSCME President Gerald McEntee said. "AFSCME is going to mobilize the largest and most aggressive grass-roots campaign this nation has ever seen. Together with Governor Dean, America's working families will take back the White House in 2004."

[full story]

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney isn't saying which Democrat he thinks would be the toughest challenger to President Bush next year.

"I just want to make sure that we have the strongest candidate who can win and I think this process that we're going through is going to give us that candidate," he said. "We will then do our damnedest to get that candidate elected."

[full story]

But this is politics, so expect the attacks on Dean's positions — and on him, personally — to intensify. Now we'll see how well the good Doctor plays defense.

Posted by Me at 23:07 link

Remembering, Honoring — and Learning

It's good for us to remember all our veterans. They put their lives on the line for us. How many of us would risk our lives for our country? My father Thornton Long, Sr. served in the Navy in the Korean War; his brother William Long was an infantry soldier in the same war. My mother's brother John Cox received the Bronze Star for his bravery as a forward artillery observer in the Normandy invasion during World War II. Two of his sons were severely damaged psychologically by their service in Vietnam (I withhold their names out of respect).

The tradition of military service goes back a long way in my family. I'm a direct descendant, on my mother's side, of Israel Putnam. Members of my family have served this country in every war since our Revolution. I'm proud of their service, and of their sacrifices. It's only right we remember them.

But if all we do on this day is to honor and glorify the sacrifices of war, then we are missing the point. Wars hold lessons for us today, the most important of which is that war is evil. Nothing ruins more lives, nothing unleashes more pain, suffering — and evil — into the world, than war. No greater crime exists than to make war unnecessarily.

On this day, let us reaffirm our commitment always to honor, cultivate and practice Peace. We owe no less to those who have given so much to us by their sacrifices.

Posted by Me at 22:21 link

Take Action to Protect Forests

There's a chance that forest fire legislation -- H.R. 1904, the so-called Healthy Forest Restoration Act -- will soon pass Congress.

Both the House and Senate have approved versions of the legislation and are about to begin working out their differences. Now's the time to push for adoption of the better Senate version and to oppose the misguided House bill, which would waive environmental laws, open 20 million acres of our national forests to logging, and harm habitat for wolves, bears, elk, and countless other creatures.

H.R. 1904, as passed by the House, would damage public forests by authorizing road construction in roadless areas, blocking the public from participating in forest management decisions, and constricting the review of hazardous fuels reduction projects required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) -- all without providing any assurance to communities that they will be any safer from forest fires.

In fact, scientific studies show that the increased logging and road building that would result from the bill may even increase the risk of fire. In addition, H.R. 1904 relies on paying the timber industry with large, fire resistant trees -- in forests that are currently healthy and miles from communities -- instead of appropriating funds to carry out this so-called fuels reduction work.

When the Senate passed H.R. 1904, it made some improvements. Its version would authorize $760 million annually to pay for fuel reduction projects instead of using proceeds from timber sales and it requires that at least half of those funds be used in the forest zone closest to homes and communities where the need is greatest.

The Senate bill, although an improvement over the House version, is still inadequate in terms of protecting against the possible abuse of our national forests. Therefore, we need to urge Congress to adopt the stronger Senate version without further weakening.

WWF activists have sent tens of thousands of letters to Congress already on this issue and can take some of the credit for the improvements that were made in the Senate, but Congress needs to hear from you again to ensure that the better bill passes.

Go to http://takeaction.worldwildlife.org/ctt.asp?u=82145&l=3769 to take action.

Notes For Talkative Persons

• It may be true that you could have saved the world many times — if only they'd listened to your voluminous advice — but oddly, most folks don't find this particularly interesting, especially in repeated tellings.
• Fortune Cookie said it best:
    Wisdom has two parts—
  1. Having a lot to say
  2. Not saying it.
• Misery may love company, but company does not love misery.
• The world will not end if you stop talking for a while.
• The rhetorical question "How are you?" should always be answered in three words or less.

This too shall pass....

Posted by Me at 21:01 link