Social Activism and The Zombie Apocalypse

Listen, smile, agree, and then do whatever the fuck you were going to do anyway.

Robert Downey Jr.

Thanks to movies and TV, we are all familiar with the zombie apocalypse to the point where we have fantasized about how we would handle ourselves within that improbable eventuality. There is some morbid attractiveness to the idea of being able to handle hordes of mindless monsters without owing them even the slightest pity or consideration as even the most heinous acts are viewed as heroism in support of the greater good. Such have been our fantasies that even the Pentagon has developed a national contingency plan in case Zombies try to take over.

The sad part of this fantasy is how we’ve embraced this mentality within our society, not against zombies, but rather against each other. We grouped together into little cliques of survivors as we set off to fight our own “zombie hordes.” We stopped looking at each other as humans with the capability of having different points of views and different perspectives within the same topic, as we embraced an “Us vs. Them” attitude where “Us” are right and “Them” deserve whatever we can throw at them.

People fashioned themselves as activists, posting their protest about one issue or another, were online media sites desperately scurried to fine the new offensive material to condemn or the new scandal to criticize. Everyone desperately seeks to became a victim or a champion of victims, as we unfriended, trolled, or attacked anyone who thought differently from us. And we all rejoiced at what great people we became as we dove head first into justifiable assholism. If we stop and looked at what happened, we would realize just how horrible of a society we are creating in our need to find enemies to fight or victims to defend.

There is an advantage of having enemies or of being a victim that we refuse to admit. As we define an enemy and refuse to view them as equal to us, we can assign all the evil and badness of the world to these people while viewing ourselves as having ownership of all the goodness and moral high ground. This allows us to wallow in our own anger and resentment, as we are given free rein to abuse people. We feel that we can’t be held accountable for our own actions as the label of victimhood absolves us from doing any evil, no matter what we are doing, as our actions are justifiable. We keep telling ourselves how we would be good natured and caring if it wasn’t for those “enemies” who deserve our attacks.

And that feels good. Real good. Just as with the zombie apocalypse, we can now be as drastic as we want while being a hero working for the greater good. To justify this mentality and fanatism, we post up memes calling out the evils of indifference or even the virtues of having enemies, as we troll, harass, lie, stretch the truth, threaten, and even physically assault anyone who disagrees with us. And we do this all while calling out those same actions from our counterparts.

We see this in both Conservatives and Liberals. We see this in both Feminists and Men’s Rights Activists. We see this in both #BlackLivesMatter and #AllLivesMatter. We see this within the religious and even in those fighting class warfare. In reality, we see this in any groups who fashion themselves as fighting for a “cause.” Ironically, if you sit down and have an open minded conversation with anyone within these different groups, you realize that each hold some shard of truth and from each you could learn. Believe it or not, you can actually find some knowledge, or at the very least some understanding and empathy, even within the bigot, the racist, the sexist, and even the homophobe.

Keep in mind that in no way I’m promoting any kind of discrimination or abuse, but rather calling out the socially acceptable discrimination and abuse disguised as social justice. The problem with calling out this kind of oppression is that we refuse to acknowledge when we do it, as we find it justified as we have turned the world into black and white ideologies, were you are either with me or an enemy.

We have polished this mentality so cleverly that we even created a concept to condemn anyone who criticizes our actions or exposing our hypocrisy. To avoid the possibility discussion brought up by others that we are doing something wrong, we call out their “privilege,” as we try to silence them through shame or guilt. We’ve gone so far with the “privilege” guilt trip discourse that some are made to feel that the only way to remove the shame of their gender, race, social class or any other personal situation is through the purgatory of combating their own. It’s amazing how we see nothing wrong with condemning someone over the personal situation, often one that they can’t control, as we use guilt and shame as little more than a tool for oppression.

So what can you do?

You can win by refusing to play this game. You have to realize that these hypocrites find their position validated with every share of online posts. You have to understand that social media sites profit from every controversial article as their hit counters pile up. All you have to do is sit back and stop playing their game as you realize the only power something has over you is the one you give it. Understand that the protest du jeur will be forgotten within a couple of weeks, as the moralist vultures move on to the next cause.

Work on yourself and on bettering yourself, and stop measuring your worth based on what group you belong. You can believe in gender equality without putting down anyone else. You can be a conservative on some topics, while being a liberal on others. You can be a traditionalist and a modernist at the same time. One ideology doesn’t trump the other. Disagreeing with someone doesn’t make you better than them. How you treat them in spite of disagreeing with them does.

Refining a Rebellion

What is a rebel? A man who says no: but whose refusal does not imply a renunciation.

Albert Camus

As a young man, I fancied myself a social rebel, a non-conformist with a mean streak. I was that outspoken student who would look for even the simplest excuse to challenge authority. I refused to follow the norms and rules, as I bulldozed my way across life. I hung out with the wrong people and did the wrong things. I wanted to change the world, so I set off to questioned society and its moral rules with every action and every comment I made, as I was convinced that this would give me some kind of power over how my life would turn out. Life doesn’t work like that.

As I look back, I have come to realize how alike everyone within that social crowd dressed, acted, spoke, and thought of themselves as rebellious independents. Makes me reconsider just how much of a rebel I actually was? It also makes me thankful that all of this happened before all social mishaps end up in YouTube. It also makes me think about all those social activists who go from one protest to another, were protesting takes center stage over actually making a difference.

Way too many people want to challenge the world, rebel against authority, prove just how independent they are. So they set up to do exactly what the rest of the “rebellious” crowd does. They lay in wait, as their social media feed tells them what to be offended off or what social justice bandwagon to get onboard. And as if pre-coordinated and pre-orchestrated, we see how profile pics change as the massive “injustice” du jour taints everyone’s face. What was once acts of rebellion are currently the norm. What was once viewed as challenges to the establishment have now become the social establishment?

So this leaves us with a rather interesting question; what is a modern rebel? It still is the person who’s willing to stand against the social paradigm, so a simpler question should be “what is the social paradigm?” Well, based on social media, it’s to protest simply to be cool, were insults and judgmentalism are more important that making a difference, as “look at me” overtook “let me take a hard look at myself.”

Ironically, when you start looking at the word “rebel” from that perspective, the result is rather amusing.

In a society that tells you to be selfish, being loyal is rebellion.
In a society that tells you to hate everyone else, being kind is rebellion.
In a society that tells you to conform to mediocrity, giving that extra mile is rebellion.
In a society that tells you to follow viral videos and consume media, getting off your ass and living life is rebellion.
In a society that tells you to call out everything wrong in everyone else, working to fix what’s wrong within yourself first is rebellion.

When you thing about it, society has now become this angst obsessed judgmental hypocrite child who refuses to grow up and take accountability for itself. With that in mind, it’s amazing how being a rebel can now be summed up in a simple manner.

Taking care of yourself and those around you

Treating others with respect
Expecting more from yourself
Being a decent human being

Funny how much of this can be defined with one simple term.

Gentleman.

Fighting Against A Not So Brave New World

You might want to target a girls school which is safer because there are no beta males throwing themselves for their rescue.

Anonymous

See the quote above? It’s not meant to be inspirational but a horrible exposition of our modern society.

The day before the Umpqua College shooting that took 13 people and injured 20 others, it’s believed that the killer headed to the anonymous forum of the university to discuss his intentions. The reaction from several other posters, instead of trying to talk him out of hit or alerting the authorities, was to offer their advice on how to best execute his plan! Again, the same rhetoric that we saw after the Isla Vista shooting in 2014 came up, to go after women as they offer an easier target, but to do this, he needed to avoid “beta males throwing themselves for their rescue.”

Back then I discussed how we as a society create and feed this kind of monsters. I commented how a culture of cowardly infamy and a need to be noticed no matter what provided the perfect breeding ground for this kind of cowardly act. What I didn’t consider back then is how we already have a way to dissuade this kind of events, something that hit me across the face as I read that quote.

…No beta males throwing themselves for their rescue…

I found this quote rather surprising as this behavior is exactly what has been socially defined as the Beta Male.  The Beta Male, as defined by Urban Dictionary, is “an unremarkable, careful man who avoids risk and confrontation. Beta males lack the physical presence, charisma and confidence of the Alpha male.” Yet with that definition, most acts of White Knighting are usually attributed to beta males. Last I checked, throwing yourself in harm’s way to protect others is actually the opposite of “avoids risk and confrontation.”

Unfortunately, the extreme factions within the Feminist movement have promoted the idea that any man stepping up and helping women is an open act of sexist and a promotion of the patriarchy. On the other end of the SJW spectrum, the extreme MRA’s (Men’s Rights Activists) promote the idea that men being told to step up and defend women are actually hurting men as it promotes the idea that a man’s life is worth less than a woman’s.

Just to be clear, neither of these extreme factions represents either the Feminist Movement or the Men’s Right Movement and shouldn’t be used to diminish what both groups do to help gender equality. Now if both movements would try to keep in check and muzzle their more radical members that would be great.

So how can we challenge a word that tells men not to step up? How can we promote the idea that everyone is willing to run and hide, letting evil run rampant? How can we change a world where everyone validates their personal Victimhood as an excuse to commit horrible acts?

The answer is rather simple. By letting the world know you’re not a victim. I’m not talking about walking around with an assault rifle flung over your shoulder. In truth, I view that as an act of promoting the notion of victimhood as you believe it will keep you from being a victim. I am talking about having the moral fiber and the character to do moral acts no matter what society tells you. It’s about speaking up and standing up when they want you to sit down and be quiet. It’s about keeping your warrior spirit alive when everyone wants you to kill it off. It’s about wearing that White Knight Armour proudly. 

A Magnificent Bastard

If you're a wolf, be a wolf… Real men don't play games or need to lie in order to get something from a woman. Man up. Be honest. Be real and make your intentions for the relationship clear from the beginning.

Brandon Alexander, New Age Gents

When you think of a Gentleman, you think of a good man who’s dedicated to positive endeavors, has impeccable manners, dresses to impress, and has sworn his undying love to a single person. This is true, that man probably is a Gentleman, but not all gentlemen are like that.

I have met gentlemen who don’t focus on social justice, they just make sure not to hurt others and that’s more than enough for them. I have met gentlemen who don’t know the nuances of social etiquette, yet their attention for others more than compensate for that lack of education. I have met blue collar gentlemen, and have met gents who have no interest in establishing any formal relationship. I have even met gentlemen who exemplify the Gentleman-Rogue, and being a rogue doesn’t make them any less of a gentleman. Gentlemen are defined by their honorable acts and honesty of self, so how can you say that a man who is open and honest about not being a “good” man be considered any less of a gentleman?

All too often men assume that they have to lie about who they are, as they walk around as wolves in sheep’s clothing. They assume that they must play “the game” as the only way to live is by manipulating others. Many actually believe they ARE good men, rationalizing why they would stab someone in the back.

But what if you didn’t need to stab someone in the back, to manipulate others, to live a hypocritical “good” life, one you truly don’t believe in? Doing good acts that you don’t believe in, just to impress others is, in truth, lying to those around you. That’s little more than an open manipulation of those around you. Why not simply be honest? Why not drop the sheep’s cloak and be the man you are?

This attitude is nothing new as every society has had its share of Gentlemen Rogues and Lotharios who live under an informal code based on the ideals of “Honor among Thieves.” Not every man is looking to save the world nor is looking for the love of his life. Some men are just looking to carve a nook for themselves and those around them. Some men are just looking to find that special person for that one night. Some men who think like this have the balls to be honest about it.

And isn’t that in a way respectable? No games, nor lies, just a wolf who isn’t ashamed of being a wolf. A man who will openly speak of his intentions, one who lays his cards on the table, one who isn’t afraid standing before you with a sword drawn when he calls you out, one who openly speaks his mind. In a way, these men are viewed as a lot more dangerous by society, as they let everyone know about another way of living, as they have little interests in impressing others as they live in honest addition of who they are, while holding themselves up to a strict personal code of honor. These are the men who are wrong in all the right ways. People might think of them as bastards, but they are Magnificent Bastards.

The Gentlemen Rebel And Unlearning The Mook

(I want to thank the rest of the Charisma.Expert group as our conversations helped develop this post, with a shout out to Jedadiah Walls, our resident Media Psychologist, for providing some of the key pieces missing in the puzzle.)

Manhood is the defeat of childhood narcissism.

David Gilmore

You might have heard me mention how Gentlemen are the modern rebels, but it wasn’t until recently that I realized to what extent this is true. But before we go on promoting the idea of the Gentlemen Rebel, there are a couple of things we should understand first, starting with defining what a social rebel is.

A rebel is a person who opposes a group in authority and challenges acceptable standards of behavior, dress, etc. And this is why so many men refuse to follow the path of the Gentlemen. They view themselves as rebels, as challenging the ‘acceptable standards of behavior, dress, etc.’ of a Gentleman where ‘Gentlemen’ becomes the ‘acceptable standard’ to challenge. But is it?

When you consider how often you hear ladies mentioning how hard it is to find a Gentleman or the comment of how rare manners are today, you are left wondering if Gentlemen are actually the ‘standard.’ We have to understand that social ‘standard’ is most common and promoted practices within society. So what is the ‘standard’? What does society expect men to be?

This is where I’m going to step on a few toes and some men might become offended. To others this will make absolutely perfect sense. When you look at what we expected from men today, it’s not the gentleman or even a good man, but rather the Mook; the narcissist man-child or the entitled snark, usually coupled with the the incompetent or absentee dad. Sure, this is not what is told that men should be, but it’s what’s expected for them to become as they are bombarded with this image time and time again in the media.

Back in the 90’s, Viacom, a mass media conglomerate, hired the international advertisement agency Saachi and Saachi to develop a series of archetypes that could be branded and ‘sold’ to the public. Their response to the new male trope was the ‘Mook’, the typical 12 year old boy’s image of what masculinity should be to make it cool, a parody of a manhood who defends his laziness with sarcasm and angst, while at the same time dealing with an incompetent father figure and a sense of a vilifying society trying to force on them unnecessary responsibilities. And for any media company, this would be perfect, a demographic who did little more than consume their product, who would rebel against anyone who asked them to get off the couch, and would never realize they had become exactly what the corporations wanted them to become. Ladies and Gentlemen, that is social manipulation and programing at its best.

And the Mook was shoved down our throats in every single Adam Sandler style movie and Jackass clone MTV put out to the public. After seeing its success on MTV, Viacom started phasing the Mook into their other channels, as they became responsible for the next 20 years of male slacker glorification. Our culture was raised on hundreds of mook inspired characters, as the archetype was redefining and refining to a point where the parody of masculinity became the definition of manhood.

That went unchallenged, until those who grew up as the Mooks where now forced to see themselves in the role of the incompetent father, and they woke up. They refused to accept their role in this game and started an open challenge. And this open challenge started to slowly spread as more men refused to walk down the path of the man-child so many other men embrace. They realized that they could be more if they were just willing to be more.

Are all of these men Gentlemen? Not necessarily, as each man walks his own path. Are all Gentlemen Rebels? He’s certainly not willing to accept the social ‘standard’ of the mook, so yes. I think that a better question is why would you want to be a Mook?