Does this speech speak truth or falsehood?

[Andreas]

Please watch this video and write your opinion about what it means to be a man. I need help to determine how to evolve as a person. Thank you. 

 

Edited March 28, 2019 by Andreas

[Alf]

Well, for starters, there's not a single thought in that video that is his. Why bother creating a video which is just a copy of youtube trends? You might just as well make a 15 second one saying 'I liked this video, go check it out', rather than regurgitating the same stuff you saw elsewhere.

Second, men in general aren't stoic and never were. If that were the case, there would have never existed any need for a philosophy and tradition of Stoicism. The typical man is overly emotional and irrational, and this isn't a new development either.

Third, he speaks of 'the grandfathers' in a very irrational and romanticised manner. Fuck buddies? Fatherless boys? He ascribes these behaviours to modernity clearly with no clue of the utter debauchery of previous centuries. One needs not go further than Victorian Britain for as many Oliver Twists as you are capable of counting. He speaks of abortion shortly after speaking of 'Stoics' and showing an image of a Greek warrior, showing he didn't even bother to check on the attitudes towards abortion of the ancient western cultures, which was mostly 'meh..'.

Fourth, this is just pure dichotomisation, which is a strategy weak minded people often employ. Essentially you create two categories, then you put your own behaviour into the category of positives and anything you do not approve of in the negative category. Then make sure you oversimplify everything as much as you can and define the entire world as revolving around those two categories. Here is a scene from Donnie Darko as an example:

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Overall, way too much whinging and victimisation for my taste. I wouldn't trust a man who decries such behaviour but then proceeds to make entire videos behaving like a victim. 

 

[B_Naz]

What he says is mostly true about masculinity I guess, but it seems like a debate rather than truth. It's one bullshit/illusion against another bullshit/illusion. SJW vs Men

I feel like this guy is making an identity  of masculinity and trying to protect his "masculinity". In my opinion masculinity is an energy that can be tapped in by both male and females, and calling it "toxic" is an judgment. But sure it's obviously toxic if you side only with masculinity in the same way as siding with femininity. A total balance is needed

[Alf]

"I feel like this guy is making an identity  of masculinity and trying to protect his "masculinity"."

I think this is spot on.

I understand and don't even disagree with some of the foundation of his argument, which I already saw elsewhere (it's hard to avoid), but this dude is just playing the identity game. He seems to desperately need to attach himself to a group identity and feel reassured in his own belief by decrying anyone else who doesn't strictly conform to his beliefs as being in the out-group, in this case 'unmanly'. It's like going around shouting 'Communist'  at people who aren't even remotely communist just because they deviate a little bit from your beliefs. It's just an attempt to avoid critical thinking by attaching a target to a previously defined negative category, regardless of the truth of the accusation.

Always be wary of black and white thinking.

[B_Naz]

@Alf Spot on as well