Perception Isn’t Reality

There is division within the Manosphere.  Its Christian faction doesn’t share the morality of the PUA blogs.  Our politics range from radical libertarian to staunchly social conservative to “”it’s hopeless just build a bunker” to more mainstream (with the occasional anti-feminist liberal thrown in for good measure).

But there is one thing that unites all of us who’ve swallowed the Red Pill.  We believe in reality.  We know that there’s an objective world outside ourselves that is what it is whether we like it or not.  You’ll find some disagreement about the exact nature of reality, but very little disagreement with the objective nature of reality itself.

Such a perspective is immeasurably important and increasingly rare.  The beliefs that men and women aren’t necessarily what we want them to be but instead have innate characteristics that don’t just change if we get little boys to play with dolls, that hope doesn’t maintain a relationship, that actions have consequences, are all subsets of the knowledge that A is A.

A is A (A) is a fundamental precept of Western Civilization.  It’s the reason we’ve developed such amazing technologies, how we’ve been able to build strong economies, and what’s enabled us to develop a viable middle class.

Leftism, along with its bastard spawn feminism, is doing everything in its power to break down this fundamental belief.

Rarely will anyone other than a philosophy professor openly declare that they don’t believe in reality.  Of course they believe in A; what idiot possibly couldn’t?

Don’t listen to what they say.  Watch what they do.

Observe academia’s focus on Womyn’s Studies, African-American Studies, Native-American Studies, Gay Studies, Chicano Studies, and Critical Theory.  Each of these implies that history, law, and literature mean only what those who share whatever perspective think they mean.  What we’ve called “American History” is actually no such thing–it’s only WHAM History (white heterosexual able-bodied male), and our calling it “American History” merely diminishes the experience of the oppressed.  Never mind that WHAM’s have played a predominant role in the development of our country (and no, it’s not because they were white), we need to cut James Madison from our textbooks to devote more space to César Chávez so that Hispanic kids can relate.  You see, they don’t have a shared cultural experience with James Madison, so unless we put in more Hispanics it’s not real to them.  Perspective matters more than reality.

Was César Chávez important?  Yes.  Was he more important than John Adams?  Your answer depends on the color of your skin.  There’s no way to answer objectively because there’s no such thing as objectivity.

Notice the continually evolving interpretations of sexual assault.  “Assault” is no longer an objective act that somebody either does or doesn’t do, it’s now whatever the “victim” thinks it is.  Whether you believe Zimmerman attacked Trayvon or Trayvon attacked Zimmerman isn’t a question of fact but a litmus test to determine whether or not you’re sufficiently socially aware.  Who gives a damn about Zimmerman’s bloody nose.  No self-respecting black person could possibly believe that Martin did anything wrong, for Trayvon’s plight was an encapsulation of the African-American experience, the facts on the ground be damned.  Disagree and you’re a racist.

Men aren’t supposed to believe that life begins at conception because they’ll never have to go through a pregnancy.  Only blacks have the right to criticize the barbaric behavior of other blacks, but everybody has the right to judge rednecks.  If you point out the FACT that obscenely drunk women are more likely to get raped (men being so barbaric and all), get prepared for accusations of “rape apologist”.

To our opponents, there is no objective Truth but only perspective.  All claims at objectivity are merely attempts to control the narrative.  If you believe that the 2nd Amendment protects the individual right to bear arms, you’re not actually trying to interpret what the dudes who wrote it were saying, you just want to keep your guns.  If you think that fathers should be the heads of their households, you’re just saying that because you want to be in charge.  There is no Truth, only Power.  It’s therefore perfectly legitimate to warp whatever truths you can to promote your agenda because that’s what everybody does.

Only that’s not the case.  Whether it’s the Constitution or Shakespeare, they said what they said, not just what we want them to say, and some of us are actually trying to figure that out.  Will we sometimes disagree over the meanings of the words and phrases they used?  Yes, but disagreements over what they said are legitimate when we’re actually trying to figure out what they meant.

I don’t believe in the feral nature of female sexuality because I want to believe it.  Frankly, I really wish that I could believe otherwise, that I could win the girl by being a really nice guy.  I don’t want to have to be a bastard, but I know that sometimes I do.  I’m not looking for an excuse to oppress anybody.  I’m just trying to understand how things really are and make my way the best I can.

Likewise, I don’t oppose affirmative action and massive income redistribution schemes because I hate the poor, I’ve simply driven through Detroit enough times, talked to enough people from similar environments, and read enough to know that our “good intentions” only make things worse.

But our enemies can’t give us credit for this.  Whether it’s our views on the economy, race, or gender, we’re just looking for an excuse to retain Power, the very Power the left is trying to take away from us.  Our supposed attempts to retain Power are worse than evil; their attempts to take that Power away (and even magnify it) are nobility personified.

I’ve expounded on one of the ways to fight this rhetorically before, but rhetoric is only a reflection of a much more fundamental battle.  One of the reasons I oppose male-victimhood is that I don’t want us to buy into the false premise that Truth is subjective and try to use the left’s power-narrative against those who aren’t like me.

Today, an accused rapist is presumed guilty because feminists control the legal system.  If we buy into their premises but win that Power back, we’ll live in a world in which rape victims are presumed guilty (Man Power!).  What I want is for actual rapists AND false rape accusers to suffer.

For most leftists to determine how bad it was for five guys to beat some schlub they’ve never met into a coma, they first need to know the races and sexual orientations of the perpetrators and victims.  Five white guys beating a black?  Lock ’em up and throw away the key.  Five black guys beating up a white?  Well, they have to be punished (I guess), but we need to understand how oppressed they’ve felt and maybe take it easy on them.  Five straight whites beating up a gay?  Punish!  Punish!   Punish!  Two Hispanics and three blacks beating up a gay Asian?  Let’s don’t not talk about it.

I know we’ll never get there, but I want to live in a world in which five guys beating another guy into a coma is severely punished no matter who they are.  It’s an objective crime, and it should have an objective punishment.

Today, hate crimes laws codify that some crime victims matter more than others.  A few decades back, the same principle applied, only we protected a different group, for some of us bought into the faulty notion that some lives were worth more than others.  Swinging this faulty pendulum back to favor my group is no victory.

We need to defeat the idea that Truth is merely an extension of Power and not an end in and of itself.  This requires us to unflinchingly examine Truth to the fullest extent we can, no matter where it leads us, no matter how much it might hurt.  Truth doesn’t change if you’re black or white, straight or gay, rich or poor, male or female.  It is what it is.

A is A.  Let us never forget it.