Where Are All The Good Men?

How should men live their lives in a time when traditional manhood is not needed, and in many cases not even wanted or respected? Is there any reason to strive to live the manly code if it does not come with societal honor and reward, and if failure to do so carries no threat of shame? Is it possible to conceive a manhood that stays true to the past but also offers men a way to move forward?

Throwing out the old code of manhood was supposed to be liberating for men and women alike. Yet men’s suicide rates are sharply rising while their high school graduation rates are falling. Men increasingly wish to opt-out of contributing to society at all. They feel restless and adrift. And women have been left to wonder, “Where have all the good men gone?"

It's no surprise that an emphasis on manhood is currently very weak. Society doesn’t need most men to perform dirty, strenuous, dangerous jobs for which their propensity for risk-taking and their physical strength make them uniquely suited. Men are so seemingly unnecessary that we have even began speculating whether we might have reached “the end of all the good men.”

For individual men of certain disciplines, and I include myself here, this can still be a fantastic era for manhood. Adherence to the masculine code is no longer enforced, but we can still willingly choose to follow aspects of it. Not because someone else is making us, but because we find it helps us live a fulfilling, flourishing life. 

The manly tasks are even more satisfying when we intentionally seek them out and freely choose them ourselves.

We can choose to be menly men, to be gentlemen who cleave to those high moral standards of a bygone era and continue to encourage our piers that society still does long for Men of Honour.