A friend turned me on to a piece from National Review about the decline of male strength in America. This trend appears tp coincide with the rise of obesity and other negative indicia.

If you’re the average Millennial male, your dad is stronger than you are. In fact, you may not be stronger than the average Millennial female. You’re exactly the kind of person who in generations past had your milk money confiscated every day — who got swirlied in the middle-school bathroom. The very idea of manual labor is alien to you, and even if you were asked to help, say, build a back porch, the task would exhaust you to the point of uselessness. Welcome to the new, post-masculine reality.

Let that sink in. Our young men are no stronger than our women. If you’re a young hipster, pokemon addict, your dad is stronger than you. I’m a proud, jaded Gen-Xer and I kind of know what that’s like. My dad was always stronger than me (until shortly before he died). That however was freak genetics; if I was Batman strong, he was the Incredible Hulk. Hell, his nickname in the gym was “Earthquake”.

The Review is talking about “men” who have become so feminized as to shun all physicality. One thing led to another and I found myself reading a story from the New York Times: 27 Ways to be a Modern Man. It’s actually pretty good until the end.

My thoughts on a few of the wayward of the 27 ways:

13) I don’t listen to Wu-Tang. Then again, musical tastes vary greatly. That may just be personal.

17) Really? A melon baller? I guess this is New York based advice.

20) I had to look up this spoon business. At first I though they were talking about snuff. They were not.

23) I don’t know who Michael Mann is and I’m not checking.

25) This is a dead giveaway the author is a liberal sissy. A gun does not make a man but, like any tool, a man may find uses for one. This is also a odds with number 16.

26) Men may cry but they don’t do it often. I last cried when my daughter was born.

All  cry and no gun? These are modern “men” they’re describing. Probably obese and weak as any woman. I suspect the women are weaker too and they are definitely getting bigger. Grab any farm wife from 1880s Kansas and I bet she could beat up half the recruits at Paris Island today.

I could give advice like:

Get a gun or at least learn how one works;

Wear a belt and closed toe shoes;

Hit the gym, toughen up and lose some fat;

Carry a pocketknife;

Carry a handkerchief too;

Limit the video games;

Buy my books;

Smoke a cigar;

Offend an SJW intentionally and never apologize;

Read a book;

etc. – a 1000 etcs.

But, advice is a dangerous gift to give. Wait, I did just throw some out. Live dangerous, be a man.

All this got me thinking about the old man. At one time he held all the Georgia masters powerlifting records. I tried to find them but could not (easily). I’ll just estimate from memory: Bench – 455 lbs; Squat – 635; Deadlift – 585. These were “equipped” and from a 300-pounder. Still he was about 55 when he set them. Usually lifted wearing a “When it absolutely, positively has to be destroyed overnight” USMC t-shirt. He was smart too.

It’s not all brawn. A man should use his brain muscles too. I’ll leave you with that.