Q&A #8: Savage Gentlemen; our trip to "the south;" and Am I Racist?
Questions (Q) & Conversation (C) With the Master Grizzly
This is a compendium of my latest conversations & dialogue with colleagues, friends, and email subscribers. NOTE: I tend to receive more email replies than per-post public comments (like 5x more). I still encourage the latter, however. ;)
Q: Some background, I’m a Marine that joined out of a source of patriotism and a desire to be a savage warrior/gentleman. That’s not what I found while in, so now I’m looking for guidance on what makes a savage gentleman to help me on my journey.
- From FB group member, Jesse Tristan Bettis who is part of the 61k+ League of Savage Gentlemen group. My answer, posted to the group, is here:
A: First, a fist bump and Semper Fi, Jesse. Hopefully you took some positive experiences out of your time in the Military. I know I sure did. In reference to your question…
A Savage gentleman is a "Warrior Poet," first and foremost!! One person who’s scared to death of an argument. Another “tough guy” who acts macho 24/7.
According to Aubrey Marcus, the CEO of an 8-figure company (Onnit), both mentalities are B.S.
At both extremes you’re damaging yourself, others, and not living to your full potential. This isn’t just about “machoism” either. It’s true of spirituality (new age vs. non-believer), politics (liberal or conservative), and so much more.
These mentalities can keep us in a box. Worse of all, they can lead to two limiting beliefs:
1) Feeling unworthy 2) Lack of self-love
A few fundamental keys to success, I have found, are to try to live a life of balance and authenticity — common sense, then, just comes naturally over time.
Via the video below, you’ll hear examples of historic Warrior Poets who changed the world (like Socrates) — and how you can become a Warrior Poet, too. Then, in the video, Aubrey shares how he honors himself — and how you can honor yourself no matter how much money you have, how “successful” you are, or anything else.
Q: What impressions did you take away from your recent trip to “the south?”
This question was sent in, via Messenger, from a gentleman tied to the same group above. NOTE: He also was part of a helpful thread of more than 125 responses to my own questions about the cities we must visit and things we should do along this route:
A: The route you see on the thread (above, too) wasn’t new to me. Well, outside of Savannah… my first time there ever! Historic Savannah was nearly “heaven on earth” to us. Ironic, huh?, considering the city has some very dark and tragic history tied to it.
Then again, when you consider the universal truths by, say, Hermes Trismegistus, it’s not too hard to understand why:
“Opposites are identical in nature, but different in degree; Extremes meet; All truths, are but half-truths; All paradoxes may be reconciled.”
We rode bikes in the rain, toured cool homes, went to the famed Bonaventure cemetery and tasted amazing fried catfish and shrimp & grits at Huey’s on the River.
We mostly talked to more transplants in Savannah, than longtime family locals. Everyone was super-friendly, helpful and enjoyable to engage with. One guy who we met at Forsyth Park (Savannah’s own version of Central Park) was there, from Chicago, managing an Italian Bistro. Over a drink, he regaled us with tales of the catacombs or tunnels running underneath the park — apparently constructed in the 19th central to transport the deceased (yellow fever epidemics) from the old Candler Hospital to burial sites outside the city.
After 3 days in Savannah, we checked into Four Points by Sheraton, Jacksonville Beach (link). Hurricane Francine was starting to brew its ugly head in the Gulf, so we didn’t really do much here, other than follow Google’s incorrect directions to a “manatee state park” which led us right into the front gate of Jacksonville Naval Air Stations. Nichole admits to never being the best backup navigator. LOL.
3 days later, we hopped onto 1-10 W and went straight to Destin, intentionally bypassing Tallahassee, other than a quick stop for me to pass on some spontaneous wisdom about how to “reset” after your legs go to sleep when driving:
We scooted over to Santa Rosa Beach and stated at The Lodge 30A for a few nights. This route, if you don’t know, is a picturesque stretch of road along Florida's Gulf Coast. It has pristine soft white sand beaches, 15 rare coastal dune lakes, and ends at the famed Seaside, FL — this is part of where The Truman Show was filmed.
I’ll stop here for now, as this post is getting too long for email length (might be truncated in your inbox). So, I will resume with thoughts about our cultural / people experiences via Q&A #9 (call it the forthcoming Part 2 to this question).
Q: I would like to believe that you know racism exists in America and that the system that you live in DOES NOT promote equality.
From reader, Barbara W., who emailed me in reference to my ‘Scaring a young black girl’ riff.
A: Actually, no, I don’t buy into that extreme or excessive type of fear porn around “racism,” anymore than I do that ‘hatred’ and ‘bias’ exist in America on that level. You’ll see, therefore exasperate, any negative you wish, if you decide to focus on it hard enough.
The human condition — which includes bias, prejudice, hatred and all other forms of cognitive quirks — is by no means exclusive to America. This shit exists across the world; across all racial lines, across all ethnic boundaries, across all cultural borders.
And, quite honestly, I feel anyone parroting the idea of “racism” (just as they do, similarly, to Fascism) comes out of the playbook of an SJW (Social Justice Warrior) ideology that just won’t spend the time to critically think through things in a way that truly expands the full color spectrum of human nature.
In default mode, we all exist to be heard, loved and make a difference in the world. Some just look so far out ‘beyond the boundaries’ of what they can control, they forget about the basics that matter:
Self-responsibility, accountable behavior, hard work, overcoming challenges, etc.
I’ll never buy into the notion that "racism" is a pure, one-sided RACE issue (think about that twice). Matter of fact, it often occurs, behaviorally, from the other side. I do believe I covered that nicely, in the past, here:
Also, if you have yet to see Matt Walsh's documentary, Am I Racist?, I would immediately watch the trailer… then, run, not walk, to the nearest theater to watch it. Last I checked, it was only playing in theaters. Matt and team expose just how nauseous the propaganda around “racism is rampant” has become. And, why, like Climate Change, they’re force-feeding a “problem” — one that isn’t socially significant — down the minds of many
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Barry, somewhat related to the "scaring the young black girl" riff, but out of the 100 friends I have, maybe 10 of them will understand why I am voting the way I am. They will only judge me by my vote, not by walking in my shoes for the last 25 years. Some percentage are so certain of the correctness of their belief are incredibly intolerant that anybody else could be justified in voting or believing the way they do.
And that's the way it is as Walter Cronkite used to say.