Modern politicians and becoming a man

Welcome to GreatInsights. I'm StJohn Piano, CTO @ Solidi Exchange and a Blockchain Advisor @ Tela Network.

Here are two quotes that I really enjoyed.

The first is from Theodore Dalrymple.

The successful politician of today seems to have no mental or cultural hinterland, no real character other than ambition and desire for the limelight. This is not an entirely new phenomenon: Maynard Keynes was once asked what he thought Lloyd George, the British politician, thought about when he was on his own, and he replied that when Lloyd George was on his own, there was nobody there. In other words, he needed an audience to exist, even for himself.

Such a type is brought forth by the possibility of a constant audience, and therefore has never been a time more propitious for the multiplication of the type than the present, when the possibilities of mass communication for all have resulted in mass narcissism. Never in the field of human history has so much drivel been communicated to so many with such persistence.

Source:
Bleak Options
Theodore Dalrymple
February 17, 2024
https://www.takimag.com/article/bleak-options

The second quote, really an excerpt, is from Rob K Henderson.

There’s a scene in the 1999 cult classic film “Office Space” where the protagonist is asked what he’d do if he had a million dollars. After a few crude jokes, he pauses and says, “Nothing. I would relax. I would sit on my ass all day. I would do nothing.”

Most men, particularly young men, would far prefer this mode of living as opposed to, say, being a domineering tyrant or a responsible authority figure.

Mature masculinity is artificially induced through culture. Mature men do not naturally emerge like butterflies from boyish cocoons. Rather, they must be carefully encouraged, nurtured, counseled, and prodded into taking the actions necessary to achieve mature manhood.

Gilmore writes, “Manhood is a cultural construct based on group needs that overlays and counteracts a hesitant and resisting nature.” In other words, manhood exists to push against the default setting: self-indulgence and avoidance of responsibility.

Social conservatives often assume men naturally want to be good husbands and fathers. If that were true, ancient Rome wouldn’t have needed laws against bachelorhood. It took serious effort to get men to take on those roles. Progressives make a similar mistake, assuming men desire power and control. But most young men today aren’t power-hungry. They’re increasingly checked out.

This is why cultures around the world created rituals to shape boys into men. As the psychologist Roy Baumeister has written, “In many societies, any girl who grows up automatically becomes a woman. … Meanwhile, a boy does not automatically become a man, and instead is often required to prove himself, usually by passing stringent tests or producing more than he consumes.”

Source:
Charisma on Command, Manhood, Narcissism
Rob K Henderson
AUG 26, 2025
https://www.robkhenderson.com/p/charisma-on-command-manhood-narcissism