The rise of the Hobby men. Copyright Richard Ford.
The British empire was built upon hobbies. No government sent explorers and missionaries. No great corporation invented the railway and the steam engine- these were all voluntary efforts. First came the explorers and the missionaries, then the traders and the merchants. Populations uprooted themselves without central direction and moved abroad seeking opportunity. It was only when significant British lives were at risk that the state became involved and the new territory became a formal part of the empire.
My point is that the achievements that we regard as distinctly 'British' are mainly voluntary or part time activities that men engage in without central direction. In economics the general pattern is of a British man inventing an entire industry in a fit of enthusiasm and then failing to control it. Think of the computer, think of the internet. The relative decline of Britain only began in the age of the professional. We are a free-range people and do not fare well under any master.
Why did voluntary endeavour decline? One reason is the growth of the state and another is the rise of feminism. Feminism is chiefly engaged in closing down male space and male community. The hobby was a male invention and the key to most of human creativity.
When a woman wants to relax she explores herself. When a man wants to relax he explores the world. I will prove this to you now.....
A woman meets her female friends after work to share her feelings and desires. When she talks about her work she talks exclusively about her relationships with her co workers. She looks upon her job purely as a means to run her personal dramas. Will she be promoted? Will this bring money and power? There is nothing creative in this process. It is entirely sterile because all of the important questions remain unasked.
When a man meets with his male friends he will discuss all of the above- but with added elements. He may talk about the politics of the organization- but he will do so from the point of view of advancing a pet project of his. He will discuss technical standards and where the industry is headed and is far more interested in the success of his company than a woman ever is. While a woman will experience her company as a stage on which she performs her dramas a man will regard the company as the chief actor. In other words a man is interested in solutions while a woman loves drama and problems.
This is one reason woman have never achieved very much for anyone but themselves- the question of human progress simply does not interest them very much.
This is an astonishing realisation- woman are not interested in human progress. Feminism would seem to be an exception but it is not- because feminism is more about personal gratification than human progress. Through feminism a woman can reduce all politics to the same self serving dramatic crap that they bring to their personal lives.
It would follow from this that men must be most creative when among their own kind. In fact this is exactly what we do find- high tech industries are almost a monistic order of men who work together and offer each other emotional support. One reason that great men are always suspected of being gay is that they spend all their time with other men.
If men are to revive the fortunes of the west we must win back the right to associate with one another. We must relearn the value of male friendship.
This is quite possible. The feminists have accidentally created conditions that existed during the empire. These are....
1) Lack of opportunity and in the home country. In Victorian times this was due to low living standards and overcrowding. Young men are travelling more and more- many are not coming back. This means that the men's revolution is being exported even before it has taken root at home. The empire could not have been built if it were not for a population exodus willing to administer it abroad. (The greatest problem the American empire currently has is its unwillingness of its citizens to live in places such as Iraq). Men must talk directly to men- threats are being issued on our behalf to other men abroad.
Men are leaving the home country in hundreds of thousands. They are finding work in countries where men are valued. Many teach English, even if they return they will have the experience of being treated with respect by women abroad. Men are warning there foreign brothers of the evil that exists in their own countries as well.
2) Lack of respect from the establishment. When people do not feel they have a place in the existing order of things they will create a new one. Many of our finest inventors, writers or explorers were oddballs who did not fit in.
Britain is a society that has no place for men- so men will create a world that does.
In short... we have all of the conditions needed for a social revolution- apart from one. We have almost no male associations. It is male associations that are the great engine of male creativity in any society. Once we have these we will have revolution- and a new world.
We need an army of men engaged in every voluntary pursuit imaginable. We need more train spotters, more bird watchers, more poets, more inventors, more foxhunters, more gardeners, more marathon runners. Women do not 'do' hobbies very well. It is a male thing- and the hope of the world.
