If Tyler Durden wrote a manifesto, it would probably read a lot like The Way of Men. I've been thinking a lot about this book since I read it last week. Jack Donovan is a provocative writer and even though I don't outright agree with some of what he believes in, his essays make me pause and think about modern American society.
Donovan is an advocate of tribalism, which is to say, in short, that he would like our society to be far far less complicated and soul crushing than it is right now. Who wants to live in a soul crushing society? Nobody does really and that's why I find myself sympathizing with his back to primal manhood arguments. But its the solution to the soul crushing that I'm not quite sure about. Jack wants us to form all male gangs and not be afraid to get violent if our honor is challenged. He recognizes that this isn't really going to happen as long as we live in a highly regulated and legal society such as our current one. Not to worry though, because society is going to collapse any day now, so you won't have to wait long before we are all thrust back into survival tribes. Possible, yes. Likely, no. I'm not convinced that is going to happen soon. I want to be prepared for it, no doubt, but in the meantime, I'm going to have a hell of time convincing my male friend group to get up and move their families into the same neighborhood, start working out at the gym, buy some guns and start shooting on a regular basis. All just because of the off chance that Mad Max is right around the corner.
I hear the call of that adventure, I dream that dream, but only sometimes. Other times, I want my wife and children to be safe from harm. I want to go to a hospital when my appendix is about to burst. I like sitting down in a cafe to drink coffee. I don't want to face death everyday just to feel alive.
Besides, predicting the end of the world is tricky. It's been called one of humanity's favorite past times. It never really happens the way we think its going to.
When you put that "likelihood" assumption aside, Donovan's overall philosophy is interesting. It's grounded in evolutionary biology and psychology and I found myself generally agreeing with his train of thought. The sources he cites are sparse but adequate. His critique of feminism however seems focused on a type of woman that I have yet to really meet and speak to. I'm sure these "man haters" are out there, but I'm just not around them that much. So his spite seems out of place to me. As a man, I don't feel the looming specter of modern feminism hovering over me, trying to keep my manhood down. Nor do I feel that multiculturalism is being shoved down my throat to the point that it is debilitating. The 50,000 ft view just doesn't seem that dire. Perhaps its my environment. Alaska is a little strange in the first place. Practical, but also strange. Donovan's writing from the Portland, OR area so perhaps circumstances intense to him.
Anyway, I will probably send this book onto some of my close male friends and see what they think. It's controversial subject matter, but I think Matt will find it interesting at least. In the meantime, I will keep my eye out for Donovan's other books and give them some of my valued reading time. He has earned that much. ( )