Masculinism on Zero-Sum Game
On a previous entry regarding aggression, there was some interesting continuation on the discussion about zero-sum game in human society. Of course, my position is not that
all interactions are strictly competitive in the strive for resources because that would be too disastrous for mankind's evolution, let alone civilisation. My position is merely a step beyond Libertarian reasoning that only involuntary or "hegemonic" interactions can result in zero-sum scenarios. Prisoner's dilemma in game theory already rules that out but I suppose since the prisoners are being held against their will, the exception to the rule is questionable.
But it's alright because I can be more creative than that. Two wealthy CEOs can strike a deal that between them may be profitable but could be disastrous for the labour conditions or fair payment of their young, working class masculinist employees. A feminist journalist can write articles condemning the necessity of men's rights or else marginalising them as "issues stemming from androcentric leadership and norms established in society" - and this may be psychologically beneficial to her cosmopolitan-esque audience, her editor's pay check and those with vested interest in the widespread dissemination of anti-masculinist propaganda in society. But it is a "voluntary interaction" that does not benefit the lifestyle of the contemporary young masculinist - in mainstream economics, this is referred to as an "externality".
We have to understand then that traditional conservative economics and feminist liberal democratic economics are two heads of the same dragon and are the antithesis to the idealised masculinist social democratic economy. And Marxism is not an ideology that will ever support the masculinist ideal because it requires the support of too many different "marginalised-as-perceived" interest groups to fully support working mens' rights, privileges and needs. Masculinist social democracy supports negative income tax for the unemployed and blue collar labour masculinist while providing investing and funding opportunities that will boost the young masculinist and his masculinist allies among women with employment opportunities through apprenticeships, education, labour qualification and venture capitalists for the budding young masculinist entrepreneur.
So what makes the world so difficult to navigate for the assertive masculinist? Because crucial times in the young masculinist's life require aggression to survive and succeed in situations that are zero-sum rather than mutually beneficial situations, we have to understand how to make sure the masculinist and his allies thrive in said scenarios, winning key resources that are required for success rather than his feminist and conservative opponents. As mentioned in the entry about aggression, it is not sufficient for the young contemporary masculinist to find prosperity and happiness through asceticism, meagreness, political subservience, mediocrity and psychological self-castration.
In sports and sum-zero games like bridge, chess and poker, winning moves can only be aggressive tactics where your gain means another's loss, even when playing within the established rule set. This is often confused with assertiveness but in sum-zero games, assertiveness only leads to drawing positions and mutually beneficial situations in civilised reality. Fortunately, real life is not purely sum-zero where one man's gain can only translate into another man's loss.
But it does often culminate in said situations and aggression can only be understood as a positive trait, especially if it is the talented, the ethical and the merit-worthy we want to achieve positions of power and influence. So no, aggression is not exclusively a "toxically masculine" trait, that said, I don't believe that the decent, young, contemporary masculinist is naturally instilled with aggressive traits but with age may become more aggressive in response to the way the world treats him.
Let's look at this in terms of relationships (romance/sexuality) and economy retrospectively:
- monogamy means that one partner becomes unavailable as soon as a competitor has been selected
- polygamy theoretically means that one partner can have multiple partners but in practice means leaning towards monogamy with time as selectors develop higher standards and eventually become unsatisfied with non-exclusivity
- economy means that the highest paid, most fulfilling professions go to the most competitive
I realise caveats apply to most of these scenarios, and it's not my goal to apply anything more than a rule of thumb. Overall, I just resent the whole "seeking success is a toxically masculine trait" slant - if it's part of who we are then we need to reach out for prosperity and happiness through purpose because of how we identify.
Some people are just content without that but that not everyone is this way. And aggression is natural in society because it is a part of survival, even for symbiosis and nurture through compassion, it's an essential component. Perhaps over time, technological improvements and evolved civilisation can provide more alternatives to aggression but it's not who humans are on a more primitive level.
Taking a more in depth look into relationships, if you have a scenario like where two 3rds are orange and one 3rd are red and orange can only pair with red (and vice versa), eventually you're going to have situations where it is harder to pair the balls together. In human dating, it's much more complicated because we have league/attractiveness, religion, sexuality, gender fluidity, polyamory, monogamy, money, politics/ideology, personality, ethnicity, language/game/psychology, fear of male sexuality, imbalanced gender ratios and more.
You simply can't navigate the competitive landscape of human interaction without applying aggression at crucial moments. The point of self-improvement is so that when the time comes for fight or flight, you have what it takes. Even (especially?) in the developed west, economic competition is a stark reality. Even education, qualification and aspiration might not be enough to get you ahead. I have been to property listings in the city where the people who got the apartments were the ones who rushed ahead of everyone else to make the deal with and offer hard cash to the real estate agent - before even doing a proper survey or completing the tour of the property.
Why do you think so many people end up as janitors? Because the economy needs blue collar labour - there just isn't the infrastructure or technology available to provide basic needs for everyone if we all go to university, do apprenticeships and dream of being scientists, lawyers, surgeons, artists, writers, directors and actors. The reality is that social development relies on most people not making it. You can't sincerely argue that aggression has no place in aspiring to success.
On a chastity-themed website, a feminist detractor of mine accused me of referring to aggression as a call to arms, or an attempt to incite violence against women. I am not interested in absolving myself of responsibility for the psychologically unstable who will do what they will do regardless. However, to maybe take some measure against anyone like this from taking my words out of context and into misplaced aggression, here we can clearly see I was innocently referring to social, economic, romantic and sexual competition.