The Fiat Stress Machine & Masculine Compression

An Exploration: Can Social & Economic Pressures Be At The Root of Western Society's Endocrine Implosion?

Lack of proper masculine role models and extended-order-effects of Keynesian economics are squeezing the broader male population, and contributing to the rapid degradation of Western Society.

*What you are about to read here today is a combination of separate thoughts that I have done my best to string together under a single theme: masculine compression.

“Observe, in this connection, the widespread phenomenon of men who are old by the time they are thirty. These are men who, having in effect concluded that they have “thought enough,” drift on the diminishing momentum of their past effort – and wonder what happened to their fire and energy, and why they are dimly anxious, and why their existence seems so desolately impoverished, and why they feel themselves sinking into some nameless abyss – and never identify the fact that , in abandoning the will to think, one abandons the will to live.” 

– Ayn Rand, “The Virtue of Selfishness”

Photo by D koi on Unsplash

A ‘Cringe’ Topic: Feminism

Rewind back to the early 2000s; a generation on the verge of being torn in a thousand opposing directions — technological, social, and cultural — with the onset of the smartphone, Facebook, and advancing progressive political movements. Our young girls and young boys were thrust into a world on the edge of sociotechnological revolution. The feminist movement experienced important success with regards to fighting for improving actual equal treatment in the employment environment (job well done to you pioneers that pulled that dream into reality). However, in that gaining momentum, confidence grew and goal posts moved. And before we realized it, a slow pivot against masculinity-proper swelled and crashed across our society.

Today many men, young and old, have fallen victim to this “flood”. Of these boys & men, the many problem-individuals seem to fall into two camps: simps and incels. The label of “simp,” has come to be used to categorize an individual who sacrifices far too much, and offers far too much praise, to another individual who does not reciprocate his (or her) admiration and affection. The opposite side of this coin would be the incels: this coterie of the population is involuntarily celibate and trends toward blaming women (or men, in my opinion; yes this could/should be attributed fairly to women as well) for all of their problems; it’s the world that is wrong, not themselves nor the way they live their lives.

Both of these groups, in my opinion, are born of the same problem: lack of proper masculine role models and leadership.

This lacking of proper masculine role models has led these members of society to be incapable of developing attractive masculine traits. Leading to a rapidly diminishing population of males that do exhibit attractive masculine qualities, made even more scarce by matters of social media, online dating, and the economics of the Keynesian fiat hamster-wheel. It is also worth elaborating that “attractive qualities” doesn’t just have to encapsulate those of sexually attractive natures. Those traits that are simply desirable in peers, friends, coworkers, and bosses also fall into this classification.

Identifying and elaborating on nuance is a skill lost on many nowadays.

Now I am concerned that, from the 90s through the 20-teens, we allowed these failings to survive and be rebuffed by so many individuals that not only are we responsible for producing the melting pot of failures and inadequacies on display today, but in creating this cesspool we have also built an ecosystem that is so fragile and weak that it cannot afford honest reflection for the sake of lasting repair. Doing so would so utterly shatter the brittle views of self, and world, that these individuals & groups would experience (or expect to experience) emotional and spiritual degradation, if not collapse. Because these types tend to embody an unholy cacophony of nihilism and narcissism to mask their inadequacies.

I was once of the same mental state; nihilistic narcissism. Over the many years of my maturing I have observed and I have sought to understand as best I can. Particularly on the aspects of money & economics, role models, stress and how these influences may play important roles in the lives of our young men, and the development of high quality character. 

This will be the focus of this paper.

Photo by Alfred Aloushy on Unsplash

Between the simps, the incels, the matriarchal sororities, the extreme left, the extreme right, and then the rest of us that are refusing to claim any banner, there’s a LOT of vibration, friction, and pressure. And a lot of sandbagged energy.

All of that stirred up energy has to go somewhere…

Subtle Diffusion: A Brief Detour

One dynamic that I like to make a point of bringing-up in conversation is the mechanism of pressure transfer, or diffusion. Whether we are talking about tensions among populations in a society, or nutrient transport within the body, or meteorology, or geopolitik, or technological innovation, or energy…I have noticed that one rule stands out amongst them all: energy flows. Even down to the molecular level, energy is flowing between the bonds that hold the atoms of a molecule together, causing these molecules to vibrate. To that note, all molecules vibrate. As molecules become inundated with energy, like a pot of water being warmed over a stove or fire, they will vibrate at greater frequencies. Eventually there is a point where molecular bonds break, and where a phase transition in matter is achieved; such as a boiling point. In that moment, when the heat energy is of high enough saturation to dissolve the bonds holding the oxygen and two hydrogen molecules together, the pot of water begins to boil.

Societies, civilizations, and communities are no different than the pot of water approaching its boiling point. It is of my opinion that we are witnessing many groups and individuals getting inundated with energy on the political, emotional, and spiritual levels. 

That energy has to go somewhere…

Photo by Pawel Czerwinski on Unsplash

Regardless of the form that the energy may take, energy will travel from an area of high pressure (saturation) to environments of a lower pressure distribution. This process means that everything is in a constant state of flux, and not a single thing is ever static. All energy has to flow somewhere. In a functioning society it can end up being directed towards a productive means, like a man or woman channeling their sexual energy towards developing productive skills and hobbies, to the tune of becoming desirable to attract a mate. Or, that energy can continue to inundate these many differing groups & individuals, increasing vibrational frequency, until the bonds that hold that society together dissolve and the nodes & molecules that were previously held together scatter in their momentary freedom. Meaning that each of these individual actors is required to fight for energy and resources, rather than working together in a homogenous system that assists in resource gathering and distribution. Like a body, or a society, does.

Sociologists, ecologists, and anthropologists should be capable of identifying this relationship of diffusion as a dynamic that affects population migrations, economics, war, and so on.

Annnnd We’re Back

While our ladies have been working to change the world, largely for the better in my opinion, I fear that there were also pressures being exerted upon another population…in a manner that has gone aggressively ignored. And has been effecting lives (by relation economies, politics, and social dynamics) in a very serious, and real, way.

Psychology’s Power Over Physiology 

For starters, there is some evidence that men and women react differently to stress (shocker, I know), as well as differently to varying forms of stress. I’ll be the first to say that I know that we males get reduced to sniveling pups during a cold or flu bug while our female partners will be capable of trucking these times with a mere flick of the hair. Yet, males will excel in moments of intense adrenaline and physicality. Such a silly thing it is to try and hold the two sexes to the very same expectations; we have our areas we specialize.

In this study of differences in response to stress-inducing scenarios, the researchers found that men reacted with a 3 - 3.5x elevated Cortisol (the “stress hormone”) response to public speaking while women saw an increase of merely 1.5 - 2.5x. While these differences may not appear to be large at face value, it is important for the reader to consider how exponentials can incite radically different outcomes with minimal differences in initial values. For example, if one were to theoretically increase mitochondrial output in vivo this would theoretically express massive changes in metabolism, which could then (likely) lead to shifts in cognition, strength, immune function, bone density, etc.

Within the body we do not need massive differentials in values in order to get massively varying results. This is due to the fact that the interactions within the body are expressed many millions of times over and over with a ‘compounding interest’ type of effect. Each cellular function and interaction will produce a waste product, these waste products can grow in accumulation when the system is not allowed or able to adequately clear the build-up. Like say if the individual is not adequately hydrated, or sleeping well, these systems will be hampered in their functioning. The relationship between chronic negative psychological thoughts producing an environment within the body that limits cognition thanks to neurochemical accumulations in response to exposure to stress expresses as much. 

Now there’s the dynamic of how stress plays a role with regards to feelings of self-efficacy, or having control over our lives. This meta-analysis found that there were consistencies with the theory that individuals of higher social status trended towards having feelings of greater control, and therefore having lower cortisol levels. Whereas those of the opposing position tended to express lower feelings of control and greater levels of cortisol. 

To belabor this point even further, this study looked at how individuals to whom criticism was given over how a past situation was handled reacted differently to the following event. When an individual was given negative feedback prior to performing a task, this resulted in worse anticipatory stress regulation; leading to greater cortisol levels, and a more negative stress response. While the opposite occurred when praise was delivered over handling of a past event.

*Now where things get murky is over the discussion on whether stress (cortisol) has a directly inhibitory relationship on testosterone levels (also known as the Dual Hormone Hypothesis). The reality is: it depends. It depends on the individual, the situation, and any number of static and acute variables. Between this massive meta-analysis and this study involving Olympic weight-lifting competitors this reality is, in my opinion, accurately described. 

The real moral of this story is how interpretation of self-efficacy and social status can, and do, yield very real physiological effects. And how these mechanisms and responses can, and do, effect and steer our behavior and interpretations of the world. Then it is also important to consider how these relationships will affect individual development and current, as well as future, decision making. 

A Developmental Question

It just wasn’t enough to fight for feminine empowerment and equal opportunity unfortunately. Things slowly turned toward an offensive, and attacking masculinity in general was deemed necessary, or justified. There was little care for consideration of how this would/could (likely) affect the broader population of boys and young men that grew and matured during this time in history.

What could possibly happen to boys and teens that grow-up listening to family members, friends, teachers, doctors, entertainment personalities, celebrities, world leaders, and otherwise social figures proclaiming that masculinity in general was deemed to be “toxic”? Or that many of the world’s problems were rooted in the failings of the male population in its entirety. Rather than carry discussion over nuance and specificities, and having fair discussions over consequences being rooted in the failings of cultural norms, or individuals. What happens when generations are raised and taught to doubt, and despise their own existence over a sex that was determined by fate or random chance? I should think that many, many women would understand how this feels, so why was the same standard not expressed upon their actions? Let alone gender roles that have been meted-out over hundreds – thousands – of years to produce very effective reproductive & parenting outcomes. As well as societal organizational structures. 

Home & Parental Environment

Less and less women are getting married, while more are divorcing.

Now let’s ponder what kinds of effects can be yielded during a time where divorce rates were on a consistent trend up and to the right, while marriages have also been on a declining trend. What could possibly happen to the mental health and development of children being dragged through a fracturing of their nuclear family? Regardless of how volatile, or tranquil, a divorce may be I assure you that no child wants to see Mom and Dad part ways. How could these children have their points of view altered, or shattered, by going through this kind of event, while hearing (and witnessing) society on the outside not only demonizing masculinity, but picking up momentum in this offensive? Hollywood, cable television, music, literature, standardized education, university…how many of these were permeated with anti-masculine/anti-pAtRiArChY narratives?

Marriages continue to trend with ending in divorce…

Now consider how hearing a particular way of thought, repeated ad nauseam can, and does, impact an individual's psychology or view of the world. Or consider how much such a mechanism can erode, if not destroy, an individual’s psyche entirely. Ultimately this was the real value of the MKULTRA experiments; to learn the manners in which human psychology & behavior can be steered, manipulated, or destroyed entirely.

Are numbers of divorces falling in the US because marriage rates are falling?

What is also important to consider is how the handling of a parental separation will also have the potential to leave long-lasting effects on development in youth. Of particular importance to me is how these children will view the opposite sex and the world in general. How many of us had grown-up witnessing negative interactions between men & women, and therefore had our perceptions of the opposite sex take a more confrontational position? 

“All men want is…”

“Women just…” 

How many of these individuals have grown up to approach communication as a competitive environment? Where each discussion is an arena where the aim is to “win.” This point-of-view can result in approaching personal relationships with a type of score-keeping. Where instead of approaching each conversation as an opportunity to grow for either (or all) parties involved, it devolves into a competition. Wherein this environment further devolves into an attempt for domination, not just between men & women, but between factions on both sides of these lines. Resulting in an environment where everybody loses.

Fans of the movie “The Arrival” will recognize this problem from a scene where Dr. Banks (played by Amy Adams) identifies this very same misstep where the Chinese attempt to use Go as a form of communication.

I’m confident that we’ve all fallen prey to these mechanisms. I for one fell victim to the ‘He-Man Woman Haters Club’ for an embarrassingly long time in my youth. Choosing to essentially show no regard for the humanity of the women in my company, regardless of how attractive they were, which resulted in my taking to simply using women as a tool for temporary sexual gratification. This Merkle Tree of decision-making was very common for young men of my generation, and I’m very confident that our failings in maturity almost undoubtedly contributed to not only the militant transformation of the matriarchal movement but also added to the gravity-well of attraction for so many women (young and old) that have fallen victim to this system. Which only served to perpetuate this cannibalistic and parasitic relationship between American Men & Women. 

Fortunately, the most important part of problem-solving is first identifying the problem, and then acknowledging that fault lies, in large part, with the individual and how we reacted to a particular situation. We may not have control over much of our external world, but we do have near complete control over how we react to the external world. 

Photo by Ben Rosett on Unsplash

Masculine Compression via Economic Asphyxiation

As explored above, we have briefly peaked at how a mindstate such as stress can elicit effects upon physiology, throwing difficulty into mental health maintenance. There is also a drawback to our current economic and monetary system that is producing a mechanism that I do not believe many, if any, are looking into…

The problem with an economic system that is reliant upon credit (debt) is that the system ends up fabricating scarcity (hat-tip to Robert Breedlove for bringing this dynamic to my attention) due to the money being anything but. When a fiat currency is the basis for economic activity and civil organization, those of whom find themselves close to the money fabrication facility gain outsized power for the accumulation of assets and resources than their peers (and competitors). 

Admittedly, this does not sound quite as nefarious as I suggest, on the surface level. However, with some first principles elaboration we can arrive at my conclusion.

A currency that is not based on value, that is capable of being produced flippantly, and theoretically at the whims of humanity-proper, is also at the whims of very human character traits. A currency, or a money (there is a difference), is merely an economic tool that allows for greater social organization by allowing for broader economic activity beyond that of barter. When there is no limit to manipulation of the supply of such a tool, beyond matters of honor or morality, it is merely a matter of time before variables such as circumstance and greed erode the power that adhering to a code of conduct can provide in avoiding abuse of this power (just look at the history of The Church). This also leads to an erosion of adherence to reality with regards to consequences, for decisions both high in risk and low in intelligence. Meaning that stupidity bears a lesser economic cost when losses can merely be printed-away; i.e. bailouts.  

The result?

An Honorless Money

When the economic tool by which society organizes itself lacks adherence to rules (or reality for that matter), this very same lifestyle bleeds across the top echelons of socioeconomic status. Because those at the ‘top’ of society are always destined to, what I would call, ‘enmoat’ themselves with the power and social responsibility of controlling the fabled money printer. Meaning that abuses of this power are not only inevitable, but destined to spread further and broader across the population of this class of society. Also bleeding into lower classes over time. This is because we are hardwired to learn from those we deem as our superiors. Our children do it; we do it. Meaning that while the top rungs of the socioeconomic ladder enmoat themselves, those on the next rung down will begin to adopt the same tactic.

The hilarity here is that if Ronald Reagan had understood this dynamic with foresight, he would’ve seen that Trickle Down Economics simply transfers the philosophy behind the production of a money to the philosophy of the populace; people will act in accordance to their incentives. Rather than the wealth distribution maintaining any sort of Darwinistic, natural filtering down through the economy when the currency is completely fabricated and manipulated.  

In this system that is incentivizing protectionism and devoid of consequence fraud, theft, and conspiracy become standards of business and activity. Leading to more and more average citizens recognizing that there is little-to-no consequence(s) for illicit activity. Even worse yet, if the average citizen recognizes that in order to “make it” one is most incentivized to lie and backstab in order to get ahead in life, they will do so. Resulting in a population that begins to cannibalize itself. Coworkers are less incentivized to cooperate and grow as a team, and neighbors develop an “us versus them” state of mind. Not to mention, it is of my opinion that this also bleeds into the mate selection calculus within a population, contributing to even greater bad blood in the dating environment (as discussed previously).

This ultimately ends up producing a cancer within society that can snowball, and in my opinion lead towards implosion. A snowball which we are experiencing currently.

Of particular relevance to our discussion today is that this mechanism favors males of lesser masculine qualities. 

Photo by Hudson Hintze on Unsplash

The Divine Masculine

The truly masculine members of society are men of humble, confident strength. Not just strength in body, but strength in mind, and particularly strength in community, philosophy, spirituality and emotionality. Where men would work together to provide, not only for their own but for those that have been permitted in their proximity. A community is capable of accomplishing far more than a single individual or family. Where a way-of-life provides effective service to family as well as thy neighbor. In order to effectively coordinate and organize men must interact with integrity and honesty; the opposite eats away at the soul of a community and individual. Resulting in necrosis. In divine masculinity failures are shouldered as equally as victories – at face value. A debt-based economic system is purely antithetical to this philosophy. An economic tool that bears no cost to produce also bears no consequence for fraud and failure. 

The dollar of today promotes lies, fraud and theft.

This also means that liars, fraudsters, and thieves are the most capable in such a society. Resulting in the honorable and strong members of society facing out-of-balance difficulty to both success as well as proliferation.

As if dealing with life wasn’t difficult enough, might as well make things even easier for the schemers and backstabbers – am I right?

This disincentivizes men and women away from developing honorable, desirable character qualities. Effectively producing a positive feedback loop of rot and corruption all the way down to the formation of the family. 

Now that we’ve explored the philosophical aspects of social organization requiring quality masculinity, let’s look at a tangentially related mechanism. 

As mentioned previously, a fiat system manufactures scarcity because the economic tool of exchange is anything but scarce. This also means that resources of legitimate scarcity become more scarce for the broader population while becoming less scarce for those of higher social hierarchies. Whether this refers to gold, bitcoin, equities, food, water, or real estate does not matter: all resources become easier to acquire the closer one comes to the money printer. Resources should be easier to acquire for those of capability, for those that provide value to a society and therefore earn from said society’s market, funneling capital towards them in exchange for their efforts. But they should not become easier to acquire for those that provide no value; the liars and the frauds that hijack the money printer.

Median Sales Price of Houses Sold for the US

In a debt-based system, where the average male consistently loses purchasing power and is incentivized against becoming a proper masculine figure, he is also less incentivized to aim for proper family formation. This may be slightly difficult to understand, so let me break it down. 

The Divine Imperative

The male imperative is to provide; provide resources, provide shelter, and provide security. 

In a society where the currency with which economic activity is consistently debased, each male’s biological imperative is made more difficult with each passing cycle. In a society where the average male has been priced-out of being capable of acquiring land atop of which one can begin building a home, said male encounters further disincentivization to follow the imperative set before him by nature. In a society where legal and judicial dynamics within the marital system favor the mother – in custody, alimony, and child support – said male is further disincentivized to follow the mandate pressed upon him by his DNA; i.e. avoiding copulation for fear of child-bearance. Reproduction becomes a net-loss, even a death-sentence, on the cash flow of one’s life.

What does this result in? More constricted access to mates for the average male, as well as more constricted access to quality males for our women, as more and more men are pushed by circumstance to become a weaker man than he may desire to become.  

The average male cannot responsibly afford real estate today, does not make enough for subsistence (let alone ascension), and (likely) can not financially survive a divorce or unplanned pregnancy. Meaning the average male is disincentivized from seeking-out sexual partners responsibly. 

Median income earned by Men by Age Group

This can also, in my experience, end up resulting in avoidance of male-male competition – which is a very natural and healthy dynamic of male development and maturation. A natural part of mate selection is encountering competition for a desirable female. Either during the process of finding a mate, or defending a mate from suitors (for this discussion we’ll just stick to the healthy defense of a spouse or significant other, and not the predatory reactions of a jealous male with a fragile ego). This also means that these males are not experiencing the full gambit of male-male interaction; as many males can attest to, some of our greatest friendships start with aggressive confrontation and head-butting.

A Detour Into Cringe

A man’s qualities are developed and reinforced via his tribe of male counterparts; brothers-in-arms, as each member of these groups help each individual grow but also hold each man accountable. This is why men are naturally driven to form groups, or ‘packs’ (the cringe of this is so palpable, but it is unavoidable in its relevance). This is also how alphas (again…cringe) are meted-out naturally; he who is determined to be most capable tends to also become the leader by which the community turns toward for guidance and decision-making, whether by his own will or that of the group.  

This avoidance of seeking-out of sexual partners, and avoidance of general male-male competition, results in boys and men failing to discover where they fall on their sexual market value (or ‘SMV’ as coined by Rollo Tomassi). Without this knowledge, a male fails to aptly assess his likelihood for success when finding a mate. This therefore also effectively produces a limiting factor on development of confidence and efficacy. What it also means is that the individual male also fails to identify where he stands in society, and amongst the broader male cohort. Without this knowledge the average male does not know where to take himself, particularly when attempting to begin on a journey of individual development and improvement. We can’t know where we’re going (let alone where we want to go) without effectively knowing where we are, leveraged by knowing where we’ve been. 

What this all also suggests is that the path of least resistance for the average male is as follows: there’s little justification to act honorably (doing so is already difficult prior to economic and social barriers), leading to production of poisonous and traitorous social circles, weak justification to find a sexual partner due to the social & financial risk that comes tethered with such decision-making (and made even worse with the proliferation of pornography), all of which produce a society rampant with narcissistic-nihilists. Where the future is so bleak that there’s little point in building for the future, yet masking their lack of self-efficacy with pompous peacocking and maintaining thin skin with regards to challenge, or failure. These fragile-ego’d individuals tend to project qualities they perceive of reflecting an “alpha” while seeking domination of all (or as many as possible) within their proximity – including friends, foes, and potential mates – and having highly volatile emotional swings. 

“The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choice I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own…”

– Epictetus 

Mountains of Debt & Doubt

We have a system that is disincentivizing proper masculine development, by incentivizing qualities that are parasitic and pathetic across the board with regards to sectors of family formation, economic activity, individual finance and personal development. We also have a system that is high in stress production. Not being able to be as ‘good’ as one may desire because the world is unfair, beyond the fairness born of nature, can be extremely disheartening; increasing stress. Lacking proper incentives and support systems to promote success, personal development, and family formation gives little to aspire towards; further increasing stress. 

Then there’s those that have fallen prey to any (if not all) of these dynamics, and have found themselves buried under mountains of debt & doubt. These mountains have terrifying effects on confidence and efficacy, increasing the prevalence of cortisol within the body, meaning further stress. 

Finding one’s self in any of these scenarios, let alone more than one, if not all, will find difficulties abound. Motivation is likely at rock-bottom. Inspiration is a distant fantasy. Sleep is hard to come by (or over-indulged in). Appetite is either nonexistent or to-the-max. Anxiety tends to be either red-lining, or nonexistent as the individual has simply grown numb to existence itself. And vices tend to become salves to the numbness and pain, which quickly become addictions as they are the only avenues that can provide immediate distraction; getting misperceived as relief. 

None of this even considered the weight on public health enabled by a deficit of physical activity. America is particularly weighed-down by a populace that is acutely anxious, obtusely overweight, depressed, poorly rested, and chronically dehydrated. What is also not taken into consideration in our discussion here is the work done by Dr. Shanna Swan on endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and forever chemicals and their relations with our endocrine system.

Do you think any of the problems previously become worse, or better, under those additional filters?

Hint: None of it is made easier by incapacitated personal health.

What do you think? Could I be on to something here?