Men took pride in their work because they had a choice. Only ignorant people can take pride in what they do now because, really, what other choice do they have? There is no room for personal responsibility any longer ... no space for independence... unless you want to go to the only option left to you, the furthest extreme, and become a unabomber living in a tarpaper shack in the woods. Your grades, your employment history, your credit score, your social security number, your rental history .... your obligations to your job, paying your electric bill, your cellphone .... every airplane flight requires you to get searched and humiliated, your driving record can take away the social clearance that allows you to travel the roads .... We can't choose to be responsible any longer. We either subscribe to a definition of "responsibility" created by and for the benefit of those who have more power than we do, or those who have more power than we do punish us for refusing to accept their standard of "responsibility". We only have four choices. We act how they want us to act. We disobey and they punish us. We abandon everything and hope they don't come looking for us when they decide that we owe them something. The last choice is we kill ourselves. We have no freedom. We are all the b****es of a system that we had no part in creating.
I do not agree, based on the people I have known from that era. There are serious and noticeable differences, and you see them over and over again.
I know YOU'RE not saying to DISMISS the pictures. No issue at all saying some of those images are proganda and false reality. Though maybe there is some kind of ideology to take from it. Personal growth and masculinity are two DIFFERENT things. A "manly man" standard doesnt necessarily mean a GOOD person. But sometimes it seems there's some cloud of PROHIBITIVENESS about what men are supposed to draw influences from. Their own dads are "jerks", the past eras are bunch of bad evil war mongerers and rapists and racists and alcholics...
Hoorah, manliness! Why, may I ask, is a message of self-reliance and perseverance addressed solely to the men? Are women incapable of these traits? Honestly, your post is a paen to a generation that never existed. Just needless nostalgia.
Every age has their own requirements and standards. A man will either accept the responsibilities given to him by the society of his time or reject it. When enough people reject it, society changes and new standards are formed. I believe that men always have a choice and freedom, if only spiritually or ideologically. However, I don't believe men should ever act in the destructive manner that was depicted in Fight Club. Instead of trying to change society in a constructive manner, they sought to destroy it. What good is criticism if it doesn't come with a suggestion or new idea?
In an age where men get more premarital tail and can get a decent living without having all parts of his body ache at the end of the day, we sure b**** a lot. ****, man-children can even mooch off sugar mommas while prepping their career as an online pro gamer. If you want change, or want to escape the repetitive bar-room b****ing and moaning of "good old days"... less talk, more do.
