Whatever happened to the archetypal white American man? Was he just a myth that never really existed?
We were supposed to take care of business and our families and stride the world carrying progress on our shoulders, now we’re just cheap and angry little men stamping our feet. There is almost no grace, or nobility, or magnanimity out there. We’re all little Daffy Ducks shouting “Mine! Mine! Mine!”
In gazing out over the political landscape I’m stunned at how few of my fellow white American men are a credit to their race. I see white American men in the political sphere mainly advancing delusional economic arguments or pining for the days of Ronald Reagan whom they have turned from an affable, and lucky, conservative President who had his plus and minuses to a near Christ like figure.
Rational policies for growth balanced with social equity are apparently impossible for my ethnic kin. It’s a near feral battle to make sure the more well off, and those who speak with the master’s voice are not touched with any degree of rational progressive taxation to support the polity. I’m really not hearing much wisdom from white guys lately, just a lot of anger and panic.
President Obama is actually the man I see out there in terms of a man acting like the archetypal white American man should act. Maybe it was just a historical and mythic conceit and he never really existed after all.
Also, nothing shows a person’s true character as much as losing power and how he deals with it afterwards. Right now, the white American man is in the “tantrum” phase. Eventually, I hope, they’ll grow out of it
No… we really are not. It’s odd how over time reality intrudes on our cherished myths, but even so, I have to think we’re supposed to be better than the angry, petulant children who look like us and wear our faces on the political scene these days.
I think it all went to hell when we allowed interbreeding with the Irish. They have almost the same colour of skin as real white people so now we can’t tell who is or isn’t a half breed.
There may be a better way to state it, but it’s silly to ignore that cultures in America are deeply intertwined with race- there has to be some way to talk about the different cultures in Watts, East LA, Malibu and Koreatown. Maybe race isn’t an entirely accurate way to talk about this, but do you have something better?
There is a mythology behind white masculinity in America, and it is subtely different than the myths of masculinity you find in black communities or Latino communities. I don’t think anyone denies there is a crisis of black masculinity is the US. Why can’t there be a crisis of white masculinity?
That said, I think it’s more a crisis of middle-class conservatism (which may be mostly white but doesn’t encompass all white men.)
I don’t disagree with the OP at all, and it’s silly to point him to stormfront or white pride. If this was a conversation about Indian men or black men no one would have a problem with it. Why can’t white men discuss their situation?
I also think it’s more of a class thing, btw, than a color thing. But white men will need to figure out what they think it is, I suppose.
Oh astro, Whitey has been a ginormous cock in the backside of humanity for centuries (ask the plundered & diseased natives of either American continent, the stolen Africans, the torched Jews, the discombobulated Arabs, the opiated Chinese, the irradiated Micronesians. We’re not throwing a tantrum, we’re just “between oppressions.” We’ll get back in that saddle someday.
But Ok, I see your point. It would be nice to have a place where you can enjoy your own culture without walking on eggshells, afraid you’re going to offend someone else in the mosaic.
I blame paradigm shift - society has changed a lot since the days of the “archypical white man” and white guys are still trying to find their footing. We’re going through transformation on many fronts; some people adapt and some people throw tantrums.
Mostly what I hear is the whinging of the old or inflexible ones as they go riding off into the sunset. Hopefully the younger white guys will be more flexible, more inclusive of others, more like team players than their grandfathers were.
But, I think your complaint of a ‘lack of vision’ in today’s politicians is correct. Sensible white guys probably don’t care to run.
Basically, the OP here is saying “Old white conservatives suck”, can you articulate the “crisis” a little better? Because basically, disenfranchised white pepole have been saying shit like that forever. Yes, you heard me! There have always been powerless white people! Surprise! They just usually don’t try to be edgy and make it (I assume facetiously, giving the benefit of the doubt here) a race issue, hence I don’t think it’s completely inappropriate for others to have pointed to white pride sites.
That would be the same theory. If one is true, the other is also necessarily true.
And I, as a white man, do not feel I can’t be a white man, so I don’t see the problem. I don’t walk on eggshells. I just don’t really care about my race.
Anyway, the OP hasn’t gone all David Duke on us, but the statement really is “white men aren’t acting very white menly by behaving poorly.” The subtext is --and I’m not even sure I can call it subtext when it seems to be the entire statement-- white men should behave well, and when they do not, it is upsetting. Now we can ask ourselves all kinds of questions about what this suggests, but taken at face value alone, the complaint itself is fairly silly, so there’s no need to run wild with the implications.
So I suppose the answer to “Whatever happened to the archetypal white American man? Was he just a myth that never really existed?” is “There’s no such thing, and yes he was.”
Re articulation there just seems to be a real childishness and borderline intellectual dishonesty in the arguments and positions ruling class white males have adopted over the past several years. The positions and emotions surrounding them are almost hysterical. Everyone’s protecting their master’s money bag, the forward looking, progressive, "can do’ attitude of taking on tough social problems and bringing them to heel really isn’t there anymore.
Based on the mad political strategy skillz the Congressional Republicans have demonstrated to date they will be lucky to escape the current negotiations with their testicles intact. They have already defecated all over the “Republican Brand” that McConnell was concerned about. The main issue at this point is to keep them from setting it on fire.
