Response to Advice to Young Men from an Old Man from a younger man:

1. Don’t pick on the weak. It’s immoral. Don’t antagonize the strong without cause, its
stupid. (This, I can agree with.)

2. Don’t hate women. It’s a waste of time (Most hatred is a waste of energy; go do
something productive if you have enough extra energy to hate.)

3. Invest in yourself. Material things come to those that have self actualized. (Material
things provide no lasting satisfaction. If it’s satisfaction you seek, it’s found in service to
your fellow men.)

4. Get in a fistfight, even if you are going to lose. (Just don’t make a habit of it.)

5. As a former Marine, take it from me. Don’t join the military, unless you want to risk
getting your balls blown off to secure other people’s economic or political interests.
(Having no experience in this matter, I can only respect your belief.)

6. If something has a direct benefit to an individual or a class of people, and a theoretical,

abstract, or amorphous benefit to everybody else, realize that the proponent’s intentions
are to benefit the former, not the latter, no matter what bullshit they try to feed you.
(Although stated like a true cynic, more often than not this is true, but it is not an absolute
truth.)

7. Don’t be a Republican. They are self-dealing crooks with no sense of honor or

patriotism to their fellow citizens. If you must be a Republican, don’t be a
“conservative.” They are whining, bitching, complaining, simple-minded self-righteous
idiots who think they’re perpetual victims. Listen to talk radio for a while; you’ll see
what I mean.
(Choose your own political view; just make sure you are supporting yourself and
whatever family you choose to have. Being a government leech is not being a man.)

8. Don’t take proffered advice without a critical analysis. 90% of all advice is intended to
benefit the proponent, not the recipient. Actually, the number is probably closer to 97%,
but I don’t want to come off as cynical. (Too late – see number 6.)

9. You’ll spend your entire life listening to people tell you how much you owe them. You
don’t owe the vast majority of people shit. (So if I give people my best, I’ll get kicked in
the teeth. That may be so, but I am going to give them my best anyway. )

10. Don’t undermine your fellow young men. Mentor the young men that come after you.
Society recognizes that you have the potential to be the most power force in society. It
scares them. Society does not find young men sympathetic. They are afraid of you, both
individually and collectively. Law enforcement’s primary purpose is to suppress you. (I
was with you until the last sentence. What goes around does come around and don’t burn
bridges behind you. However laws, requirements and restrictions make one free and not
the reverse. Don’t believe it? Free yourself from the personal requirement to not eat only
desserts and from exercising. Once you have an extra 100 pounds, tell me how you are
freer to move than you were when you had the restrictions.

11. As a young man, you’re on your own. Society divides and conquers. Unlike women
who have advocates looking out for them (NOW, Women’s Study Departments,
government, non-profit organizations, political advocacy groups) almost no one is
looking out for you. (This does not have to be true. Volunteer in the community, serve in
a church, donate your time to children’s groups and watch how quickly people start
watching out for you. You just became someone worth watching out for.)

12. Young men provide the genius and muscle by which our society thrives. Look at the
Silicone Valley. By in large, it was not old men or women that created the revolution we
live. Realize that society steals your contributions, secures it with our intellectual
property laws, and then takes credit and the rewards where none is due. (The self-
centered Cynic strikes again. How can one steal contributions? Yes, protect your
successes, but don’t hang your pride on them.)

13. Know that few people have your best interests at heart. Your mother does. Your
father probably does (if he stuck around). Your siblings are on your side. Everybody else
worries about themselves. (This doesn’t mean that you have to be that way.)

14. Don’t be afraid to tell people to “Fuck off” when need be. It is an important skill to
acquire. As they say, speak your piece, even if your voice shakes. (While eloquence
seems to escape the cynical author, the concept is sound.)

15. Acquire empathy, good interpersonal skills, and confidence. Learn to read body
language and non-verbal communication. Don’t just concentrate on your vocational or
technical skills, or you’ll find your wife fucking somebody else. (These skills are useful
outside marriage too.)

16. Keep fit. (Enough said.)

17. Don’t speak ill of your wife/girlfriend. Back her up against the world, even if she’s
wrong. She should know that you have her back. When she needs your help, give it. She
should know that you’ll take her part. (Just one thing to add – make the decision to do
this before you get to the situation where you need to.)

18. Don’t cheat on your wife/girlfriend. If you must cheat, don’t humiliate her. Don’t risk
having your transgressions come back to her or her friends. Don’t do it where you live.
Don’t do it with people in your social circle. Don’t shit in your own back yard.
(If you had stopped with the first sentence, I could have stood by you. There is never a
decent reason to cheat. Some women say that they don’t care where you get your
appetite as long as you come home for dinner. It is an outright lie. Getting your appetite
anywhere else demeans her and to her is very close to and related to cheating.)
19. If your girlfriend doesn’t make you feel good about yourself and bring joy to your
life, fire her. That’s what girlfriends are for. (Please note: he didn’t say wife as he did in
number 18.)

20. Don’t bother with “emotional affairs.” They are just a vehicle for women to flirt and
have someone make them feel good about themselves. That’s the part of a relationship
they want. For you it is a lot of work and investment in time. If they are having an
emotional affair with you, they’re probably fucking someone else. (The key word in this
is “affair”. There is no reason to not have an emotional relationship with a spouse. In
fact, doing so will help the marriage to last. )

21. Becoming a woman’s friend and confidant is not going to get you into an intimate
relationship. If you haven’t gotten the girl within a reasonably short period of time,
chances are you won’t ever get her. She’ll end up confiding to you about the sexual
adventures she’s having with someone else. (To avoid this, be respectfully tactful about
your intentions up front. Don’t play games.)

22. Have and nurture friendships with women. (Do so, even if you have no ulterior
motives.)

23. Realize that love is a numbers game. Guys fall in love easily. You’re going to see
some girl and feel like you’ll die if you don’t get her. If she rejects you, move on to the
next one. It’s her loss. (Once you do have a relationship, make sure you deposit more into
it that you withdraw. Few women offer overdraft protection.)

24. Don’t be an internet troll. Got out and live life. There is not a cadre of beautiful
women advertising on Craigslist to have NSA sex with you. Beautiful women don’t need
to advertise. The websites that advertise with attractive women’s photos and claims of
loneliness are baloney. All they want is your money and your personal information so
that they can market to you. The posts on Craigslist by young “women” seeking NSA
sex, and asking for a picture are just a bunch of gay troll pic collectors. This is especially
true if the post uses common gay lexicon like “hole” as in “fuck my hole” or seeks
“masculine” men, or uses the word cock (except in the context of “Don’t send a cock
shot.”) There are women on Craigslist. They are easily recognizable by their 2-5
paragraph postings. Most are in their 30's or older. (Having no experience in this matter, I
can only respect your belief. Then again, there is no such as thing as NSA sex.)

25. When you become a man in full, know that people will get in your way. People who
are attracted to you will somehow manage to step in your path. Gay guys will give you
“the look.” Old people will somehow stumble in front of you at the worst time. Don’t get
frustrated. Just step aside and go about your business. Know that these are passive
aggressive methods to get you to acknowledge their existence. (Interesting, I hadn’t
though about it that way.)
26. Don’t hate Jews, and don’t attack Jews, and don’t kill Jews, because the world isn’t
going to be a better place if you kill Jews. (This is true for all highly moral groups – even
Mormons.)

27. Don’t gay bash. Don’t mentally or physically abuse people because of who they are,
or how they present themselves. It’s none of your business to try to intimidate people into
conformity. (That is an interesting view for someone who wrote number 7.)

28. If you’re gay, admit it to yourself, your parents, your friends and society at large. Be
prepared to get harassed. See rule 14. If someone threatens you or assaults you, call the
cops. Have them arrested. You have no obligation to self sacrifice because of who you
are. As a gay person, you’ll have more social freedom than straight men. Use it to protect
yourself. Be prepared to get out of Dodge if your orientation makes your life unbearable.
Move to San Francisco, New York, Atlanta, or New Orleans. You’ll find a welcoming
community there. (There is a danger in labeling yourself with any one preference: sexual,
political, beverage, and so forth. This is mostly because they are a choice and tastes
change. You are more than your tastes, don’t sell yourself short. Whatever you choose
to be, be sure you are pleased with yourself. If you don’t like it, change it, because it IS
only a preference.)

29. Don’t be a poser. Avoid being one of those dudes who puts a surfboard on top of their
car, but never surfs, or a dude with a powder coated fixed gear bike and a messenger bag,
but was never a messenger. Live the life. Earn your bona fides. (Well said.)

30. Don’t believe the crap about the patriarchy. More women are accepted and attend
college. More degrees are awarded to women than men. Women outlive men. More men
commit suicide. Men are twice as likely to be victims of violence, including murder. If
you consider sexual assaults in prisons, twice as many men are raped as women (society
thinks prison rape is funny). The streets are littered with homeless men, sprinkled with a
few homeless women. Statically, women are happier than men. The myth that girls are
being cheated by are educational system is belied by the fact that schools are bastions of
femininity, mostly run by and taught by women. Girls outperform boys in school. It is the
boys in school getting fucked over, and prescribed Ritalin for being boys. Real wages for
men are falling, while real wages for women are rising. Just because someone says
something enough times, doesn’t make it true. You have nothing to feel guilty about.
(Forget the statistics, be the Dad you wanted to have. People who raise kids and don’t
use daycares are less self-centered, selfish, and egotistical. They are more level-headed,
more creative when solving problems, and they can work rather successfully under great
budget restraints. Every child deserves to have Mom and Dad who actually want to be
around. What happened to number 10? Either mentor the little guy or don’t sire him.)

31. Remember, 97% of all advice is worthless. Take what you can use, and trash the rest.
(You can serve only yourself and feel of little consequence in life or you make a
difference to others living with a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment. Only one
leaves a legacy, which will you be?)