Today’s big thought is about men.

I’m probably going to keep this short. It’s late in the evening, and the idea isn’t fully fleshed out. I also have something in my eye that’s making it water really badly.
I’m typing this half blind.

Historically, a man knew he was a man when he impregnated a woman. To him, it was undeniably proof that he was a man – in all forms – because only a man could do so.

That came with a host of assumptions and expectations. It meant that he was strong, viral, and that his genetic coding was blessed to move forward. Inferred that he was vested in the future, the protection of his child, and, by association, the woman who birthed the child. This created the family.

It meant that he was able to work, to bring home the bacon or bread, and to make a long-term commitment to the woman and the child.

He traded his life and time for a family and a future.

But that changed.
Women in the workplace. Birth control.
— These things are not inherently bad. Well, they’re good and bad.

Birth control and working are rights that a woman has always had. Birth control is just not engaging in intercourse or ‘falling down’ and other nefarious methods to prevent children.

Women worked, but not ‘serious’ work per social norms. Well, that’s not right. I guess, overall, raising children, cooking, cleaning, etc., are not considered as glamorous as a 40-hour work week. They leaned more into providing instead of protecting.

Women provided home, hearth, education, and substance. These are fundamentals that create core pillars in children and stabilize the family.

Anyway…. when a man and woman are paired together, try as he might, pregnancy may not happen. Not because of genetics or whatever — because technology prevented it through the use of widely available contraceptives.

Yes, making women forced or expected to become meat sacks to solely create children is a societal problem.

No, the answer is not technology. It’s an issue that needs social correction through relationship development.

Weight gain, depression, hypertension, headaches, and other serious and common side effects from a drug that was expected and pushed on all women to take is not the answer.

— Has anyone done a study on whether the side effects of birth control are more effective than the actual drug?

Yes, the woman’s role moved away from contributing to social productivity to a more financially based one, which is good. It provided an opportunity for more academic and life choices, which could strengthen the family.

But men could not claim to be men. A man may look like a man and act like one. One of the key features – the ability to father a child – vanished or became restricted.

A man trading his life for money and time to provide for a child and family was weakened.

(Big Business absolutely ate this up. When a household pulls in double paychecks, there’s an opportunity for double credit cards, double the chance for marketing, to buy crap, to pay mortgages, for cars, etc. And the women primarily had white-collar jobs, which meant a certain type of clothing, makeup, etc. Competitiveness, branding, and a new form of Big Business control hit its peak when women started working.)

The social productivity weakened. Men couldn’t fulfill the role. Women tried, I think, as it was their traditional role. I like to think that, historically and genetically, somewhere in the deep subconscious, people realized that it was a requirement for the future, for stability, and for themselves.

The man’s importance and role were lessened. His boundaries became blurred. Women’s roles were degraded and dismissed. They, accidentally or not, became the all-in-one. They earned a paycheck, children, and were expected to be the primary providers of social production.

While absolutely imperfect, the old system worked. Yes, there were flaws, and some were serious, in the old way.

But this new version left a power vacuum. Just because duties (I’m having difficulty explaining this without falling back on trite terms.)

Houses still needed to be cleaned. Food needed to be provided. Children needed guidance.

Men’s importance to the family diminished. He couldn’t prove that he was a man. YES, children need a present father, but it didn’t have to be him anymore. His importance in the genetic equation was reduced or just all but negated.

YES, children need a viable mother. But she only has so much time in a day. Creating a hearth and home takes time. It’s not something that just magically appears. It also takes time, effort, and (coupled with societial BS), the all-in-one became the all-in-none.

Families became smaller.
Three to five children became one or two.

Now it’s one or none.

Religious, spiritual, and legally contractually binding marriage has lessened in importance as children weren’t the primary goal.

Divorce rose.
Marriage fell.

And now, the population is decreasing.

Loneliness and insecurity rise.

To placate the emptiness, consumerism strengthened.
(Which feeds into the reason to work more. We work to pay off the bills and not to live. But, we live through consumerism as it helps add value – the items are a signifier that our actions are valid – which feeds into debt – and why work needs to continue.)

And now we’re kind of at a breaking point.
High debt. High consumerism. People are slaves to unrealistic personal expectations and damaging societal ones.

Since the man and woman roles are needed but not effectively fulfilled, AI, social media, and technology are expected and taking over.

AGAIN – TECHNOLOGY IS NOT THE ANSWER TO SOCIETY’S PROBLEMS.

But technology is plug-and-play.
The corporations create it to be so. People expect it to be so, as we lack the knowledge, patience, and even the attention span for it not to be.

The focus on children, stability, and continuation is lost.

Band-aids, like a child tax credit and the transwife movement, “might” help. The child tax credit is probably just a political device which will be (if it isn’t already) corrupted, debatable, and bullshit.

The transwife thing is absolutely a fad. It’s a knee-jerk reaction to the LGBTQ and girl power movements. When a movement is based on influencers, consumerism, and other obvious devices, it’s just a marketing ploy that’s meant to manipulate, not be the answer.

So… Yeah.
I guess this started with ‘men,’ but it’s close to impossible to only focus on men and not toss women in there.

But… Yep.
okay. That’s it.