Excellent piece. There is one thing that popped into my mind, I think an issue that the right needs to identify and correct. I'm a lifelong Californian who now lives in the South, and for all the mess in CA, the middle and upper class libs are fit, healthy, and attractive. Driving through the country, the conservative areas are filled with landwales and dudes that haven't seen their own junk due to gut protrusion for years. We have a responsibility to educate the peasants.
You are entirely correct. Class and fitness correlate strongly. They feed us crap and steal our time with trifles. We need to create a working class ethic of fitness that begins with educating the young.
This was excellent! I'm personally not anywhere close to gold or navy shorts level fitness (though I'm definitely not white shorts either, more like somewhere in the middle), but I know that when I exercise my body, my mind and mood also work much, much better.
As has been frequently quoted on Substack, from Thucydides, “The society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting by fools.” The part about thinking being done by cowards is very, very true. In part, because in order to be effective, warrior training must be purged of feminized bullshit (as our increasingly antiwhite and anti-male military leaders will learn the hard way during the next kinetic conflict), but also because the physical training clarifies and invigorates one's thinking. As obstacles are overcome and confidence is built, one's thoughts shift from avoiding pain and unpleasantness to figuring out how to push through it and seize the opportunities that lay on the other side of difficulty.
Great essay! Very pertinent and timely! And juat the reminder I needed to get off my lazy ass today!
Great thoughts here, dear Librarian. I go through cycles of wanting to be absolutely yolked and not caring. This just might catalyze in me a season of Pursuit of The Swole.
Let us not forget that beside the physical and mental benefits, exercise is FUN; that is the main reason I am still doing it at age 56. To me it is not a chore to get through to achieve some vague reward; the activity itself is the reward. The benefits are incidental.
People have strong feelings about the subject. There are many ways to be fit, and to express oneself physically. Bodybuilding is about aesthetics; strongman and powerlifting pure applied strength; Olympic lifting technical excellence, etc. For my part, I like the idea of functional fitness (can of worms in that definition), where the idea is to be able to live more of the life you’re living. I hit heavy weights, but mostly used clubs, maces, kettlebells, bands, and sandbags. You might enjoy the Bioneer on YouTube. I like his saying, if you’re moving, you’re improving.https://youtu.be/Gozf2HwVTag
I actually went to my Greek dictionary to try to find a word that meant “shredded;” I was unsuccessful. There is a PhD dissertation waiting out there for someone who can research the Ancient Greek vocabulary for physique and come up with gym-bro translations.
It’s certainly possible. There’s a whole essay one could write on the physical, experiential aspects of Plato’s philosophy. He and his students were athletes and warriors, and I don’t think it’s possible to really get him (not that I’m an expert) unless you push yourself bodily as well as mentally.
It's incredibly depressing to contrast the natty origins of philosophy with the absolute state of modern philosophy departments. Then again, this is in many ways an opportunity.
Excellent piece. There is one thing that popped into my mind, I think an issue that the right needs to identify and correct. I'm a lifelong Californian who now lives in the South, and for all the mess in CA, the middle and upper class libs are fit, healthy, and attractive. Driving through the country, the conservative areas are filled with landwales and dudes that haven't seen their own junk due to gut protrusion for years. We have a responsibility to educate the peasants.
You are entirely correct. Class and fitness correlate strongly. They feed us crap and steal our time with trifles. We need to create a working class ethic of fitness that begins with educating the young.
Yes, Chuck Sipes.
This was excellent! I'm personally not anywhere close to gold or navy shorts level fitness (though I'm definitely not white shorts either, more like somewhere in the middle), but I know that when I exercise my body, my mind and mood also work much, much better.
As has been frequently quoted on Substack, from Thucydides, “The society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting by fools.” The part about thinking being done by cowards is very, very true. In part, because in order to be effective, warrior training must be purged of feminized bullshit (as our increasingly antiwhite and anti-male military leaders will learn the hard way during the next kinetic conflict), but also because the physical training clarifies and invigorates one's thinking. As obstacles are overcome and confidence is built, one's thoughts shift from avoiding pain and unpleasantness to figuring out how to push through it and seize the opportunities that lay on the other side of difficulty.
Great essay! Very pertinent and timely! And juat the reminder I needed to get off my lazy ass today!
Thank you so much. I hope you continue to progress in your level of fitness, and I hope to as well.
“Pictured above- Two immigrant bricklayers”
That about killed me.
Great thoughts here, dear Librarian. I go through cycles of wanting to be absolutely yolked and not caring. This just might catalyze in me a season of Pursuit of The Swole.
More power to you. No one has ever said, “man I wish I hadn’t gotten in shape.”
Let us not forget that beside the physical and mental benefits, exercise is FUN; that is the main reason I am still doing it at age 56. To me it is not a chore to get through to achieve some vague reward; the activity itself is the reward. The benefits are incidental.
People have strong feelings about the subject. There are many ways to be fit, and to express oneself physically. Bodybuilding is about aesthetics; strongman and powerlifting pure applied strength; Olympic lifting technical excellence, etc. For my part, I like the idea of functional fitness (can of worms in that definition), where the idea is to be able to live more of the life you’re living. I hit heavy weights, but mostly used clubs, maces, kettlebells, bands, and sandbags. You might enjoy the Bioneer on YouTube. I like his saying, if you’re moving, you’re improving.https://youtu.be/Gozf2HwVTag
His Batman training videos are awesome.
Fire is for enemies. Plus, I wouldn’t want to miss a chance to share the Bioneer’s work.
Just a cheery shot at dispersing the grim clouds 😊 --> img.ifunny.co/images/2af074dfca1946044071063b6d81bffbf7969cd963bd93d439aaf425065407fa_1.webp
Love the Marx Brothers! (And hate Fakebook/Meta!)
His real name was Aristocles (meaning something like “noble glory”); Plato was his nickname (meaning “broad” i.e. jacked).
I actually went to my Greek dictionary to try to find a word that meant “shredded;” I was unsuccessful. There is a PhD dissertation waiting out there for someone who can research the Ancient Greek vocabulary for physique and come up with gym-bro translations.
I have read - I do not know if this is true, the Internet is known to lie - that Plato was known to sometimes settle debates by flexing.
It’s certainly possible. There’s a whole essay one could write on the physical, experiential aspects of Plato’s philosophy. He and his students were athletes and warriors, and I don’t think it’s possible to really get him (not that I’m an expert) unless you push yourself bodily as well as mentally.
It's incredibly depressing to contrast the natty origins of philosophy with the absolute state of modern philosophy departments. Then again, this is in many ways an opportunity.
I agree. It starts in the schools- private, co-op, homeschool. The future belongs to those who show up for it.