Reclaiming the Society of Men

On Making Men's Groups That Don't Suck

What does a modern men's organization look like that is not cringe faux-masculinity parody, fedpoasting entrapment beacon, or glorified self-help group?

It starts with clarity of purpose, which should be the expansion of capabilities and power of its members. Unabashedly. The three models above all fail this basic test: they are either inert with respect to prowess and power, as in "traditional" masculinity cargo-cult getaways and self-help that is too individualistic and subjective, or diminish it outright with ghettoization, and ruin through incitement. Expansion of prowess and power is the gold standard. Anything else is a diversion or worse.

Next, exclusivity. Money is the default exclusion factor for a society with no higher ideals and weak ties among men. It is not the worst place to start, but is neither necessary, nor sufficient. Other factors of member quality should be considered, such as intellectual, cultural, or skills-based contributions, as well as more ineffable character traits like loyalty, vigor, bravery (to the extent this can be seen), and even aesthetic sensibility. No geriatric age limit. No women (of course). Invite only.

After purpose and criteria of exclusion, the real work is in determining the nature and frequency of activities. Importantly, most gatherings should be activity-centric, meaning all are there to do something, learn something, build something, etc... . Men bond over coalition-building, not endless chatting. Administrative and initiatory meetings are necessary, but simply talking should be circumscribed around active events. I'll leave specific contents up to the reader, because most of what there is to say here is about what is to be avoided at all costs.

Leave aside any overt political or ideological messaging. Nothing that is legible should point to anything partisan, revolutionary, reactionary, or otherwise discernible from a contemporary political understanding. Insofar as there is messaging of any kind, either explicit or implicit, it should consist of decidedly pre-modern, even pre-political ideals. This not only helps avoid many of the traps of falling into the frame of current political discourses, but also wards off the Eye of Sauron of the security state; which may try to infiltrate and undermine you regardless, especially if you are successful, but will have a harder time doing so from this position.

Keep digital footprints to a minimum. This should not be a network state, a forum, or anything else easily caught in the dragnet of the owned internet. Private groupchats are fine, but should be used mostly for logistics and basic coordination. A Discord server or some other semi-public space is ok for basic onboarding, but must be tightly moderated to stymie pathological discourse and errant members. Most of what constitutes the organization, behaviorally and verbally, should take place offline.

Maintain pristine op-sec. Even though you'll be doing nothing wrong, and dedicated to peace, excellence, and brotherhood, it is paramount that members' privacy concerns are to the utmost degree considered. Ideally, the structure of the organization itself prevents leakage of personal information, full names and exact member counts. No pictures, videos, or important text correspondences with identifying information of any kind. There are plentiful technical and sub-technical solutions to this, which I will not go into here, but a well-thought-out structure will hinder even a rogue inside defector from breaking this sacred trust.

Lastly, it must not grow too large. Anything that grows forever becomes cancerous. For these reasons, its exclusivity extends beyond mere criterion into an absolute and final size limit. No playing around with federated structures, semi-autonomous decentralized cells, or any other shell game to conceal expansion. Once the hard limit is reached, its governing apparatuses must implement a mechanism for graduating/aging/dying out of the old to be replaced by the new.

These are my high level thoughts on how to establish a modern men's organization with teeth and tact. It is a framework, more than a direct prescription. I've included what I can discern to be the most fundamental guidelines. Do with it what you will. And I welcome intelligent feedback.