Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Why I've Stopped Being a Regular Reader of Return of Kings

This one is going to be a bit painful for me to write, but in my opinion, it needs to be said, and I will follow the advice of Victor Pride when he says to write what you feel down to the depths of your bones, and not publish anything less.

I owe much to Return of Kings. It is undoubtedly the source and community that galvanized me last year to get off my ass and make something better of myself. I needed motivation, discipline, and community. The information coming out of Return of Kings - the hard truths and the fascinating truths, not watered down by any ridiculous adherence to political correctness, is a fountain of knowledge from which all men need to drink, and I am proud to have contributed a couple of articles to the site. Over the past year, I have done things I never even conceived of being possible before, including meeting more women than I ever have in my life, and Return of Kings was the foundation that spurred this personal growth. It exposed me to things and people I had not considered.

That being said, Return of Kings is not a perfect fountain, and that fountain's imperfections have sent me somewhat away. I of course have been and will continue to be an avid reader of anything that Quintus Curtius puts out, because his articles are of consistent high quality - illustrating wisdom that continuously helps me to become a better man. The other articles however, have been on the downswing for months.

Personally, I think there is far, far too much bitching about things - particularly women. Yes, all guys need to know the unvarnished truths about the basics of female psychology, how to handle it, what to watch out for, what to do, and what not to do. However, that is among the first things you learn. The fact that articles continue to come out regarding this topic, often with a negative tone, looks more like bitching to me at this point, rather than anything positive that will turn guys into better men. For instance, do I really need to know (again) why your girlfriend is overrated, read yet again why some guys are traveling to Asia to find women, or read yet another article about the nature of women? Do I really need to read (again) about how The Manipulated Man is the supposed red pill bible?

As you can see, for every article such as Quintus' latest, which warns us about the chaotic whims of fortune and shines light on a fascinating historical case study in discipline, there are easily three or four of the ones that are highlighted above, which beat a dead horse at best and just sound like pure bitching at worst.

I've also noticed that as I've done more things to make myself a better man - training, working on my websites, getting my real estate sales license, writing my book, expanding my social circle, going out and meeting women, etc., I have also read Return of Kings less and less overall. And I wonder if it's the same way with other guys out there. Perhaps this is the reason why guys such as YouSoWould, Mark Manson, Steve Jabba, and others have stated that you can tell that guys aren't successful if they do this kind of stuff too often. At what point does the Manosphere become very much like the feminists and other social justice warriors it professes to despise - complaining about things and demanding they change, instead of changing ourselves for the better?

Do you complain a lot about the lack of femininity in American women, or do you spend more time becoming more masculine instead?

There will be imperfections in any community, and this is the biggest imperfection here. Some of these things do need to be said, of course, but the mean needs to be found, and I think ROK has deviated to the extreme, as has much of the community. I will still continue to go to ROK, but overall you will get more bang for your buck at places like Bold and Determined, Good Looking Loser, Danger & Play, Christian McQueen, etc.

ROK's biggest asset is the reach it has. This is also its biggest fault. It wakes more guys up than anything else. But at the same time it requires clickbait articles and therefore lacks quality control. Once you've woken up, it's time to walk the road. I'm not convinced that ROK is the best companion for that journey. It will always have a place, but not the primary one.

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