[Sombro]

This article probably needs its own thread:

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE BETA MALE

http://www.breitbart.com/big-journalism/...beta-male/

Quote:

Last year a Salon article titled, “In praise of the ‘beta males,’” made the rounds and we all rolled our eyes. The author wrote:

Quote:

My husband will occasionally tell me a story — about apologizing to someone who was in the wrong or a tense email exchange that he ended with a smiley face — and wryly conclude, “That’s how beta I am.” Personally, I would prefer to call this “sensitivity, emotional intelligence, and peacemaking.” But, sure, if we’re to crudely categorize men as either alpha or beta, leaving zero room for nuance, and if we define kind, nurturing behaviors that cannot be categorized as stereotypically, defensively masculine as “beta,” I suppose my husband is a beta. And thank goodness for that.

Of course, it would take a self-proclaimed feminist on Salon to stand up for the beta males since they won’t do it themselves. Sure, it seems great to have the sensitive, peacemaking beta male who will watch rom-coms with you on a Saturday night. For the women who seek beta males, it seems they’d rather replace female friends than gain a boyfriend or husband.

The rise of the beta males isn’t the same as the metrosexual phenomenon, which was more about looks than substance. Several recent stories in the news are proof that despite the comfort of sharing a house with a beta male, it’s a much different thing to share a public space with one.

I live in the Washington D.C. area and make it a point to avoid public transportation. Every day there seems to be a new incident to reinforce my prejudices. Recently, a man stabbed another man on a metro car filled with people on July 4th, one of the metro’s busiest days. From the Washington Post:

Quote:

As the train rumbled toward its next stop, at NoMa-Gallaudet, a three-minute ride, D.C. police said, the 18-year-old Spires — who may have been high on synthetic drugs — tried to grab a cellphone tucked into the waistband of a recent American University graduate headed to a gathering with friends.

The two struggled, police said, and the terror began.

Police and a witness interviewed said passengers trapped in the moving train huddled at both ends of the car and watched in horror as Spires punched 24-year-old Kevin Joseph Sutherland until he fell to the floor, then stabbed him until he was dead. Court documents say the victim was cut or stabbed 30 or 40 times, in the chest, abdomen, back, side and arms. Police said the assailant then threw the victim’s cellphone and returned to stomp on Sutherland’s body.

No one (or group) made an attempt to stop the assailant who was the first to exist the train and into the crowd of families in D.C. for 4th of July celebrations. Oblivious to what harm he may continue to do, the others on the car were just relieved to see him leave.

John Daniel Davidson at The Federalist wrote, “That Spires had a knife—what the police said was a ‘small, black folding knife’ they later recovered from a trash can—is no excuse. Any two adult men in that subway car could have stopped him, no matter how crazy or strong he was, and saved Sutherland’s life.”

Davidson contrasted this incident with United flight 93 on September 11. He wrote, “Morally, the choice facing the passengers on that subway car on July 4 was no different than the one facing the United 93 passengers on 9/11. It doesn’t matter if it’s one life or one thousand, the principle is what counts.”

In less than 15 years, we’ve gone from “let’s roll” to “let’s not get involved.”