Dort makes an excellent point, but all conservatives are missing the cornerstone of masculine warrior ethos, and this is why @SecWar is failing to make the deep cuts we need. I have debated writing this for months. I’ll get pummeled by all sides because it’s a knife in the heart of the liberal agenda, but also something the vast majority of MAGA gets wrong. The underlying feminine fear is exclusion. The feminization of the world is really growing inclusivity and benefits. They want more people in their circle, and they want their circle to have more benefits. The military has been feminized primarily by giving you more. More pay. More VA benefits. More opportunities for disability pay. More praise for your service. More parking spots at Lowe’s. Better food & barracks. And by bringing in more people. More active duty, more reserves, more civil service, more consultants, more women, more immigrants. Masculinity is a subtractive force. The most masculine & effective fighter pilot of the last 50 years was Colonel John Boyd, the “ghetto colonel,” who refused promotion, consulting fees, awards, everything. He lived in a shitty apartment & his wife & kids suffered. Boyd ruthlessly sought less in life so he could do more. The more comfortable the barracks, the better the food, the greater the praise & ribbons, the more incentive you have to stay & bend the knee. Boyd refused to bend the knee on any truth because lies get men killed. Masculinity, at its most fundamental, is the willingness to leave. That’s it. That’s masculinity. If they want you to compromise your morals, a GOFO will say: You have great job security. Nobody respects civilians. I was going to put you in for a luxury assignment. Stay another year and your retirement grows. It’s scary out there. And your wife will say: How will we afford the mortgage? I’m just getting to know the other wives. What benefits will we lose? These are legitimate questions. Getting kicked out of an organization or passed over for promotion IS a risk. Nobody wants to be the male lion off on his own to die. So Hegseth succeeds in areas like barracks, budgets, top cover & pride in your work because these all sit on the MORE side of the equation which is feminine. No fem liberal will admit to agreeing on anything, but the cogs will move to spend more. But why do they want more people & more benefits? Why, nationwide, do they want more immigrants & give them free stuff? Because feminine power is exclusion. The more members, the worse exclusion feels. The bigger the fall, the more histrionics & begging to be let back in which signals to everyone inside the group: never break the rules & leave. And the group’s number one rule is to consume more resources & benefits. Don’t believe me? Which service is the most masculine? Which spends the least on comfort? Which complains the least when an individual is sent out alone? Which doesn’t care if they sleep in the mud or on a rolling ship? Which never excludes anyone who leaves, but instead says “once a Marine, always a Marine”? The USMC, of course. The Marine Corps doesn’t care if you join because it makes its recruiting targets every year, and doesn’t care if you go, because once a Marine, always a Marine. USMC stripped away all the trappings and advantages of life. Same with the SEALs. Want out? Go ring that bell. We encourage you. Ringing it gets you more benefits, more comfort, more inclusivity, more time with girls. Stay here & you’ll probably get killed. Hegseth will fail because masculinity is about slashing headcount, burning bullshit & giving less of nearly everything, in exchange for more freedom of decision & the personal pride of knowing you can survive without anyone. That’s rugged individualism: nothing but a horse and a Marlboro cigarette on an open plain, because you would not bend the knee & beg to stay in. Masculinity is wanting less of everything except freedom of action, dignity and self respect.