If America Returned to a Modern Code of Chivalry, Could We Avoid Collapse? - If Civility Were Reinstated, USA Would be a Safer, Healthier & Happier Place

Kelly O’Connell * Canada Free Press

Could a rejected, “sexist,” politically incorrect theory—the antiquated notion of chivalry—help cure America’s woes, if reestablished? Actually, yes—because it contains the core spiritual antidote to the toxic selfishness and condescending, ironic posture offered by this shallow and hollow post-modern age.

This is because the medieval code of chivalry was not just designed for romantic encounters between knights and ladies-in-waiting. Instead, as offered by Charlemagne, it was a summary of Christian ethics for a foundation of social policy which then set the stage for the development of the humane modern state, taking care for the disabled and less fortunate.

Despite a flurry of new standards, such as the dictates of Political Correctness, polling indicates Americans have rarely been more dissatisfied with the direction of society and their own level of personal happiness. Therefore, our ideas have failed us and it’s time to return to the drawing board.

Nowhere does dissatisfaction seem more apparent than between the sexes. Men and women instinctively define each other much by contrast, and traditionally differences were accepted with at least grudging respect and dignity. This theory is now utterly rejected by leftism, which wages relentless war against ideals of genuine feminism and masculinity.

Further, the Hookup Culture has left adeep well of loneliness and confusion as men and women struggle to build meaningful, long-lasting relationship from the debris of casual encounters. This unnatural casualness is shown false against Adam’s heartfelt, emotional reaction to Eve’s appearance in Genesis 2:23,

This is now bone of my bones,

And flesh of my flesh;

She shall be called Woman,

Because she was taken out of Man.

In an exasperating number of everyday scenarios, old common-sense standards of chivalry are abandoned in lieu of politically derived solutions maximizing neither human happiness, nor safety. In fact, the modern default of public behavior towards self-centered behavior and self-satisfaction in the name of progress, is not merely troubling but a sign of the collapse of principled society. But to examine the old chivalry standards is a breath of fresh air and freedom when considering our right to free expression within social settings.

I. Self-Centered: Ruthless & Rude in Modern America

A. Description of Current American Mores

Life in America, and the Western Europe in general, has suffered a precipitous fall in terms of manners, standards and resultant personal satisfaction. Many moderns find life more confusing, especially in terms of gender roles. The impact of political doctrines masquerading as a personal ethos has tainted and tarnished the felt satisfaction of many Americans.

Whereas there has never been more autonomy for women or material wealth, many are increasingly dissatisfied. Much unhappiness is rooted in the politically correct notion that acknowledgment of sex differences are inherently immoral, regardless of the truth of such assertions. Underlying this, though is an attack against not merely our traditional understanding of life, but the biblical standards defining the West’s foundation and its superbly successful past, unprecedented in history. Political Correctness is incapable of accepting God’s created order.

B. Modern Feminism—Salvation or Curse?

Two views exist on the role of feminism in the modern world. One claims that women would be in utter subjugation if not for feminist activism. The alternative claims feminism is the bane of modern life and the greatest curse in history.

Women’s Movement—Epic Achievement?

Most modern Western women automatically and unconsciously assume without feminism, modern life would not be worth living. While certain breakthroughs associated with feminism go without saying, such as the right to vote and commensurate pay for similar work, many Americans are ambivalent or hostile to the movement. Further, outside of university Women’s Studies programs, many younger ladies accept the improvements associated with the movement while resisting the inherent anti-male ethos which so typifies it. Given the gains, below is an expose of the dark underbelly of Feminism.

Feminism as a Diabolical Curse

Academic Enfant Terrible’ Satoshi Kanazawa tossed another intellectual grenade in histake-down of the feminist movement:

Modern feminism in the 21st century is simultaneously illogical, unnecessary, and evil. First, modern feminism is illogical because it is based on the vanilla assumption that, but for lifelong gender socialization and pernicious patriarchy, men and women are on the whole identical. An insurmountable body of evidence by now conclusively demonstrates that the vanilla assumption is false; men and women are inherently, fundamentally, and irreconcilably different. Any political movement based on such a spectacularly incorrect assumption about humannature—that men and women are and should be identical—is doomed to failure.

Finally, modern feminism is evil because it ultimately makes women (and men) unhappy. In a forthcoming article in the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American women over the last 35 years have steadily become less and less happy, making more and more money relative to men. Women used to be a lot happier than men despite the fact that they made much less money than men. The sex gap in happiness (in women’s favor) has declined in the past 35 years as the sex gap in pay (in men’s favor) narrowed. Now women make as much as, sometimes even more than, men do. As a result, today women are just as unhappy, or even more unhappy than, men are. Money does not make women happy…

C. Dissatisfaction with Modern Life

It seems the traditional American felt sense of happiness has gone the way of the Passenger Pigeon. The Washington Times describes a study of satisfaction between the sexes:

Things are out of kilter. And pretty dismal, according to a Harris Poll released Monday. Eight out of 10 Americans, in fact, say, “Women today are treated with less chivalry than in the past.” A majority of the respondents, 52%, say relations between men and women are not “fine” these days. Just 13%, in fact, strongly agreed that the sexes are in harmony. The feminist fervor appears to have lost its cachet as well. About three-fourths of Americans across the board—men, women, Republicans, Democrats—say that the nation has “more important issues to fix” than gender equality. The poll of 2,227 adults was conducted June 14-21, 2010 and released to coincide with the 90th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which guarantees a woman’s right to vote.

continue at Canada Free Press:

http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/52348