Old Manhood vs. New Manhood
"A Republic, if You Can Keep It"
Two things happened this week that have been on my mind. The first is Steve Schmidt’s public temper tantrum, the second is Kendrick Lamar’s new album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. They two are examples of the current fight our society is having. Old manhood vs new manhood. For those of you who watched the Gilded Age on HBO, you might be familiar with old money vs. new money, the battle for manhood is similar. Old manhood has been around for years, and those who play operate life like a game of monopoly. Winner takes all, no compromise, no understanding, and when they don’t get their way, they flip the board. Old manhood masks their emotions except for anger and greed. Old manhood would rather burn down the world than admit mistakes and grow.
If old manhood is playing Monopoly, then new manhood is playing Life. New manhood is about reflection, vulnerability, and understanding. It’s about accountability. New manhood is about family. New manhood isn’t afraid of their feelings. And new manhood admits mistakes and grows. New manhood sees a crumbling world and is ready to build.
Steve is an example of old manhood. I don’t know Steve, but I did respect the work he and Lincoln project did in 2019. Their commercials always seem to elicit the response from Trump that was intended. The goal was clear, bully the bully. He couldn’t take his own medicine and anyone who was paying attention could see it. While I respect the work the Lincoln Project did, I did not admire it. They went low and when Trump was gone, they couldn’t stop. The stunt against Youngkin was right out of the Trump playbook, but Youngkin isn’t Trump. When they were most successful against Trump it was almost like they were in his head. And in a lot of ways, they were, they are both old manhood. And this week Steve had a typical old manhood twitter meltdown.
Kendricks album is an example of new manhood. It’s a nonconformity masterpiece. He’s got something to say, and he says it. He reflects on himself and then turns the mirror on society. Kendrick is just challenging himself but everyone who listens. He talks about his daddy issues in “Father Time” insecurities in “Die Hard” and relationship issues in “We Cry Together”. Sometimes the album appears ugly but if you strip away the bad words what you hear are people who love each other, trying to navigate a difficult world with struggle. What you hear is honesty and that’s not ugly, that’s beautiful. Kendrick lays his flaws out for the world to see, and he also lays out societies. He proclaims it’s a new world and he’s right. In “N95” he tells us “they still lied” and “take off them fabricate streams and them microwave memes, it's a real world outside”. He’s telling us to pay attention and take accountability for ourselves. And he sums up the difference between new and old manhood when he says “What community feel they the only ones relevant? (Woah) Where the hypocrites at?”
Steve is a hypocrite. He has no problem pulling back the mask on Trump, but he’d rather burn everything down than look in the mirror. The world is full of problems, and we need new leadership. Old manhood can’t see themselves so it’s time for new manhood to take the reins. It’s time to build.