Yesterday, 05:35 AM
(This post was last modified: Yesterday, 05:57 AM by Johannesbrst.)
(08-27-2025, 10:18 AM)Shannon Wrote:(08-26-2025, 09:32 PM)Johannesbrst Wrote: Sorry for stirring up such a debacle — that wasn’t my intention. I think the reason for my reaction was that the phrasing gave me associations I normally link with the Andrew Tate style of messaging, which feels very far from what I usually associate with you and your work. Just thought I’d share that in case it’s useful to keep in mind for the future, if you’d prefer to avoid others having a similar reaction.
There is a BIG difference between what I am and what Andrew Tate is. He represents the classic "Alpha Male". I am much more an "Ascendant Alpha". Just because there is some overlap between the two does not mean one is the other. Not even close. But I am not afraid to say it when I see someone do something I don't respect. Going in knowing there will be effort required and then giving up, I can't respect that.
AM7 is going to be designed to help those guys who are green, but one of the biggest reasons we need something like AM7 is that a lot of these guys out there these days are just weak. They're raised to be weak, they are told to be weak, they're sometimes even forced to be weak. They're taught helplessness and giving up, instead of trying harder and figuring out a way forward. That's the problem, and AM7 is aimed at being a solution. But it's those very guys who need it most who are most likely to just say, "This is too hard." and walk away. No real effort, no determination, no resilience, no strength, no drive to succeed. If it's "too hard" they just give up and whine and cry about it.
One of the biggest goals of AM7 is to help guys go from weaker than they could be to stronger. Not physically, but mentally and emotionally. Help them develop their drive to achieve and succeed, and develop resilience and the strength and fortitude to keep going when they want something, even though it hurts.
We no longer live in a world where a man has to "hunt and succeed or starve to death", but we do need males to be men instead of little boys when they're physical adults. Not that long ago, in the United States, a boy was expected to start work at the age of 5 or 6 and he was expected to take a wife, BUILD HIS HOUSE, and start a family around the age of 12. Now, we have guys in their 30's, 40'sand even a few in their 50's, who are mentally and emotionally children because they've never had to take responsibility for themselves, never mind anyone else. Even if they are "parents". Quotation marks, because most "parents" these days don't, and aren't, where I am.
Don't forget that first an foremost, an Ascendant Alpha leads HIMSELF. Provides for HIMSELF. Takes care of HIMSELF. A classical Alpha needs followers, admirers, because his is a hierarchical reality, where he can only be dominant if someone else is less dominant, or not dominant. He will eventually lose his ability to maintain his dominance, because a classical Alpha is dominant for primarily physical reasons. As he ages, his physical ability to enforce that dominance will decline, and he will be challenged and replaced by someone younger and more physically capable of attaining and maintaining that position.
But an Ascendant Alpha does not need to dominate others, or have others follow him. He is his own leader, master of himself, provider for himself, and he doesn't necessarily need or want to lead (or dominate) others. Instead of leading and being dominant because he is physically capable, an Ascendant Alpha leads himself, and others will follow his lead (if he allows it) because they see his strength, and they admire him and what he is and has accomplished. The classic Alpha leads with force and fear, and the Ascendant alpha leads through being worthy of admiration he didn't necessarily want or ask for. He is just trying to be the best possible version of himself, typically for himself or himself and his family and friends.
But both types of Alpha are going to be seeking strength in some form. Classic alpha seeks physical strength primarily and strength of will, emotions, etc. are usually sought, but not primarily, Ascendant alpha seeks strength of other types more than physical. Mental, emotional, wisdom, knowledge, ability, non-physical perseverance, etc. are common.
Strength is to be respected, as long as it is not used to harm. Weakness is not respected. This is universal truth. So when a male starts a journey to become stronger, he gains respect, and as he succeeds, he gains respect. But if and when he decides it is "too hard" and just gives up... he loses respect. A LOT of respect. That is what this whole thing is about.
Thanks for the reply. Just to clarify from the start - I don’t believe you and Tate are alike. What I meant was that the phrasing about “running away as a bitch” gave me the association to Andrew Tate. And while I know you’re a thoughtful person, I still got that association, which makes me think there are plenty of others who might dismiss this kind of language as “just another guy who thinks he’s alpha,” and lump everything about IML into the “manosphere” bucket. I don’t believe it belongs there. That was my main point.
On the deeper part - I see weakness more as a symptom, manifested out of something deeper. In my experience, what’s really behind it is lack of self-belief. And self-belief can’t be given to someone, it has to come from their own lived proof. That’s why yelling at someone to “BE STRONG” can only take them so far - it works as long as someone else is pushing, but once that’s gone, the fuel runs out.
That’s why I think there’s a risk in stopping at simply labeling someone or some action as weak. The more important part is to look at the individual and figure out why they lack self-belief in that specific situation. And once that reason is clear, then encouragement can be placed behind the individual to overcome the challenge - in a steady and secure way, not in a “if you don’t do it you’re WEAK”-kind of way. Maybe that’s also how you’ve designed AM to work, and if so then I guess we agree. But from the way the description read, I got more the impression of a drill sergeant screaming at a cadet, rather than a father who steadies his son after he’s dropped a critical pass for the third time and feels crushed - and then gives him the push he needs to walk back on the field.