Boys Need To Be Taught How To Be Good Men

March 21, 2013

Mandeville, LA – Exclusive Transcript – This is important stuff because this is the kind of instruction that young men are not getting today, and if they are getting it, they’re not getting it in high enough quantities or not getting it in a repetitive manner. They’re learning all kinds of things about recycling. They’re learning all kinds of things about homosexuality. They’re learning all kinds of things about animal rights and global warming and all this stuff, but they’re not learning how to be young men. Check out today’s transcript for the rest…

Begin Mike Church Show Transcript

Mike: I was reading before the timeout a letter from the Earl of Stanfield, known as the Earl of Chesterfield to his son. He always writes “Dear Boy.” As I said, he rarely calls his son by his name. I want to go back to as he’s describing to this young man here what makes good company. This is important stuff because this is the kind of instruction that young men are not getting today, and if they are getting it, they’re not getting it in high enough quantities or not getting it in a repetitive manner. They’re learning all kinds of things about recycling. They’re learning all kinds of things about homosexuality. They’re learning all kinds of things about animal rights and global warming and all this stuff, but they’re not learning how to be young men. They’re not learning how to pursue statesmanship and the virtues. Instead, they’re chasing the quick, the easy. [mocking] “This is America, Mike, pursue the dream. Just give us our million dollars and move along and all will be right with the world.”

How many wealthy people seem to be the most unsuccessful socially, the most unsuccessful parentally? Hell, we make the unsuccessful parents superstars, megastars. We make the irresponsible cool. See: Honey Boo Boo. Watch any of those awful “reality” TV shows like Mrs. Church is always watching. I often wonder, as she’s watching Housewives of Atlanta or Housewives of Beverly Hills or any of these other just morally defunct individuals, if any of this stuff is going to rub off. Then I see her reading her Magnificat, which is a form of a Catholic daily reading manual and I go: All right, at least she’s balancing it. Who’s balancing the young man that thinks it’s cool to blow people’s heads off in a video game? Who’s balancing the young adolescent male who trudges off to the movie theaters or goes to his buddy’s house to watch a DVD or something from Netflix or Hulu who watches The Hangover or any of these teen coming-of-age movies where children aren’t pursuing the good, the virtuous, things that make the good civilizations.

I can remember when I was a child, just to give you a milepost or marker on just how widespread and how there’s such a dichotomy of the way it was and the way it is today. I can remember when I was 13 years old my mother taking me to the theater to watch things that my children wouldn’t dream of watching today because they’re too corny. They would go: Are you serious? Really, Dad, you want us to watch The Apple Dumpling Gang? Seriously? The Apple Dumpling Gang, really? I know that’s totally hokey. That’s why I brought it up.

I want to get back to the Earl’s letter to his son and about good company. These are the kinds of things the Earl was trying to teach to his son, who, by the by, was a bastard. The Earl recognized that he was a bastard. He didn’t know he had this son. When he found out that this woman had given birth to his son, because she had hidden him from him, I believe, he made it his life’s work to care for the boy and try to make him what he was not, which was the father of a bastard.

Eric: What is that?

Mike: I know. No one uses the term bastard anymore, and if they do it’s not in the classical sense of the word. I was reading about good company from Letter No. 53. I’m going to post this letter today at MikeChurch.com. This will be one of our historical document posts. You can find this letter and the entire books from the Earl of Chesterfield Letters to His Son at the Gutenberg Press. Almost any classic text that you’re looking for that’s free of copyright you’ll find at the Gutenberg Press.

End Mike Church Show Transcript

For the entire Earl of Chesterfield Letter, please click here, it is letter LIII near the bottom of the page.