“Richard,” James Lafond wrote to me this morning, “I would like you to publish all of my masculinity books in Omnibus hardback.” 

This revelation came after posting a recent article I penned for his website entitled “Not Being A Mini-Monster: Richard Barrett Curates Recent Masculinity Writings”. 

The piece reflected on the state of Masculinity Writing in the last ten years…and it makes me laugh, because “Masculinity Writing” is a term James Lafond hates!

It’s a silly term with 1990s psychological overtones, sure…

‘But all it means is: 

What is a Man supposed to be? 

A CREED AND CODE LOST 

James Lafond has been a good friend and mentor of mine for 5 ½ years. He’s a kindred soul, and we share many of the same interests and observations.

Which is very rare if you know our interests and observations! 

We have argued, bonded, and compared notes in many a podcast, email, and phone call since 2020, in a time period that has been marked by intense social upheaval in the lives of billions around the world. 

We are living in an age where things are turning…for good or for ill, I don’t know.

But it’s a new era…an epoch closing and another beginning.

And the biggest challenge is that since the 1990s at least, when that silly term “Masculinity” started getting mainstream usage, Men have lost their way. 

“A man’s gotta have a code,” said John Wayne. “A creed to live by.” 

They’ve lost their way because their code and their creed has been taken from them.

AN UNTHINKABLE EVENT  

At the end of the day, we do these things because they are personal. We’ve all got some kind of direct connection to these issues if we write or talk about them. 

Lord knows this stuff is not fun to deal with or talk about, and Lord knows it’s not bringing anybody any glory! 

Longtime readers will know that 3 ½ years ago, my Mom died of Cancer, a tale I told in my article “In a Way We’ve Never Before Seen: Threats Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow, Part 1”.

This event has marked my life in the way that Custer’s Last Stand, Pearl Harbor, and 9/11 have shaped the conscience of America. 

An unthinkable event suddenly becomes very, very real, and it dominates  your entire life…leaving you to question everything you knew. 

AGAINST GYNOCRACY

This was a doubly devastating loss because I didn’t just lose a Mother…I lost my best friend and mentor.

You see, many peoples’ Moms held them back. Wanted them to stay at home, never leave the nest, becoming all-consuming and all-devouring. “Gynocracy” as Evola would say. 

Not my Mom.

Sure, I’ve dealt with the Gynocracy plenty in my day…that’s a tale for another time. If I hadn’t dealt with it, well, I would be writing this.

But unlike in most people’s cases, my Mom was not the source of this Gynocracy in my life.

In fact, she was a bulwark against it.

WHAT THE PIONEERS KNEW  

My Mom was given the gift of Wisdom and Foresight by God. 30 years earlier, she foresaw many of the issues we are dealing with today coming down the pipeline..

And she took action to stop it. 

With four sons and a daughter to raise, she understood that society was hunting for the Men, and it would soon be open season. 

And so to keep us out of the man-hunting matrix, she homeschooled us. 

I was the oldest, and so, subsequently, I was the pioneer. 

Now Dan Kennedy, the highest paid sales letter writer in the world and a major inspiration for my own writing style, had a saying about pioneers: 

“You don’t want to be a pioneer,” he said. “Because pioneers get arrows in their backs!” 

But with all due respect to Dan Kennedy, I’m glad God made me a pioneer…because they make the best movies and stories about them! 

I mean…without pioneers heading West and circling the Wagons to guard from danger, you don’t have Cowboys and Indians.

You don’t have Pulp Fiction Renaissance!

A TALE OF TWO MYTHOLOGIES 

When my Mom decided to homeschool us, she was going against the grain of everything society was offering. She was going against the Myth of our Age.

That Myth says: 

“Just follow the system. Trust the experts. Cooperate. And all the material blessings of our civilization can be yours!”

Well, my Mom trusted in a different Mythology. 

A Mythology that, unlike the Myth of our Age, is true.

And this Mythology says this: 

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 

“But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”[1]

Her Treasure was the Truth, and she gave it to her sons and daughter. 

A HELPING HAND

I say this because my Mom and James Lafond share many similarities: 

They both have the gift of being able to see beyond the surface. 

They both have a heart to help the broken and forgotten Men in the World. 

And they don’t do it to dominate and feed their own sense of self-importance.

Instead, they give the Men of the World a helping hand…so they can once again stand on their own two feet. 

“We were great once,” Lord Faisal wistfully mused about Arabia’s storied past to an Englishman history would know as Lawrence of Arabia. 

With his gaze gleaming and his countenance set, Lawrence simply replied: 

“Time to be great again.” 

Sincerely,

Richard Barrett

08-08-2025

Written at 10:49 AM, somewhere in the USA… 

Sources Cited 

Image 1. 

[1] These words are from Jesus, in Matthew 6:19-21, NIV.