This is an acclamation, a manifesto, a call-to-action to men all across our great nation. Ours is a generation of false greatness. Social engineers frame nobleness of character in such broad strokes as to render even the most crass of participants worthy of the title. We venerate the wicked, and thus demean the venerable. We elevate the base, and thus relatively debase true dignity. Popular acceptance has dethroned reverence as the highest of honors. No longer does our society lay wreaths of laud and glory on the honest, true, and chaste. Benevolence has been sacrificed on the cult altar of celebrity.
America will not survive another generation of prostituted mores. The ancient rites and rituals that yielded a constant and dependable supply of public virtue have been abandoned. Without the renewing supply of public virtue our people will not be fit to govern themselves in as little as a single generation. And so the mantle of responsibility and authority falls on us. The time has come for a new ritual.
We men of a noble birthright recognize the need to reprogram ourselves. We recognize that the manly virtues that were indispensable in the founding and manifestation of our great nation have been methodically stripped from our psyche. It is now our turn to stand as our grandfathers did. Our Normandy lies not on Europe’s shores, but within our own hearts. We will begin today to seed within ourselves the 13 virtues that once made the American man the greatest exemplar of man’s potential for divinity.
We take the oath, with a hand over our heart:
“I pledge my commitment to the 13 Virtues. I am well-ordered, high-spirited, industrious, incorruptible, and inquisitive. I am always loyal, brave, and composed. I am everlastingly reverent and empathetic; I am invariably beneficent, provident, and resolute. I proudly affirm that I, along with thousands living and passed, hold rank, title, and responsibility as an American man.”
The 13 Virtues of the American Man
Well-Ordered: A man is to keep his sphere disciplined, orderly, and trim. His house should be uncluttered and clean; his business well-run and systemically effective and organized; his person pure, unsullied and strong; his dress modest yet noble.
High-spirited: A man is to recognize that the measure of his creation is fulfilled by the joy he lends. He is to radiate infinite optimism and enthusiastically and regularly sanction and solicit diversion, amusement, and avocation. He is to infuse all of his endeavors with a communicable, cheerful exhilaration. He is to be morally committed to obtain happiness for himself and recognize the social responsibility to never express baseness of temperament.
Industrious: A man is to actively engage both mind and body in the disciplined battle against indolence and mediocrity. He is to place the act of creation as his most elevated and divine endeavor and recognize that only production justifies consumption.
Incorruptible: A man is to be honest in character and never submit, accept nor petition a bribe. He is to defend the right, honor justice, and tell the truth even at the cost of fame, fortune, and pride.
Inquisitive: A man is to be insatiable in his appetite for knowledge. He is to actively pursue eternal truth, scouring the writings of righteous sages past and present, even unto probing the Heavens. He is to practice self-mastery in subordination of the mind. He is to seek not proficiency, but authority, in all his callings. He is to ever elevate his capacity.
Loyal: A man is to give his heart to few, but to those to whom he has given it, it is given completely. He is to attach himself to his friends, his family, and his country with singleness of heart and an unbreakable fidelity. He is to shed his very blood for those who he calls friends. He is to stand beside them through the thickest of trials, always leaning on integrity.
Brave: A man is to rise to every test drawing on a reserve of inner strength with resolute self-possession, audaciously meeting danger and difficulty, tranquil in his resistance to subjection or intimidation.
Composed: A man is to keep his thoughts, words, and deeds subdued. He is to speak only when speech benefits another. His passion must not fuel his pride. He has no place for anger save righteous indignation.
Reverent: A man is to cherish innocence, exalt womanhood, venerate family, and hold in awe all things sacred, pure, or divine. He is to worship with affection, ponder with wonder, and love with absolute humility.
Empathetic: A man is to understand the torment of those that droop in pain, agony, and despair, if not by personal experience, then by communion.
Beneficent: A man is to be anxiously engaged in doing good. He is to roam this world ever prepared to cast aside his own appetites and passions to practice true charity. He is to mold his own character in obedience to Natural Law.
Provident: A man is to cultivate habits of frugality and adopt a bias for industry in order to procure the necessities of life, not only for himself, but for his dependents as well. He is to accept as an honor his natural role as provider for his family. He is to prepare financially, socially, and emotionally in times of abundance to fulfill these roles during times of scarcity.
Resolute: A man is to be immovable in purpose. He is to industriously perform without fail that which he resolves to do. He is to loose no time on the unnecessary.