The central element of manhood has always been about being able to survive. Reproduction is just a cornerstone of continued existence, not manhood.
A man survives, defines his environment, and shapes the way in which he wants to live in his environment. If he wants to be alone, that's his prerogative, and if he wants a family, that too is his decision, but those decisions are based on his will, not anyone else's perceptions or ideals.
You aren't a man if you cannot survive on your own or define your life's mission. If a man lives by the ideals of others because, "that is what they said a man is", he is not a man, rather still a boy.
And, if you live in a society where the population of people are not worth a damn, you trying to lead them because "I do hard things" is not wise or smart.
You are operating against nature at that point and will likely suffer more than you need to in life. Those people are likely dead once the lights, 9-1-1, and clean water stop running. You are leading a bunch of defiant carcasses essentially and trying to drag them along with you while minimizing your potential when you should be maximizing your potential as a man.
But most folk will learn at the end of their lives when looking back and realizing they wasted it on a bunch of worthless and ungrateful people.
There is little to fight for because men have decided to forgo thinking about their futures and go along with the demands of others.
Just look at the first few replies in this thread, that should tell you something. Adult males think that "doing the hard thing..." is what makes you a man. That is ludicrous and shows why society is crumbling.
You work on challenging things because they are worth working on, not out of some harebrained idea of it being good because it's a hard task.
So many unexamined lives and opinions in this thread.
