Yarvin recently talked about the “[…] the secular decline in [thumos].” BAP speaks of this as well. The Nietzschian Last Man. This idea’s been kicking around for a while.
I have a running joke with my friends about how we should start a paramilitary group and invade Madagascar. And more seriously, these friends and I are planning to go on an adventure.
When I wrote about my experience in university I was kind of frustrated with it, disappointed even though I saw it coming. I hoped I would find peers of similar enthusiasm, who had their own projects that they worked on, no matter the skill level. But more and more what I find is people min-maxing a niche of society. I understand why, I feel much more sympathy and less disgust for it now than I did 2 years ago, but it still bothers me. There’s a feeling that comes to me when I let my thoughts wonder on a lazy day, or when I’m down. The feeling that I should be doing more, that I should be facing danger, or embarking on a quest of some sort. That I should learn to survive in the wilderness. Journey to a far away land, befriend the lemurs, lead an army of lemurs riding fossa to conquest…
There is an energy, the thumos, within every man. But it can only be brought out if the conditions are right. If there is someone, either the man himself or another, capable of wielding said energy and perhaps even amplifying it. At odds with thumos is eros (though they do sometimes cooperate). Both are far more powerful than nous, but appear to be almost evenly matched with one another. There is conflict between romance and adventure. Properly allocating the body’s energy to these parts is difficult. For me this conflict boils down to choosing between hanging with the boys, or netflix and chill. There is a time for both. In youth, when we’re full of strength, the potential for the thumos to let us accomplish great feats is high. This is the time to give energy to spirit rather than desire, and to seek adventure. If the energy is spent on satisfying desire throughout youth, there will be none left to satisfy the wishes of the spirit. These wishes demand much more of the body than the wishes of the rest of the soul. The answer is clear then. But this is no cause for cockiness, the allure of eros is powerful and not to be underestimated. This is where the plan comes in.
The plan can’t really be called a plan as it’s just a vague idea right now, but it involves going to live with the boys, hopefully somewhere new and slightly frightening/exciting. To go on an adventure together. The idea is that if you are in neutral territory, the eros may be able to overpower the thumos. But, if you are always with the boys, always on a mission, the thumos will have an artificial advantage. The energy from one of you will energize the other and you’ll spur each other on the way to glory!
The world most young men like me were born in to has little place for the raw power of man’s spirit. It is too safe, too civil, too docile, too sensible. But outside of that bubble there are many places, as there always have been, where this power can be let loose whilst it’s host body has the will and strength to fulfill it’s desires. I must find them.
I will.