A Life Awakened

Posted by McMurphy on February 18, 2015
Posted in: Martial Arts. Tagged: , . 11 comments

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”– Lao Tzu

At 24 years of age I was awakened to find myself at a wretched and disgusting place in my life. The previous four years I had been working in a soul crushing job because I lacked the willpower and motivation to go out and find something new that I actually enjoyed. I was your typical cubical dwelling rat in the race of life. I hated my life so much because I didn’t have any real hobbies outside of work other than drinking myself stupid while playing Xbox games. I was eating nothing but greasy fast food like McDonald’s burgers and fries. I’ve never worked out my entire adult life. At my fattest I was 265 pounds and I was kind of amused, yet at the same time depressed that I weighed the maximum allowable weigh-in weight for the heaviest division in the UFC.

The UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) has always held a special place in my heart since I was a kid. My dad rented the old VHS tapes of events and we would spend entire weekends watching grown men beat the absolute shit out of each other. The beginning years of the UFC were basically an Americanized version of Brazilian Vale Tudo (anything goes) fights, aired on pay-per-view for the world to enjoy. There were no weight limits, minimal rules, and the best martial artists across the globe were invited to fight each other in a single-night, eight-man tournament for a prize of $50,000 to see who had the most dominant and effective fighting style in the world. This was orchestrated and created by the now famous Gracie clan, the creators of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. They wanted to show the world that they believed they were the most effective martial arts system. To accomplish this goal they had the smallest member of their family, Royce Gracie, fight in the tournament. They wanted to show that you didn’t have to be some muscled up tough guy to be effective with the techniques they taught. Royce defeated all of his opponents that evening controlling them with BJJ and finishing two of the three with a Rear Naked Choke in less than two minutes. This was a showcase for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu the world over. People were stunned that such a small man was able to control and dominate opponents much larger than him.

Many years had passed since I had watched those old VHS tapes of the early UFC fights when I walked into a bar at the age of 21. On all of the television sets they were playing a live PPV broadcast of the same UFC. I was actually shocked that the organization still existed, remembering growing up reading about how so many states and governments were trying to ban the sport. I grabbed a beer, sat down with a friend, and was instantly taken in by the action. This modern day version of the UFC was FAR different from the VHS tapes I had watched as a child. No longer was it just random sized guys fighting against each other. There were weight classes, more standardized rules, and a referee that actually had the power to stop the fight. As the night went on and the beer kept flowing I found myself cheering with the crowd of people just watching these fights on television. From that night on I found myself a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) super fan. I read up on every single top 10 fighter in each division, I went through video archives on the Internet of old fights and absorbed every single second I could. Every weekend before a fight I would blow up Facebook inviting all of my friends to join me at a local bar to watch the fights with me. When I first met my friend Doctor Illusion he would buy the fights so we could save money on beer and food and just watch them at his house. They were some wonderful times.

Shortly after getting into watching MMA I discovered the comedian and UFC commentator Joe Rogan’s podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience. Joe offered an insight and more in-depth analysis into the world that I had become absolutely in love with. One of the things he talked about that really caught my interest was Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I knew of the martial art because of flashbacks of the first UFC tapes I had watched with Royce Gracie, as well as it being commentated on during modern MMA fights. In the modern fights the grappling was (what seemed at the time) the boring stuff that happened when the fighters hit the ground and tried to work for submissions, the kind of thing that usually got booed at live events. I was intrigued because it was a way to defend yourself and there was no getting punched in the face, something I was happy to hear. I looked up local BJJ gyms and was really wanting to check it out, but I told myself I didn’t have the time or the money because of my job’s scheduling. Excuses.

As detailed in previous posts on this blog, Doctor Illusion introduced me to mushrooms and they have had a profound effect on my life and the outlook thereof. They showed me the patterns of thinking I had been stuck in for years, truly “outside of the box” moments of clarity. This pattern was well worn in my brain like a path through the woods that had been traveled over and over and over again that prevented anything new from being grown upon it. After a few trips I realized I could do better, I could step off of this rotten path that was doing me nothing but causing pain and anguish. Albert Einstein is credited (but widely debated) as defining insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. So I can say with certainty that mushrooms cured me of my insanity and brought me to reality. I hated the job I was at, so I started to shoot my resume to every tech job I could find and one company finally hired me. After I got out of that horrible job I told myself I was actually going to attempt the things I wanted to do like BJJ, so I e-mailed the owner and instructor of the local BJJ gym. I wrote him on a Monday afternoon and he told me, to my surprise, to show up the next day in a t-shirt and shorts. I say to my surprise because I had expected him to tell me to show up next week or maybe the following weekend. Subconsciously I knew there was a part of me deep down that would have allowed myself to back out and not go if the instructor hadn’t said to show up the next day. I would have over thought it, letting the fear of the unknown scare me out of just trying. I took a deep breath, replied to his message and told him I would be there. A 100% affirmative I would make it, no “maybe” or “might” in the reply. That was it, I was locking in with my words that I would have to hold myself accountable if I didn’t perform the task. Something I honestly had never really done for something that mattered before in my adult life. I had a goal to show up to this gym and try this martial art out.

I showed up to the gym the next day 30 minutes before class and sat outside in my car in absolute fear. I was terrified of what laid beyond the tinted windows to the school. A strange group of guys that I did not know, all practicing and learning something I had absolutely zero clue about other than the MMA fights I had watched on TV. Deep down inside of myself I heard a voice telling me “You can just put your car in gear and drive away. You don’t have to face the dragon and demons that are behind that door!” but I took a deep breath, stepped out of my car and walked into the gym with a pair of swimming shorts and a black t-shirt. It was a pair of swim shorts because I owned nothing but blue jeans due to being a fat fuck that was terrified of anyone in public seeing my skin. I chatted with the instructor for a few minutes and then was introduced to a few of the guys of the school. To my relief, everyone was friendlier than I could have imagined. They all shook my hand with a smile and said they were glad I had come to check them out. We started the warm up stretches which were basically yoga poses. I strained for a majority of them since I had not done any kind of physical activity for more than 6 years and was just not used to using my body in any real capacity. We were then shown a few techniques by the instructor and paired up with another student to practice the moves. I constantly apologized to my partner that I had no clue what I was doing and felt really ridiculous, but they assured me that it was totally normal. After the 45 minutes or so of drilling techniques the class was bowed out. PHEW! I made it to the end of the class without quitting and was pretty proud of myself. The instructor then turned on a timer on the wall, set it for 5 minutes and proclaims “pair up with your partner and let’s roll!”…what what? What’s this about? The guy I was drilling techniques with grabs me and tells me now we’re going to actually live spar. Oh boy. We both crouch down to our knees, the timer beeps and my partner plants me on my back and starts putting all of his weight onto my chest. I made some very loud noises and grunts as he moved for position that nobody else in the entire gym was making. I felt like my chest was going to just collapse from the weight being placed on it. My partner climbs on top of me and I try to push his weight off of me, so he wraps my arm up, fall back with it between his legs, then slowly lifts his hips onto my elbow and I tap out. Holy shit, that was fucking awesome. I knew that he had absolute control of my body and my arm could have snapped like a twig from the pressure. The round ended after a few more times of me making grunting noises and tapping out from either being arm locked or being choked. I was drenched in sweat, I could barely breathe, and to top it off I had a different guy standing in front of me asking me if I wanted to roll. “Yeah sure”. Beeep. “UUUNNNGGGH”

I knew 100% after that first day I wanted this in my life…so I kept coming back. I kept getting my ass kicked. I read on the internet all day at work about how to get better and the best advice I found from higher ranked guys was to keep showing up. There is no one technique or movement that will make your life easier than continually showing up. Remember to breathe, slow down, to not to hulk out and try to muscle guys who know what they are doing. There were a few times in the first couple of months where I was so exhausted from class that I could barely drive my car home…hell, once or twice I cried like a bitch because my body hurt so much. With that pain, that voice deep inside me would flare up and say “You could just stop showing up. You could end this pain and be way more comfortable just sitting at the house”…but I pushed through, I’d show up the next day and roll some more. After about 6 months some new guys would show up and I could just mop the floor with them. I would tap them out at will or have enough control to where they could only move where I wanted them to. Then the round would end, a blue or purple belt would slap hands with me and dominate the little bit of ego I was building back into the ground. Stay humble.

I’ve been training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for over two years now. I have made some of the closest friends I’ve ever had and truly felt apart of a tribe. Also In that time I made small changes to my diet such as cutting out soda and most fast food. I trained at least 4 days a week. I dropped from 265 pounds to 220 pounds.For the first time in my adult life when I ran into people I hadn’t seen in a long time I was complimented on how great I looked instead of the usual “holy shit man you’ve gotten fat!” like I had grown accustomed to after high school. My self-confidence has multiplied a countless number of times. I recently started an actual diet to lose more weight and have since lost another 10 pounds. Success breeds success. Around a year and a half into training I achieved the rank of blue belt. The day I received my promotion I had at least three guys come up to me and tell me they pegged me to quit after my first week and were proud I stuck it out. One slapped me on the back and laughed about how I was the guy that would squeal like a kid anytime pressure was placed on me my first month and to look at me now. I can say without any hesitation this was one of the proudest moments of my life. I put in so much time and effort, took so much bodily punishment, all because it is an absolute passion to fight. It makes me feel alive every time I step onto the mats and I will continue to do this until the day that I die.

Here’s some before and after pics of myself to show what just showing up to BJJ did for me.

UITrbJi

Thanks for reading.

*edit – I’m getting feedback from a few people that they are considering joining BJJ after reading this…if you have any questions please feel free to hit me up on Twitter @warriors_zen and I will be glad to help and answer questions.

Podcast Episode 7

Posted by McMurphy on December 29, 2014
Posted in: Manosphere, Politics. 4 comments

Good lord watch out, the police of America are out to kill all black men! Or are they? Another shooting, another round of riots after the Antonio Martin Shooting. The shooting caught on film, including Martin pulling a gun on the officer – http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2014/dec/24/cctv-footage-antonio-martin-gun-police-missouri-video

Were Eric Gardner and Michael Brown victims of police brutality or just stupid criminals who got what they deserved?

James Bond gets to fuck a grandma instead of a college girl! Praise be to America, the progressive land where you too can work your ass off to have sex with crusty old hags.

One of Doctor Illusion’s coworker stops by to chat about the workforce of blue collar jobs

As well as – The fall of America to Progressivism and Socialism. Can this land be saved?

Find out on this episode of Illusion Radio with Doctor Illusion and McMurphy!


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Podcast Episode 6

Posted by McMurphy on December 15, 2014
Posted in: Uncategorized. Leave a Comment

Doctor Illusion and I sit down for another podcast, this time chatting about Officer Darren Wilson’s non-indictiment, the UN Arms Treaty, and getting off this rock known as Earth to ensure our species survival.


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Detroit Wants Free Water

Posted by Dr. Illusion on September 22, 2014
Posted in: Politics. Tagged: , , , , . 14 comments

I’ve been watching the growing “crisis” in Detroit for a while now. For those of you who aren’t following the story, here are the facts: The water department in Detroit has shut off water to thousands of people because they haven’t paid their bill. Now these people are trying to sue the city/water department/whoever to get their water restored and their bills forgiven.

Here’s the thing…. Some of these people owe over $10,000 in late bills. I don’t have a water bill, so I can’t comment on my average monthly charges, but when I did have a water bill it was usually around $60. Considering the staggering amount of money these individuals owe….they must have stopped paying their bills months or even years ago. And the water only got shut off now, after months and years of non-payment, because the city declared bankruptcy and is tightening the belt on expenses. YEARS of not paying the bill, and now they cry and point fingers because their service is suspended. I don’t know about you, dear readers, but if I forget to pay my bills (electricity, mobile) for 2 months, the service is suspended until I bloody well pay for it. These people should be grateful that they slipped through the cracks for as long as they did.

Now, on to the part I want to discuss, and put out there for debate.

These Detroit residents are now claiming that water is a “human right” that should be provided for free. They have even brought their story to the United Nations as a “human rights violation.” I’m going to give my thoughts on this, and would enjoy hearing the thoughts of readers, as this is a topic that got me thinking and debating with myself….so weigh in so I can stop talking to myself, I look silly.

We need water to live. Life is certainly a human right, but in my opinion the right to life is not being violated unless someone is actively trying to take your life. No one is killing these people, nor are they being denied access to water. Many of them say they are buying bottled water from the Dollar Store. They are only being denied access to a service that they signed a contract agreeing to pay for. They broke the contract, they lost access to the service. That’s fairly clear cut. Now, supposing they are so poor that they cannot afford to buy bottled water either…is it then our place to step in and give them water, thus admitting that they cannot take care of even their most basic needs, like children? Perhaps, if they have no better faculties than a child, they should have their drivers licenses revoked, along with their right to vote and enter into legally binding contracts?

The US spends billions every year in humanitarian aid to developing foreign nations. Hell, after we bomb you we send care packages and help you rebuild. Should this money instead be used to provide for the American third world, AKA Detroit and places like it? If the US Government will spend all that money on foreigners, why haven’t they stepped in and paid the delinquent balances of these Detroit natives? I’m not advocating for this course of action, but it’s certainly worth pointing out.

Building and maintaining the infrastructure of a municipal water system is expensive and labor intensive. I know this for a fact, because I’ve worked in that field. I spent a year as a contract electrician for the City of Mobile Water and Sewage Department. Someone has to pay the employees and cost of materials, plus electricity etc required to get that water to homes. If 40% of residents are not paying their bills, and the water keeps coming, those who are paying on time have to carry the balance of the load, leading to constant cost increases, which is precisely what was occurring in Detroit before the shutoffs. The cost kept going up every month, to make up for those who weren’t paying. It’s not a sustainable business model, and we now see the end result. Could this be avoided by subsidies from taxes? Well, if we’re going to use tax money to give free water to some, but not others, that’s not fair to those who are paying taxes AND paying their water bill. So why not just use tax money to support the water company, and everyone gets free water? Through thought experiments such as this, it’s easy to see how Socialism comes about.

When I think of this as “my problem” I come up with lots of different solutions, all of which take personal responsibility out of the hands of the people in question. The real question becomes…”Is this our problem? Is it my problem?”

Thought experiments aside, my personal opinion is that these people need to pay their bills, as they agreed, and stop crying to the UN about their rights being violated. On a person to person basis, this is a clear cut solution. But this problem is systemic, and let’s be honest here….it’s not just a problem in Detroit. Any city that has a certain ethnic majority faces these same issues. So what is the large scale solution to this systemic problem? I’m told the poor will always be with us, and we have to deal with them. I’m open to suggestions. Since he’s the only liberal that I have any connection with, I hope Kid Strangelove will toss his thoughts in on this.

So, friends…is water a human right? What about food? Cell phones? Health Care? And how do we handle situations such as this going forward? Should we turn the water back on and let the taxpayers eat the cost, or risk the spread of disease from poor sanitation caused by lack of bathing?

 

-Dr. Illusion

 

Quick Note: I was recently banned from Twitter and had to create a new handle, you can now reach me at @GoodDktr and you can always email me at info@illusionofsanity.com. You can also reach me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/doctorillusion

Know Your Stuff

Posted by Dr. Illusion on September 14, 2014
Posted in: Back to Basics, Manosphere. 9 comments

A few days ago, I was at work and got a call from the Mistress. I knew something was wrong, because no one calls me while I’m working, especially her. So, with some trepidation, I answered the phone while wondering if my house was burning down. When her voice came on the line, I could tell she was in a panic.

“I’m on the side of the road, the truck went dead and it’s smoking!”

Oh, shit.

“Did it overheat? Did you see the temperature gauge spike? What was your oil pressure like before this happened?”

“I don’t think it overheated, I would have noticed, I think! I wasn’t really looking at the oil pressure! I don’t know what’s going on!”

Oh, boy. I told her to pop the hood and check her oil level. It turns out she doesn’t know how to do that. This is when I realized that a lot of this situation is my fault. I gave her a truck and never taught her how to do basic maintenance and troubleshooting. Damn.

I’m not going to bother relaying the rest of the conversation, but thankfully my friend Justin from work happened to pass by and see her on the side of the road. She said “Justin is here.” I responded with “Thank God,” hung up the phone and went back to work. Justin immediately realized the truck was overheating, poured water from his beer cooler into the reservoir, got her to crank the truck, and then put water in the radiator. While it’s tempting to be frustrated with her for not knowing what was happening, or for not paying closer attention to her gauges, the blame for this situation is ultimately on me. I should have taught her more about this vehicle.

When I got home from work, she told me “I need to know more about this truck. I don’t need to know everything about every vehicle, but I damn sure need to know about this truck if I’m going to drive it.” Truer words are rarely spoken.

This brings me to the point of this post. You need to know your shit. You don’t have to be a master mechanic, but you better know the ins and outs of your own vehicle. You don’t have to be a gunsmith, but you should know how to break down, clean and lubricate any weapon you own.

Would you carry a gun you don’t know how to use, one that you haven’t practiced with? I didn’t think so.

But your knowledge should go beyond just knowing how to use your gun, as I said earlier. The same with your vehicle, your lawn mower, your cell phone, and every other device/machine in your possession. It’s not enough to know how to work it…you need to know how it works.

As traditionally “unmanly” as this may sound….read the manual, and don’t throw the damn thing away. As my good friend Dustin once said when discussing vehicle trouble “Shit doesn’t just fail.” I asked him what he meant by that, and he responded, “While every part on your truck will eventually fail, your manual tells you when you should replace every part. It’s very uncommon, if you follow the maintenance schedule, that you will ever end up on the side of the road.” And he was completely correct.

Read the damned manual, and follow the instructions. Then put the manual in your filing cabinet, because you may need to refer to it for part numbers, instructions on replacing a particular part, etc. I know the silly trope of “Men don’t read the instructions” and “Men don’t ask for directions”and all that other silly shit. That’s just stupidity.

To give another example, I was on Craigslist a while back and noticed a guy selling a tractor for dirt cheap. It was nearly brand new, and judging by the pictures, was in great condition. So I called him up and went to check it out. He turned out to be some white collar Asian guy who didn’t know shit about his equipment. He informed me that it just wasn’t running right and he had done everything he knew to do (replaced oil filter, air filter, carb, etc). So I loaded it into my truck, brought it home, and spend $8 to fix it. I replaced the intake push-rod and set the valve lash. And guess what? It clearly states in the manual to check your valve lash every year. His loss, my gain.

A man should know how to maintain his possessions. And, to call myself out, a man should make sure his wife knows the basics of her things, as well. If you rely on things like vehicles for transportation, guns for self-defense, and mobile devices for communication…learn about them. Read the manuals, watch YouTube videos, take stuff apart and put it back together. It could save you a lot of money, headaches, and time spent on the side of the road. There is no knowledge that is not power.

-Dr. Illusion

Podcast Episode 4

Posted by McMurphy on September 9, 2014
Posted in: Uncategorized. Leave a Comment

Good googly moogly, another podcast has been published. Doctor Illusion and I break down the Michael Brown suicide by cop, ISIS beheading civilians, and Anthony Cumia’s ejection from SiriusXM Radio.

With the RSS feed in full swing there is no need to upload to Youtube anymore. Hooray!


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Taking Advice from Strangers

Posted by Dr. Illusion on July 23, 2014
Posted in: Manosphere, Psychology. Tagged: , , , , , . 6 comments

There are lots of voices here in the “dark underbelly of the internet.” Bloggers and commenters all sharing information and giving advice…in some cases, conflicting advice. So how does a man decide who to listen to? How to separate the wheat from the chaff?

This is a complex question, but one that needs addressing. The complicating factor is that one mans wheat may be another mans chaff. I think those seeking information and advice would have a much easier time of it if we could all see and interact with each other, instead of just reading words on a screen. If you’re looking for diet advice, it would be easy to seek out the person who has the body you want. But unless everyone starts posting pictures of themselves, you never know if the person telling you what to eat is an obese shut-in, sitting at a computer shoveling McDonalds into his mouth.

The simplest way,to choose between conflicting advice, in my opinion, is to choose between the sources.

There are a few commonly held beliefs shared by everyone in this corner of the web. The most important being: Have a mission, focus on your mission. This has been said a thousand times, and that’s still not enough. Having a mission means having life goals and going for them, sacrificing whatever you must to get where you want to be. So, assuming you know your mission, find someone who has achieved your goals or is further along the path than you are, and listen to what they have to say.

If you goals is to be a freelancer who travels the world and has location independent income, you should read Roosh, Victor Pride and Matt Forney. If you want to be rich and live the fast lane, big city lifestyle, you should read Wall Street Playboys and Danger and Play. If the ramblings of a fairly successful country boy amuse you, keep reading me.

Why am I writing about this? Because I’m as guilty as anyone of thinking my way is the only right way…and that’s not the right way of thinking.

I sometimes stumble across MGTOW sites, or read advice like “never buy a house, rent forever,” and I immediately think that’s wrong. But it’s not. It’s just wrong for me. It may be exactly right for the writer and his audience. We all have different missions and want different things out of life. I think never owning your own home sounds insane, but that’s me. If we were all always on the same page, we would never finish the book.

My friend Z and I were talking the other day about life expectations. I grew up in a large house on six acres of land, with a big pool and all that. So that became my idea of “normal.” Now I’m 28 years old, living in a nice house on five acres of land. I don’t have the big pool yet, but I’m also not satisfied yet. This is what I consider the “end game” of life. House, land, wife and a kid or two, good job, 401k, etc. Retire around the age of 50, spend my days farming, hunting, trapping, working on trucks and vacationing at the beach.

Those who grow up in trailer parks usually never leave the trailer park…unless they move to another trailer park. There are always exceptions, but the general rule holds. Hood rats live and die in the hood. White, middle class kids like me end up being middle class adults with a house and a couple kids. I like to believe that I’m completely in control of my mind and choices, but I realize more and more all the time how much I was shaped by my childhood.

So take a step back and think. Think long and hard about your mission, your life goals. Are these your goals, or your parents goals? Is this your mission, or someone else’s? Don’t let anyone convince you that you must become location independent and bang chicks in Europe. Don’t let anyone convince you that getting married and settling down is the path to true manhood, either. Decide what would make you truly happy, and pursue it. Find someone who’s doing that, and learn from them. Read all you want around the Manosphere, but don’t become a PUA, MGTOW, MRA or whatever just because everyone else is doing it. Read, learn and grow…but take it all with a grain of salt and choose your own path.

Focus on YOUR mission. Not anyone elses. Only you can decide what you want, and seek advice accordingly. Separate the wheat from the chaff according to your goals, and be careful not to internalize bullshit that won’t help you. Good luck.

-Dr. Illusion

Lessons Learned: Advice for Young Men

Posted by Dr. Illusion on June 23, 2014
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , . 19 comments

I started this blog to share my thoughts on things and help men better themselves. I’ve gotten distracted from time to time, come down with writers block, or just been too busy to post.

To get back to the original purpose of my writing, I’m going to share some of the hardest lessons I’ve learned in my life in the hope that young men just starting out will benefit from my stupidity. It’s hard to say which mistake of my youth caused me the worst or longest lasting trouble, so I’ll start out with the ones I’m still dealing with today.

 

Don’t Finance Anything or Borrow Money

When I was around 20, I was making decent money as an electrical apprentice. $15/hr seemed like a whole lot of money, anyway. So I decided I had to have some nice things. I got a $600 Best Buy credit card and bought a nice laptop. I financed a $6,000 motorcycle. I got another credit card. Yeah, I was an idiot.

When things started to get on top of me because I was blowing lots of cash on partying and I couldn’t make my credit card payments, I borrowed $3,000 to pay off my cards and consolidate my debt. I said I wouldn’t use my cards anymore. That lasted until I was throwing a big house party and needed money for more alcohol.

To make a long story short, the economy tanked around ’09 and I was in the construction industry. When the economy goes to shit, people stop building things. I got laid off, along with hundreds of others in my area. I though I would always have a great job and keep getting raises, and I was proven very wrong.

The bike got repossessed. I could barely make the minimum payments on my loans and credit cards between unemployment ($325/wk) and small cash jobs I could find. It sucked. I finally couldn’t pay any of my debt if I wanted to keep a roof over my head. This lasted for 6 months. By the end of that period, my credit was royally screwed and my debts had been turned over to collection agencies.

I’m still paying on some of that debt today. My credit score is just above 600. It’s very difficult to get any kind of loan. I’ve paid off most of the debts in collections, but I still owe $8,000 to one company that bought up a lot of my small debts on top of what I still owed on my bike. This is 5 years later. Think very, very hard before you swipe a credit card or finance a car/house. You may be doing great now, but the bottom could drop out at any moment. Wait until you are at least 25 before you start financing things, I know I wasn’t mature enough to handle it before then.

 

Be Careful Who You Surround Yourself With

As I mentioned earlier, I was quite the party animal in my younger years. I made more than most of my friends and had my own place outside town, so every weekend was a huge party at my place. During one of these parties, I turned down a female for sex. She then tried to sleep with a friend of mine, who also turned her down. She got extremely pissed and went nuts, and I slapped the hell out of her and told her to leave.

I was arrested for rape the next day. $25,000 bail. I bailed out and didn’t hear anything else about it for years until I was subpoenaed almost 3 years later to appear in court. $10,000 for a good lawyer. I couldn’t live anywhere that did background checks because I had a sex crime pending. I had to get a waiver at jobs that did background checks, with the agreement that if I were found guilty I was fired.

Of course the case was thrown out and I was acquitted, but it’s amazing how much trouble you can find yourself in if you let the wrong people into your life.

In addition to the horrible incident above, would you believe that all those people who partied with me were nowhere to be found when my money ran out? Shocking, I know. Keep your pool of friends small, and make sure they are real friends who add value to your life, not leeches who are out for all you can give.

 

Use Protection, No Matter What She Says

 

I never wanted kids. I had no intention of ever reproducing.

Then, one night, after a whole day of drinking/bar hopping with my best friend and my cousin, I came home to find a cute blonde sitting on my porch in a miniskirt. She apparently wanted to talk to me and figured I would be home soon. I was nearly blackout drunk and didn’t even think about protection. My son turned 6 last month.

While I love my kid and there’s a lot to say for Fatherhood, you don’t want your child’s mother to be some random chick you banged while drunk. I speak from experience. She now has another kid from another man, no one is sure who the father is, and he doesn’t pay her a dime…but I shell out $500/month in child support. She lives with her parents and will never make anything of herself.

That mistake leads to my next big one….

Don’t Get Married

 

Yes, I’m a country boy. I did “the right thing” and got married. If you want to get married and find a great girl, that’s awesome. But I offer the same advice as earlier….at least wait until you are 25. At the very least. I don’t care how mature you think you are, you’re an idiot until your mid-late 20’s. I wish I could go back and smack myself in the face for the idiotic decisions I made between 18 and 25.

And last but not least…

Obey All Traffic Laws

 

It sounds like a small thing, maybe even a silly thing. But a few minor traffic tickets can make your life Hell.

I started driving when I was 14 (motorcycle). I had 2 tickets by the time I was 16, which is when I got my first truck. Most of my friend’s parents couldn’t afford to buy them vehicles, so I drove everyone around all the time. Like any idiotic teenager, I had a tendency to show off/act like a fool. Get a ticket, go to court, my parents pay the ticket, whatever.

I turned 21 and got a DUI. I lost my license for a year. The day I got it back, I got another DUI. I’m about to turn 28 and I still don’t have a drivers license. I can get it back next year, but I have a take the damn drivers test again. It’s rally embarrassing to be taking your drivers test at the age of 28. That’s not to mention the cost of insurance. Luckily most of my tickets from when I was young and dumb have fallen off my record.

I know you speed all the time and never get caught, and all that rot. Just take my advice and stop before you regret it. My co-workers give me Hell all the time for doing the speed limit, as they pass me blowing their horns. But you never see me on the side of the road with flashing blue lights behind me.

Use Your Head

All these things seem like common sense, but common sense if fairly uncommon when it comes to young men. Young men are thinking about women, parties and impressing people.

Think before you act, look before you leap and all that stuff. You actions can have an impact on your life 5, even 10 years down the road. Always consider the consequences of your decisions.

-Dr. Illusoin

Elliot Rodger, The Manosphere, and Lying Journalists

Posted by Dr. Illusion on June 6, 2014
Posted in: Manosphere, Politics, Rant and Rave. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 10 comments

I know I’m a bit late to the game, but I’ve been enjoying my vacation. I actually tried to make a post several times while I was spending the week at the beach house, but I couldn’t bring myself to do the research. Every time I read the lies and libel against us from these lying, agenda driven journalists, I honestly felt nauseous. So I decided to not ruin my vacation with this disgusting garbage. But now I’m home and it’s time to address this nonsense.

I’ll begin with the obvious. Well, that which is obvious to anyone who has a functional brain and spends five minutes doing research.

Elliot Rodger was an active member of a website called “PUAHate.” In case the name doesn’t give it away, this is a site for people who hate PUAs. It’s also a bit of a catch-all for people who hate the entire Manosphere. Kind of like Manboobz, and I have no doubt that Elliot read that site as well. Elliot was not part of the Manosphere. No one who blogs in the ‘Sphere had ever heard of him until he went crazy and killed four men and two women.

That’s another important point. He killed FOUR men and TWO women. For any leftist/liberals who are reading this, I know you folks aren’t good at math, so for the record: That means he killed twice as many men as he did women. That means he killed more men than women. I know math is hard, and I can only assume that is why you people have tried to claim Elliot “killed seven women” as is stated in the petition to classify the Men’s Rights Movement as a “terrorist organization.”

I’m not a Men’s Rights Activist, nor am I a big fan of the movement. However, they are considered a part of the Manosphere, so I am very aware of their ideas and I’ve read a lot of their blogs. Let’s discuss the MRM for a moment.

Many MRAs are as liberal as they come. They are, by and large, the male version of Feminists. They want Daddy Government to fix all the problems in the world with more laws, more legislation, etc. They are basically a special interest group, lobbying for help from Big Brother. They are also very anti-violence. MRAs do not advocate violence against women, men, or anyone else. When the MRM has a conference or meetup, they state explicitly that members are not allowed to use violence, even in self defense. Should a member be attacked, they are commanded to fall on the ground and assume the fetal position while other members call for help. Yet these lying journalists/bloggers claim that the MRM is a misogynist, pro-violence, evil organization. You people should try doing some research. I know reading is hard, but try it. You could save yourself from looking like complete idiots to those who are better informed. It’s also worth noting that a lot of MRAs are women.

Now let’s talk PUAs. For those who aren’t aware, PUA is the abbreviation for “Pick Up Artist.” PUAs focus all their time and energy on having casual sex with women. Not killing women. Not hating women. Not going on murderous rampages. The PUAs want nothing more in life than to have women pay attention to them and have sex with them. The last thing a PUA would want is for a woman to die, because that’s one woman that they won’t be able to have sex with. Are they a bit ridiculous sometimes? Absolutely. PUAs are willing to give up money, security, stability and anything else required if it means they can move to whatever third world country Roosh has identified as a “pussy paradise” this week. It’s sad, but far from dangerous or violent.

Now that I’ve covered the two sub-sects of the Manosphere that Elliot Rodger was supposedly associated with, let’s talk about Elliot. He was the son of a Hollywood small timer. His Dad probably could have done a lot better for himself and his son if he had stuck with working for other people instead of blowing all his money on making his own shitty documentary. Bygones. Elliot’s parents divorced and she had a series of boyfriends. This isn’t good for any child, but he was already pretty fucked up so who knows if a stable family life would have helped him.

Elliot’s biggest problem was his sense of entitlement. Mommy and Daddy gave him everything he wanted, so he assumed the rest of the world should lick his ass too. When that didn’t happen, he retreated into the world of video games, most notably “World of Warcraft.” If one thing should arise from all this, it should be the realization that MMORPGs are probably the worst thing for people. I had a friend once who was hooked on WoW (World of Warcraft.) He’s not my friend anymore because he’s dead. He shot himself in the head because he couldn’t cope with the real world after spending his formative teenage years in an online fantasy world. Think about it. I would rather catch my son jacking off to gay porn than playing World of Warcraft. No, I’m not exaggerating.

Now that I’ve laid out the truth about MRAs, PUAs, and Elliot Rodger, it’s time to talk about the media response to this tragedy.

Despite the fact that Elliot was a member of PUAHate, an anti-Manosphere community, many journalists and bloggers have seized on this tragedy as an opportunity to promote their agendas. Primarily, their desire to vilify and destroy masculinity and all remaining “male-only spaces,” even those on the internet. So let’s name some names and call these lying, slandering, insults to the profession of journalism out into the light, shall we? They gave up their journalistic integrity to promote a damaging leftist agenda, and it’s time to bring them front and center.

The top name on my list is Caitlin Dewey.  Caitlin wrote an article for the Washington Post called “Inside the ‘Manosphere’ That Inspired Santa Barbara Shooter Elliot Rodger.” I’m not going to write an excessive amount about this liar, since Matt Forney has already done a great write-up on her. You can also check out the Podcast by Aurini and myself for more info.

In short, Caitlin blames the Manosphere for Elliot’s actions. The most glaringly dishonest sentence from her article is: “Rodger has personally been linked to an account on the pick-up site PUAhate.com.” Can you even read that sentence without your brain hurting from attempting to fathom the logic (or lack thereof)? A PICK UP SITE (aka a PUA site) called PUAHATE? That’s like saying he was a member of a Christian site called IHATEGOD. It truly boggles the mind. Only two conclusions could be drawn from this. Either Caitlin Dewey is severely mentally handicapped, in which case no one should take her writing seriously, or she is purposefully and intentionally lying in order to promote an agenda. I will let you draw your own conclusions.

Next up is Christie Hartman. She wrote an article called “Rejection, Self-Entitlement, Misogyny, and Murder.”   In this article, she claims that Elliot was an active member of many PUA and MRA sites. And I quote:

“This murderer was an active member of some PUA (Pick-up Artist) and MRA (Men’s Rights Activist) communities, and his rants had the all-too-familiar tags of someone who’d spent far too much time there.”

After I called her out on Twitter for being the liar that she is, she added a correction to the article:

” [CORRECTION: It seems he was a member of PUA HATE, a site that criticized PUAs but is considered by some to represent the negative aspects of PUA and MRA beliefs/criticisms about women. Much of his manifesto reflected some of these beliefs.] “

So, even after being called out as a liar and going as far as to add a correction, she still cannot help but make the correction a stab at the Manosphere. “Is considered by some to represent the negative aspects of PUA and MRA.” Really? How could that be, considering these people are the antithesis of the MRA and PUA community? They are the enemies of these communities. Perhaps they represent what you WANT the MRA and PUAs to be about, so you associate them with us despite them being rejects from the Manosphere? I don’t care that she printed an underhanded insult and called it a correction, she shouldn’t have written shit she hadn’t done research on and slandered an entire community unjustly.

The next specimen up for examination is Fredrik DeBoer. His parents inability to spell his name properly is just the beginning of his issues.

Fredrik wrote and article called “Destroy Traditional Masculinity.” I think the title tells you everything you need to know, but here’s an excerpt:

“The association of male value with aggression, dominance, and power is one of the most destructive forces in the world, and so it has to be destroyed. Traditional masculinity has to die in just the same way that sexism and racism and homophobia have to die. It can’t be reformed, it can’t be rescued. It has to be replaced. It’s utterly infected, with the celebration of violence, sexual entitlement, throbbing misogyny, and a fake self-confidence that is almost always hiding total self-loathing. If the kind of sick masculinity that leads to these  crimes were a religion, people would call it incompatible with modernity.”

I think “Fredrik” is very confused about traditional masculinity. You should definitely click the link and read the entire article, and tell him what you think in the comments. Traditional masculinity brings to mind words like chivalry, fatherhood, protection, and provider. While some members of the Manosphere consider “provider” to be a descriptor of “Beta male,” I don’t agree. The traditional masculine man provided for his family, protected his loved ones, and sacrificed anything, up to and including his life, for his family and his country. And this needs to be destroyed? Perhaps some of the ridiculous modern notions of the “badass, asshole pussy slayer” need to go, but traditional masculinity? Not so much.

Yes, power and dominance are part of masculinity. They are part of what makes a man. As is the capacity for violence. I promise you, dear reader, that all the citizens of France who were liberated from Nazi occupation by American soldiers (men) were not complaining about the male capacity for violence. The capacity for violence is an integral part of Manhood, but you are supposed to use it to protect yourself and the weak/innocent, not to pick fights in bars or rape/murder innocent people. That’s it for “Fredrik.” Maybe if his parents had been able to spell he wouldn’t have turned into such a mangina.

The last “journalist” I’m going to call out right now is Linda Kelsey. She wrote an article for the Daily Mail titled “Inside the World of the Woman Haters.”  Please read the entire article, it’s completely ridiculous and full of libel.

She spends several paragraphs attacking PUAs and MRAs, claiming that both groups are just woman haters, and even goes so far as to claim that there are MRA sites where women are “scored from 1 to 10″ and objectified. I’ve been a member of the Manosphere for several years, and I’ve yet to encounter a MRA site that objectifies women. Perhaps she doesn’t know the difference between MRAs and PUAs? Here’s a quote:

“There are also Men’s Rights websites on which women are rated from one to ten. One man was ‘semi-depressed’ because although he claimed to be attractive and intelligent, he said could never find a woman to sleep with whom he rated above a ‘seven’. “

If anyone can find me a Men’s Rights website that focuses on rating women on a number scale, please let me know. Otherwise, I call out Linda Kelsey for libel, slander and a total lack of journalistic integrity. Oddly enough, after her erroneous rant about PUAs and MRAs, she finally comes around to PUAHate and admits that it’s the only website that Rodger actually visited.

The hatred of women doesn’t stop there. For those young men who fail to lure the girl of their choice, there was, until this week, Puahate.com. This was used by Rodger himself, and some members were hailing the killer as a hero for his actions. It has now been taken down but there are many others like it out there.”

So, let’s recap. The only site that Elliot Rodger was an active member of was PUA Hate. PUA Hate is an anti-Manosphere site. Yet certain lying journalists have somehow attempted to link Elliot’s activity on PUA Hate with being an active PUA and MRA. If you can’t see the idiocy and dishonesty of this, there is nothing I can do for you.

>My friend Matt Forney has sent me links to many more articles written by lying scumbags, but I think this post is long enough. I will be doing more installments in this series until every journalist who lies about us has been called out. I ask my readers to post links in the comments section to any writers/articles you would like me to call out in my future installments and I thank you in advance for the help.

It’s good to be back. Let’s stand up for ourselves and get the truth out there.

-Dr. Illusion