My mother was great. She was a single mother raising three sons in the 1960’s and early 70’s. Lot’s of women are way too protective of their sons but she realized that if we were going to be regular men we were going to have to do all those guy things that many single mothers try to keep their sons from doing. She encouraged us to play football, wrestle or participate in other sports. She was an assistant den mother when I was a cub scout, understood I wasn’t a problem child just because I got in a few fights growing up and helped me buy my first motorcycle despite being scared half to death I’d kill myself. She was always there if we needed her but she gave us space to be boys. Considering what she had to work with I think she did a pretty good job.

We all like to think of ourselves as rugged individualists. But when push comes to shove most of us are sheep who do what we are told. Worst of all, a lot of us become unpaid agents of whoever is controlling the agenda by enforcing the current dogma on the few rugged individualists who actually exist.