Strength

In a previous post I wrote about Sex. One of the points made there was the importance of developing strength for health in one's life. Strength can lead to kind of man that Clint Eastwood portrays in High Plains Drifter. In the movie there is a barber scene. Three men wait to walk in to harass him when they think he is helpless. That says it all. The attitude that one has the right to harass someone else is a particularly prevalent idea these days. It is even more telling that the dirty bastards waited until they thought the High Plains Drifter was helpless before taking an action. That is all-too-common.

Now, this may be a movie. However, one can often learn more about life from a good movie or a good book than from all of the so-called teachers over an entire lifetime. Now, cultural conventions would say that Mr. Eastwood's character is the good guy and should fight "fair." Well, what does "fair" really mean? A very great martial arts teacher often says that "fair is a four-letter word." That sentiment is the best that I have ever been taught. It says it all. Too often concepts like 'fairness' and 'mercy' are used to allow individuals to escape the consequences of their own attitudes and action. For example, another point that my martial arts teacher taught us regularly was the fact that those who ask for mercy--in this case the concept that combatants should "be the better man" (oh! how often have I heard that bullshit) and show mercy to someone that tries to mug or rape you. The concept of foregiveness is also often used in similar circumstances.

My martial arts often made a point that I took very much to heart because it was only confirmed by my independent experience: if someone has to ask for mercy it is already too late; for why would one allow himself to commit an act that would require mercy? There is plenty of time for someone to show restraint. If he does not, then why should others compensate for it. The answer is rational people would not.

Mercy is based on the precept of altruism, that it is somehow noble to sacrifice one's values for the sake of others. This is a notion that dies hard. However, if life and survival are your primary goals, you would do well to question such concepts at their core. That of course requires a certain level of independence. And, independence of course requires strength, which brings us back to the main point of this entry.

Life and health greatly depend on mental strength because most of society's conventions seem contrarcy to independence and individuality. This is not to say that one must become as brutish as others seem to be. It simply means that self-defense and self-preservation should be your primary goals as it was for the High Plains Drifter. However, this is something you have to think about in advance. Otherwise, you will unwittingly go alone with society's program for your subjugation, and that often means the more you have to give, the more you are supposed to give; and similarly the less you are supposed to receive. When the mafia does things like this it is called extortion. Yet, somehow when people use guilt to make you feel bad for demanding quiet in a library, for not giving money to a bum, for not breaking your back to help the so-called meek, that kind of racket is perfectly acceptable. Well, I am here to say IT IS NOT.

The great thing about Clint Eastwood's movies, so many of them: Dirty Harry, The Outlaw Josey Wales, Pale Rider, the list goes on, his character has his values firmly in place. He was not a bully. He was not tyrant. He was not a manipulator. But, he would not be manipulated because he defined his own values. This was the essence of so many of Clint Eastwood's characters, and it is the essence of strength and individuality.


Usually 'fair' means that one should follow the hand-me-down cultural precepts to the point of self-destruction so that while you are busy being "fair" and doing "the right thing" to "make things whole" the other guy is doing whatever he pleases. Now, if Mr. Eastwood's character in High Plains Drifter had fought "fair" he would be dead. No more movie. But, more than that he would not have survived in the world as it is. A lot of lessons come out of this. Not only does this show why it is important to question second-hand conventions, but it demonstrates that one would be better off taking a decidedly combative approach to life. It is not that one's life will be at stake in all situations. It does mean that it is better to be on guard at all times. The Japanese Samurai had a similar attitude. It was common for the Japanese Samurai to sleep with their swords. In some cases they even worked with colleagues to train who would attempt to attack them with real swords while they slept to keep them sharp. While you may not be able to do such things today, you most certainly can adopt a similar attitude for self-protection and self-preservation.


In High Plains Drifter, Mr. Eastwood's character had a piece of wood in his holster as it hung on a hook, while he had a beautiful single action revolver under the barber's bib. When the bad guys made a move, blam! blam! blam! Beautiful. Just what they deserved. Clint Eastwood's movies are so great not just because of what they can teach you about life, but because of the simplicity of the values they stress. He is also a fantastic actor and director.

The Development of Strength


One of the best ways to develop mental strength is through weight training. Without weight training and martial arts, I do not know how I would have come this far. One of the best exercises for the development of overall strength is the clean and jerk. While other full body exercises like the squat and the deadlift develop strength for health and combat, the clean and jerk also develops flexibility in addition to explosive power. What makes weight training tremendously useful in developing strength is when you fight hard to lift a new weight, your struggle will result in conquering the new weight. That not only builds strength, but it builds confidence. Never before have both more needed in a society that grows increasingly antagonistic toward rational values and rational individuals. LSV