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Genesis 3 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of

the LORD G-d as he was walking in the garden in

the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD

G-d among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD

G-d called to the man, "Where are you?"

10 He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and

I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."

11 And he said, "Who told you that you were

naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I

commanded you not to eat from?"

12 The man said, "The woman you put here with

me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I

ate it."

13 Then the LORD G-d said to the woman, "What is

this you have done?"
The woman said, "The serpent deceived me,

and I ate."


This is a familiar passage. But in the past when

I've heard commentary about it, people seem

inclined to shift blame onto Adam, since he was

with Eve when she was confronted by the serpent.

What people don't seem to have the imagination to

recognize is that Adam was probably standing

there trying to tell Eve not to do it, during the

whole episode. But she did, and Adam was already

demoralized enough by endless conflict with Eve,

that he followed suit. And the first ever

recorded instance of domestic violence was only

avoided by the fact that Adam was more afraid of

G-d finding out, after eating the fruit, than he

was frustrated with Eve. Yeah. Things likely

haven't changed much.


Over the weekend, I watched part of a chic-flick

video. It was alot of the usual emotion packed

situational nonsense that passes for

entertainment these days. But I occasionally sit

through one of these, or at least as much as I

can take, just to see what video producers and

consumers are into these days. Aside from all

the emotional machination, the story was more of

the usual sordid tale of modern existential life.


As you would expect the main antagonist in the

story is 'the guy'. I can't disagree with the

way that the plot portrays events. It's all

plausible. But 'the guy' doesn't get any credit,

except for being a schmuck. That's very modern.

What it tells me is only what I already know

about modern family life. We live in an age of

dysfunctional families. The argument can go on

endlessly about who is the greater fool in modern

marriage, but it doesn't change the reality of

the situation. I'd suggest that most guys just

don't have a clue about how lopsided the

situation really is, until they become a target

of the 'system'. As it is, women can be as

destructive as they wish, without much legal

consequence. In almost any family court, a guy

will not get any credit for any contribution he's

ever made. Some guys know this, some don't. But

their role in modern family life is always framed

as the antagonist, just as the video portrays.


The obvious question is, can you blame any guy

for wanting to have even a minimal amount of

control over the direction of his life? Women

are not the least bit concerned about it. In

other words, as a single guy, I was never able to

grasp the need for a 'pre-nup'. But since then,

it's obvious. It's his only hope and prayer of

keeping any minimal amount of control over the

fruit of his labor. Without it, he's toast.

That's not to imply that all women are evil

monsters. It's meant to imply that the family

court system is totally corrupt. If you're a

guy, you won't have any control over the outcome

in family court. Just ask anyone who's been

there. If you're a family guy, you have little

legal control over your situation, and you're

kidding yourself to believe otherwise.


It's not just a rant. It's an effort on my part

to look at the condition of modern society.

The situation is this way because there is a

significant contribution on the part of the court

system to enforce a lopsided 'justice'. And the

prejudice is deeply rooted in modern culture, as

portrayed in the video. I realize that in order

to have the full emotional impact, the modern

chic-flick video has to cast an antagonistic guy

somewhere in the plot. You see, a white guy just

can't be viewed as a victim of prejudice in the

modern social context. They are at liberty to

treat him any way they wish and he is, by

definition, the bad guy. It's a deeply rooted

prejudice and a significant factor in modern

social life.


One question that emerges from this situation is,

When did the average white guy become the

perpetrator? Was it when the lawyers figured out

that the greater earnings potential was in the

labor of the average white guy, and therefore

identify them as the only worthwhile target in

family court proceedings? I wonder. Since I'm

not privy to the view from inside the system, all

I can do is wonder. And the question lingers in

my mind as to the fate of the average white guy.


It's a personal issue that I'm still sorting

through because even though I was told by other

guys in the past, I just couldn't believe that

there was anything other than sour grapes behind

their anecdotes. As of today, I'm fully aware of

the fact that I'm held hostage. I'm more aware

of my defined role in modern society. All the

fruits of your labor are really not yours, as

soon as you are a participant in a marriage

ceremony. It becomes apparent why guys,these

days, don't want to 'commit'. They don't want to

commit financial suicide. And it's easy to see

what the average female expects - independence.

There should be no surprise that there is a high

rate of failure in modern marriage.


Like so many other things in modern life, what

has potential to be one of the more enjoyable

aspects of life, has been dragged through the mud

of modern revisionism and turned into an ordeal.

It seems to be just another part of the effort to

completely fragment modern society into battling

sectors. We spend increasing amounts of time and

effort on totally unproductive behaviors that

chip away at the fabric of social stability and

family life. It's become entrenched behavior and

is promoted by the entertainment industry. We

aren't yet at the point of complete collapse, but

the trends are in place. We keep edgeing closer

and closer to the rule of anarchy. It might take

more time than I imagine, but the direction of

progress leaves little doubt about where we're

headed. And that's the catch. If I were still a

single guy, I'd really not have a clue about

what's taking place. Even now, I mostly ignore

what goes on around me. I've never had much

interest in seeking status quo, so unless I had

someone to rub my face in it on a regular basis,

I'd still be blissfully ignorant of my failure to

desire what holds no appeal. What is truely

amazing is that so many are caught up in the

illusion and the fantasy that this world offers

anything of significant lasting value. You know,

all the stuff that people seem to be in a panic

about becomes obsolete in the very next

development cycle. And that cycle keeps

shrinking. There is so much more in life to

offer enjoyment if you can simply ignore the

clamor of modern marketing.


But we will be subjected to an endless stream of

marketing. We average white guys will continue

to see ourselves cast in roles antagonistic to

our actual behavior, and unsympathetic toward our

desire to live with at least a minimal amount of

rational control over our situation. Don't

expect that this is going to go anywhere but

downhill from here. I'm convinced that the goal

of modern marketing is social anarchy, at least

to the point that few can control their spending

habits, or check the spending habits of the

consumption junkies. You just can't question it

anymore, with the continuous bombardment of the

marketing media.


For the rest of the week, I hope to get away from

this subject. It just happens to come to mind

because I was subjected to more entertainment

abuse over the weekend. And I suspect that this

is the sort of influence that is in control of a

larger segment of society than I might imagine.

You can arrive at your own conclusion.


But can you see how modern prejudice toward the

average (white) guy has colored the perception of

what took place in Eden on that infamous day in

history? You have to know that Adam wasn't just

standing there twiddling his thumbs. There's

much more to that story.


Partly, the impulse for commentary on this topic

and even the reason for this blog, is that I find

my personal situation to have arrived at a sort

of temporary dead end. If I weren't married, I

wouldn't be in the situation that I'm in now. As

a bachelor, I had no interest in or concern with

the modern condition of the family structure and

marriage. It wasn't part of my daily experience,

except when one of my friends, usually a friend

or acquaintance from the workplace, brought up

the topic. Oh, I saw that there was trouble. I

mean, I saw what women in the workplace were

about. And I knew that it wasn't something that

I needed to be a part of. The pursuit of the

status quo was never an adventure that I saw any

appeal in. Even now, or maybe I should say,

especially now, I have even less interest in

pursuit of status quo, because I see clearly, the

hollowness of the effort. At my age, I'm not

going to be so easily fooled that there is

anything to be gained by keeping up with the

Joneses. On the other hand, I'm stuck at a

personal dead end to the extent that I'm trapped

in a liability and responsibility that's going

nowhere. But one thing that I've wanted to do

for a while, is have the time to write. That's

one of the advantages of being at a dead end. It

gives me time to write. In fact, years ago I was

thinking about writing a book about 21st century

marriage. A word of warning to modern bachelors.

Mainly, that marriage isn't the same as your

parents and grandparents had. Not only has the

social context changed, but the legal context has

become a genuine threat to the average guy. You

need to be aware of just how much at a

disadvantage you are, if you go into it totally

uninformed. You don't want to end up at a dead

end too early in life, because you'll have to

carry the consequence for a painfully long, long

time. It's not what you think, or what some

people are telling you (yes, her). Carefully

reread the entire Chapter 3.