“Yes, modern society is essentially built around the dominance of some over others. That is pretty obvious. On the other hand, one could not have any society without an explicit or implicit dominance hierarchy. Society requires order, and order requires the capacity to enforce order, if only by frowns, and not by fines, imprisonment, executions, and such. As Olaf Stapledon pointed out, long ago, some gang is always going to run things. The question then is what gang, and how to get rid of gangs you don’t like. As Aristotle noted, man is a political animal, and he who is not must be either a beast or god. And, alas for Aristotle, dominance hierarchies are found even amongst beasts and, if we follow mythology, amongst gods, as well.”

        John Norman http://www.scribd.com/doc/41530641/Polygraff-Magazine

“In the seventies I began to see all over the country a phenomenon that we might call the ‘soft male.’ …They’re lovely, valuable people—I like them—they’re not interested in harming the earth of starting wars… . But many of these men are not happy… . You quickly notice the lack of energy in them. They are life-preserving but not exactly life-giving. Ironically, you often see these men with strong women who positively radiate energy”

       Robert Bly, Iron John (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1990), pp. 2-3.