“James, I’m on the fence here. Should I join some kind of gang, or biker club or be a Wolf of Vinland prospect pr tryout for the Dog Brothers. Then, I see you have this book Taboo You, which is supposed to be against all that—one badass as an island. That does have appeal. But after listening to Paul Waggener’s interview, he really makes the case for joining with a tribe of some sort. But, maybe it is all the lone-hero movies I was raised on, Riddick, Romeo Must Die, The Transporter and the fact that these tribal guys bring up Achilles and Roland and other lone heroes, I’m asking you to make a case for your way, for the Taboo Man. Why should I go your way instead of Paul’s.”
-Nelson
Thanks for the confidence in my salesmanship, Nelson, but I assure you it is misplaced.
Most people are joiners who seek leaders like Paul.
Some people are loners who reject and are rejected by society in various measures.
The best of these loners: Achilles, Herakles, Samson, Roland—die in their own story!
Lesser loners like myself, in a healthy tribal society, find a place on the fringe which permits interaction and usually benefits the society ore than the loner.
In a sick tribal society like ours, where there is no holistic tribe that has not been infected and corrupted by the global black hole of souls, great loners are part of a celebrity freak show and lesser loners tread in a deadly hostile world.
By a joiner.
Do what you are told.
If they won’t have you, start your own thing.
If you can’t stomach being a leader and can’t swallow the shit that leaders shovel into your brain, then try reading Taboo You.
I believe that any young man should try belonging, numerous times and only give up on that when you can no longer take the hierarchal betrayal of the individual, which has been the normal experience of modern tribalism exemplified by gangs and biker clubs, who are fraught hierarchal betrayal. I believe that the Holy Grail of tribalism is what men like Paul are questing for, a way to generate an organic tribe that will not disintegrate like some criminal gang. The best thing you can do is embrace that journey and only adopt my pariah course after numerous failures to find a tribe that will bring out the best man in you.
And even then, if you find no place in which you fit, you can still help out groups whose ethos you support from an alienated position. Indeed, a man operating from such a vantage may be uniquely positioned to aid a group he is not a part of.
Unless there was some extreme treatment of you by a family, gang, sports or military hierarchy that has twisted you in some way, then the taboo path, the way alone, is not for the young man. It is something for the man who has seen enough from inside groups to understand how to interface with them.
Good luck, Nelson.
Taboo You: Deluxe Man Cave Edition
I'm a loner but let's face it the gangs rule and the loners die. In the Amazon rain forest all the people want to live in small groups. Fifty or less but the big tribes attack the smaller ones and enslave and kill the smaller ones. They all bitch about the tribal leaders of the big group as he's always a manipulative evil power hungry bastard but if you go off on your own you're food as James would say.
Whenever I think about gangs I think about the free concert the Rolling Stones gave and recorded and Sonny Barger the leader of the Hells Angels. Watch him in the film. He's watching the fuck out of everyone and hassling anyone not in line. You see this long blond haired Angel tripping his ass off and Barger shaking the shit out of him to get his shit together.
Watch Sonny at around 3:50. He's studying Jagger intensely. You can tell what he's thinking. I need the power this fuckers got; What's he doing?
youtube.com/watch?v=pqK-J9S2GXs
The tripping guy I was talking about Sonny grabbing is on this video about 1:21. Sonny misses nothing.
youtube.com/watch?v=ShLJnqMg__s
Can you imagine what it takes to be the leader of the Hells Angels? First you have to be a serious bad ass, complete confidence in yourself and then you have to guide a bunch of people who to put it mildly are misfits. The whole time the police are doing everything in their power to bust you. It would be tough.
I'm not that kind of guy. Not that I'll never fight but I'll try to structure things to stay away from the dickheads. Stay out of their way.
I think a lot lately how that may not work in what's coming up. This country is so fucked when it blows it will be like Yugoslavia. Every one killing everyone. It will be tough to survive. Maybe this won't happen and we will somehow waddle through but I wouldn't bet large sums of money on it.