As the ancient Chinese proverb goes, “It is better to be a warrior in a garden than to be a gardener in a war.” Western civilization has, for the most part, been living in a perpetual state of “garden” for so long that we’ve lost most appreciation for “warriors.” Aggression, dominance, independence, stoicism and toughness used to be synonymous with traditional masculinity. Now, these traits exemplify textbook toxic masculinity.
In the film “The Dark Knight Rises,” the villain Bane says, “Peace has cost you your strength, victory has defeated you,” as he breaks the hero Batman’s back. The context is that it wasn’t the villain who defeated the hero but rather the hero’s own success. Life imitates art just as art imitates life, and I fear that the peaceful garden that is Western civilization will soon defeat itself.
We are shaming warriors out of our gardens, failing to realize the role they play in keeping the peace that we take for granted. This will leave only gardeners to fight wars, and if centuries of recorded human history is any indication, war is inevitable as both war and peace are temporary states of human existence. We have lost sight of how dangerous our existence can be, lulled into a state of false security in assuming our gardens to be impenetrable, thereby making warriors unnecessary.
Peace makes aggression, dominance, independence, stoicism and toughness unnecessary but when “war,” whether natural or man-made, inevitably knocks at our door, these toxic traits not only become necessary but coveted. Testosterone tends to be synonymous with these toxic masculine traits, and testosterone is in rapid decline among men today. It would appear that “peace has cost (us our) strength, victory has defeated (us).”
To play devil’s advocate, although it isn’t probable, it is possible that our peaceful garden will continue in perpetuity. Perhaps humanity as a collective civilization has advanced beyond what we see as primitive, archaic war. In which case, exiling all traces of warriors from our gardens would be sensible.
Further playing devil’s advocate, although not probable, it is theoretically possible to exile all traces of warriors from everywhere humanity exists. Whether through legislation, medication or some combination of the two, we can theoretically eliminate aggression, dominance, independence, stoicism and toughness by blocking testosterone worldwide and incarcerating those who exhibit any inkling of these traits internationally.
These traits exemplifying textbook toxic masculinity seem out of place in Western civilization only because we are at peace. Thus, a warrior in a garden will inevitably be shamed. That is until that warrior is needed to protect the garden from danger. If and when the time comes, how many warriors will be left in Western civilization to protect the peaceful garden that we take for granted today?
