The failing of Patriarchy

Patriarchy is a social system dominated by men who believe they know best. As they are typically larger and stronger than women, they are capable of ensuring that their wishes, dreams and desires take precedence above everyone else's.

This does not imply that all men are somehow bad, men can be truly great fathers, husbands and social leaders because leadership is not (or should not be) a competition. However it is my contention that under the primarily patriarchal leadership that has endured for the past six thousand years or so, civilisation has totally lost its way.

You could say that the difference between patriarchy and matriarchy is one of internal psychology. The primary motivation for women (as matriarchs) is the long-term continuity of our species. They want to see their children grow up and have children within a stable environment. Then on the other hand a more egotistical, they want a certain amount of fame and glory so they have a tendency to go against the best interests of the community to achieve their particular sense of pleasure or reward.

In combative societies, the ideals for a man to die a hero whereas in a more peaceful capitalistic society, it is more ideal for him to be seen as a winner implying of course that he has accumulated more social prestige and wealth. To be a hero in the eyes of his fellow man, the warrior is excused for slaughtering, raping and plundering anyone who stands in the way of his dream and the same is true of modern heroes who may have only directed the gains from their comfortable office chair and perhaps consigned shiploads of nuclear waste to be dumped at a location near your home.

A true matriarch may not have sanctioned nuclear power, polluting the oceans and massive deforestation. Had civilisation remained matriarchal some of the now extinct megafauna may have survived into this era and civilisation may have been a lot more communal. Men instead of trying to be heroes would have invested more time in coming to terms with their spiritual psychology whereby they would have been more able to understand the possibility of our civilisation being able to live into an unforeseeable future.

Around the world today there is a great deal of talk about the possibility of humanity going extinct within the next hundred years because patriarchal leadership has been a failure. However as Dr MacKay points out, "If we take the term 'matriarchy' to mean a mirror image of patriarchy, but with women in charge instead of men then I don't think society would necessarily be very different from the one we are in now. The whole point of feminism is not to retain the status-quo, and change the leadership; the point of feminism is to radically alter the status-quo and build a new society altogether, one that is better for women, men, children and young people, non-human animals and the environment."

This reshaping of society is urgently needed if we are to reduce carbon emissions, stop polluting the oceans, save our forests and all the species currently on the brink of extinction. Humankind has existed in some form or other for the past six or seven million years and the small population up until recent years lessened their impact on the environment.

As the world's first great civilisation evolved, it was matriarchal. Men redefined what it was to be great by actually caring for their families and communities in a practical manner and they learned to satisfy their desires by transcending them through spiritual practices.

The failure of the patriarchal male comes about by seeking to identify himself through external phenomenon that have no basis in reality. In other words, seeking to be the hero, strongman, the great leader and even the greatest provider is all an illusion. To put that more simply, it's all bull-shit because the cost to society and civilisation as we can see today is unbearable.