Icarus Green

Shall I say, I have gone at dusk through narrow streets,
And watched the smoke that rises from the pipes
Of lonely men in shirt-sleeves, leaning out of windows? …

My previous post highlighted the general problems with the supply side of the sexual market in terms of the provisioning of ‘good quality men’ (Note: By this turn of phrase I’m inadvertently opening up a philosophical debate about whether a man can have an objective value outside of how he is valued on the sexual market).

The truth of the matter, however, is that in bygone eras many of the men today would still get pussy. An analogy made be made here to the fallacy of Say’s Law in economics where supply will supposedly create its own demand. The state of market demand is a precondition to supply, not the other way around. If the demand sets a high bar, there are going to be a lot of lonely men. There are literally billions of beta chumps in many (developing) countries around the world today happily living the marriage ‘dream’ that would wallow in their shirt sleeves, leaning out of windows in the West if transplanted here. The demand conditions are completely different. Women in the West demand so much more from men than simply being provided for – they demand genuine arousal, not a negotiated economic exchange or marriage of convenience.

In the world today there exists 3 types of game by which men attract mates, depending on the economic development of the country in question:

1. Arranged Marriage/Community Game – This type of ‘game’ (I’m actually wincing at using this word in this context) largely sets the bar at being born with a set of balls and having a relatively ok mental disposition. That’s it. This is the type of game found in many third world countries where human beings no longer live in primitive hunter gatherer scenarios (which unleash the pure alpha fux/beta bux model) but in large enough social groups where relations must be negotiated. Men in these societies have by default higher intrinsic value just by being born a man. The move of the society to farming is a precursor. Women are largely thought of in this environment as bargaining chips and cattle by their families to be given to the male of another agreeable family by which the families can ensure continuing ongoing positive relations and ensure their female offspring do not have to be a drain on the family’s resources in the long term. As a result many families actually offer payments to other families to offload their daughters called dowries. This practice is actually quite universal, arising all over the world, from ancient Celtic tribes in Europe all the way to modern day India and Africa. In a harsh environment where resources are scarce and safety cannot be ensured this is actually quite rational. Many arranged marriages are successful (the implications of this is rather dark, and leads us to call into the question the nature of love, a topic for another day). The reason is simple, arranged marriages have strong economic reasons to the union – men will provide resources and shelter for women and women provide sex. Throw in the social pressures from both families and the community and these bonds become steel chains. These economic fundamentals are strongest in 3rd world countries were women are poorly educated, socially maligned and have no options to generate resources for themselves – not even through divorce/inheritance.
2. Beta Game – This type of game is the predominant strategy found in many 2nd world Asian, Latin American and some (Eastern) European countries today. This type of game sets the bar at not just being biologically and psychologically viable, but also being a productive economic agent in society, an agreeable (i.e. pliant) personality and a willing provider. Better resources mean families no longer worry too much about providing for their female offspring in the short to medium term. Resources are still somewhat scarce however and women have not joined the labour market in large enough quantities and in good quality positions to engender the advanced stage of sexual market evolution. There then exists a gap in incomes that men can ‘exploit’ and leverage to ‘win’ the intimacy of a female under the auspices of what is ostensibly a decision made of free will. This game is the type of game most men, even in the West, hope to use and has been socially conditioned for generations by religion, media and government.
3. Modern Game – This type of game is a set of practiced psychological techniques and philosophies used by men to wedge in their preferred mating strategy in the face of now open rampant hypergamy in Western societies. Beta Game is not viable for the youngest generation of young men. Its even becoming harder for older men from more traditional generations. The economic tectonic plates have shifted, making tradition obsolete. The bar is set quite high here. It is not enough that a man provide a stable source of income, be physically and mentally viable, and be a servant/’nice guy’. He must also ‘demonstrate higher value’ relative to his peers i.e. be desired by other women. And ultimately be a clown. Starved of the economic rationale for mating, women partially conditioned by a culture of on demand entertainment and partially by a liberation of choice demand a parade of exciting men throughout their prime sexual years, before finally hitting the Wall in their 30s and settling down with Mr Beta Mc Office Chump. Many betas confidently predict that this will then allow them an opportunity to find a mate and ‘true love’. Some even believe that women post-Wall are somehow ‘better’ and more mature etc. They are wrong. They are getting leftovers. Women’s fertility peaks in their 20’s. Many women, trying to optimise the trade-off between genes and resource provision, will always still prefer an Alpha if she can convince him to also stick around and provide (many can’t but still take the forlorn path of single motherhood anyways hoping some idiot will join her to raise the kid). 50% of marriages break down as females become disillusioned at not having ‘the one that got away’ in their prime years and constantly subconsciously compare their dull Beta Provider (who they don’t economically need) with the hedonistic passion of her Alpha trysts. As a result many people live in sad deformed, passionless marriages of social proof and necessity, where sex outside the marriage with other people dulls the pain somewhat.

Let’s be clear, in some pockets of Western society a Beta strategy is still quite viable. Particularly where market inefficiencies like asymmetric information and bounded rationality are a feature. In plain english this means that guys from small towns and villages can still get with girls of the same or even higher sexual market value in their small bubbles because the women are not as aware of their pulling power compared to women in the city who are showered with attention and therefore have better market knowledge about their options.

Thus many men I meet for example had their best quality lays when they were in secondary school or college where the bubble is quite good.  Once in the rat race and the city however, and information becomes ubiquitous, decent looking women eventually bargain upward to the point where they would rather share an Alpha and be part of his harem than pair off with a Beta in their prime. Women in the city rarely pair off with someone who has lower sexual market value than them (those that do, are outliers). Anyone walking the streets of London or New York can easily observe this dynamic in the couples they see. It is an unspoken secret that some Alpha’s have had thousands of women over the course of a few years.

In the end ultimately the foundation of a Beta Strategy boils down to paying for sex. Whether in the form of gifts, a shared bank account, cars/homes/education/health insurance for the wife and kids, or paying off the mortgage etc. Don’t believe me? The acid test is simple – tell your wife you got fired and ask her to provide for you in the long term. If she agrees, congratulations! – You’re not a Beta. The wheels come off the wagon when the female can provide these things for herself and it is then down to whether a woman has genuine sexual arousal for her partner. A woman will literally tolerate ANYTHING if she deems her partner to be of a good Alpha standard – infidelity, disrespect, opposing religious/political/social beliefs, selfishness and yes, even physical violence.

And so ironically, I would argue modern advanced Western societies actually just bring us back to the primordial stage of the sexual market place: Alpha fux, Beta Bux. Except there is one thing different however, the salient difference being that it is the bulk of women who are imposing their preferred hypergamy strategy on men more than the bulk of men imposing their preferred shotgun approach on women.

Is this a good thing for society? Whats the endgame? What can you dear reader do to adapt?

I will answer all these questions and more in my next post.