Machismo, the number one killer in America and the World

Was watching one of my favorite westerns “Gunsmoke” and heard James Arness quote a passage.  He said that “there’s never a horse that can’t be rode and a man that couldn’t be thrown.”  Thinking about that gave me the inspiration to pen this article and attempt to educate as well as warn others about what this passage means today and how appropriate it is.

Some take this “survival of the fittest” thing way too far which means that the above quote is even more pertinent now.  Because there has never been a horse that can’t be rode or a man that could not be thrown, we need to understand that no one is bigger or better than the other, that every person has a match and can be defeated at any time by anyone.  Look closely at all of your professional sports team.  None of them is unbeatable which makes the times when we see a team go undefeated like the Miami Dolphins did, we should take time to marvel at it.  This proves that every horse can be rode and every man can be thrown.  What shames many of us is the refusal to admit that we are not without limits and will never win all of the time.  What makes this the number one killer in America and the world is called machismo for men.  

We, as men, see ourselves as the ultimate in the masculine species and strive to insure that no other man would or could ever top us.  We need to be the best at everything and the failure of maintenance of this causes us great strife and strain.  Many cannot deal with losing and therefore will do whatever we can to win even if it means, ad often times it does, the taking of another person’s life.  We need to be the last man standing even if there will be no one else around to see us.  Our refusal to accept that we are not Teflon makes us refuse to prepare for that day and time when all that we do to remain relevant does not work. 

Understanding that one is not God’s gift to the world does not mean that anyone is weak or scared.  What it does mean is one displays courage and wisdom.  To know that only by mistakes does any person, place or thing grow stronger and lasts longer is the hallmark of maturity and intelligence.  The fittest is not always the strongest but the luckiest.  The size of your force does not always guarantee victory.  Victory is achieved when every single individual member of that force believes strongly in that which they are fighting for and work together as a unit to accomplish that goal.

There is so much evidence currently existing that proves this theory and if we were to take the time to look at all of it with a willingness to learn and grow as a person, a city, a state and a nation we shall overcome all that is evil and finally realize the true peace that exists when we are no longer attempting to elevate ourselves by stepping on the necks of others but elevating others so that they can see what we see.