As I continue to work on my fiction, sometimes a current event requires me to sit up and take notice. The news of the name change for the Boy Scouts of America was not surprising nor scandalous. How could it be? Everywhere I turn is another scandal. After so many years of outrage, I can confidently say I am tapped out. When the post came across my Twitter thread, all it elicited was a half-embittered “huh”.
I scrolled away a second later.
But to leave it at that would not be proper—at least not for myself, having such a long history with this organization. I was a Cub Scout. I was so young I can’t even recall my age when I joined. I earned my Arrow of Light, spent years in the Boy Scouts working my way to Eagle. I went camping countless times. I earned the merit badges. I was inducted into the Order of the Arrow. It would be fair to say a large portion of my life has been tied deeply to this organization.
I understand that this has been a long time coming. This was not a conquest, but rather a victory lap. The change had been first wrought in the leadership, and then it was only a matter of time for the symbols to change too. But with the shedding of the old regalia, we can put all doubts to rest that the past is well and truly dead. Whatever limps forward in the next few decades, it is not BSA. It is something else.
It would not be right for me to leave this day unremarked upon. And much like a mourner at a funeral, I wish to offer my condolences. Not necessarily towards those who are in the organization now, but rather for every young boy who has been deprived of a chance to experience BSA as it was.
This isn’t just a tragedy for our generation. The systematic destruction of our institutions is a calamity for all our posterity to come. Yet another male space has been closed off in a time when young men are more directionless than ever. The insatiable desire for inclusion will be paid in those who were supposed to be the gleaming pride of our youth.
In destroying masculinity, the Left have ensured that unprecedented numbers of our boys will grow up confused, stunted, and depressed. The Left wanted to reduce all individual differences into an expression of self-identity. But in trying to erase the most basic realities of mankind, they have malignantly left each generation more crippled than the last.
It’s very easy to blackpill on this subject. I struggle to think of any institution, no matter how small, that hasn’t fallen to the woke virus. As the West lurches ever more precariously into the future, it seems every aspect of our lives is being dissolved into the same sexless, obese, brownish deluge. Anything good is mocked because a good implies a better than the lowest common denominator. And all the while, we are being dragged down by the “healthiest” economy we’ve ever had. At least, that’s what everyone in the press and universities wants us to think.
But it’s this tweet from Auron MacIntyre that I think best shines a light for a way forward:
It is undeniable we live in a decaying world. What has happened and what will continue to happen is a tragedy. But a tragedy is no excuse for despair. We owe it to ourselves and those who come after us that we do not give up in this difficult time. Although the things we loved are falling apart, that in turn provides us new opportunities, new grounds to tread.
Boy Scouts of America is gone. But we should remember that it began with the vision of strong men who wanted to do right by their families and communities. We certainly won’t be able to build another BSA in our lifetimes, but BSA wasn’t built in a single lifetime. It was a tree planted by men who knew they would never sit under its shade, and we must do the same.
The shadow of the Left looms large, but it cannot darken all. The best way you can ensure the things you love aren’t corrupted is to own them yourself. And in owning things, in creating things, you yourself become stronger against the ravenous forces of our time.
Be excited for the future. We are going to have the opportunity to do things that have never been done before.
Of all the institutions that have fallen, I would argue the Scouts is the easiest to replace. While there are several camps and other pieces of property that they own, the core features (camping, education, service) are available for cheap and don't require a large overhead. Trail Life USA is steadily increasing in members, along with the Catholic Troops of St George, while and the Mormons I believe already have their own Scouting offshoot.
Also, the Scoutmasters were just regular parents, and honestly I don't remember interacting with a single person in the Scout organization who was paid.
The only thing the Scouts had going for them was prestige in becoming an Eagle Scout and tradition. The tradition is gone and no one cares about Eagle Scouts anymore. They'll keep losing members, but I'm sure the 1000 girls who join will offset it.
As a former Eagle Scout myself, the decline of the Boy Scouts, which meant so much to me as a kid, is disheartening. My oldest friends that I still keep in touch with are guys I met in the Boy Scouts. My Troop still holds an official annual Old Timers Dinner each May and people come in from around the country to attend.