Bronze Age Mindset: In Praise of Spirited Men

Man is born straight and free, but everywhere he is in fuzzy rainbow handcuffs. Heroes in ancient times boasted to friends of sacking and plundering cities; today they brag to strangers of buttock-burglary or cutting off balls to impersonate woman. Man has lost his natural virility and with it his purpose, beauty, and joy in life. Bronze Age Pervert has come to save you from a great faggotry.

Superficially, Bronze Age Mindset is a book of political philosophy or even of “ancient Greek history,” as Amazon classifies it. But BAM is a book of spirit! BAP is not concerned with the spirit in any abstract theological sense; as he puts it, you are your body and nothing else, and anything purely “of the spirit” is “fake and gay” (90). Instead he is concerned with the instincts and inclinations which exist “only in the blood” and show themselves “in daily life and daily needs” (90).

Various factors affect the spirit in the modern world. One of the most important is a feeling of confinement, which is extremely degrading to spirited men. As the author puts it, “No kind of distress is worse than the feeling you are trapped. My worst nightmares are about opening a door only to find myself in the same aluminum cell, over and over” (20). This feeling of confinement is expressed in one of the most moving passages of the book:

I saw once a jaguar in a zoo, behind a glass, so that all the bugs in hueman form could gawk at it and humiliate it. This animal felt a noble and persistent sadness, being observed everywhere by the obsequious monkeys, not even monkeys, that were taunting it with stares. He could tell—I saw this! He could tell he was living in a simulated environment and that he had no power to move or live. His sadness crushed me and I will always remember this animal. I never want to see life in this condition! (21)

Along with the beautiful description of the feelings of powerlessness which afflict so many men today, the concept of being “observed everywhere” is relevant here. BAP has elsewhere discussed the importance of anonymity, explaining that it is not only a matter of avoiding bullying by angry mobs or authority figures. Although he does not put it in these terms, using a pseudonym is necessary for true freedom of expression because separation from one’s real identity protects one from the feeling of being watched, a feeling which is confining in itself. Under their own names, realizing they are being observed not only by enemies but by friends and family, anyone could be tempted to self-censor.

Even a clearly illusory sense of being watched alters people’s behavior. Researchers at a university in the UK have displayed pictures of eyes above an “honesty box” and found that faculty become much more generous under such “observation,” while others have found that images of eyes on signs make bicycle theft less likely.

This feeling of being watched brings to mind modern social media and online surveillance, but BAP does not attribute our current state of confinement merely to modern technology or social trends. Instead he argues that throughout history, political and cultural authorities have resented the youthful vitality and beauty they themselves lack and sought to suppress them. He does not bother to rail against particular current-year atrocities such as “fat acceptance,” but clearly he would see these as expressions of the same old ugly trend. To rebel against this, he does not advocate a return to tradition, as most traditions have caused life to be “stunted and broken” (109). Instead he aims to inspire exceptional men who feel constrained by this “open-air zoo” to take spirited action to transform themselves and society in line with their highest potential (130).

Pornographers have often tried to oppress me. BAP has doubtless had the same experience, but does not put it in these terms. Instead he explains why the caged chimp masturbates. In his natural environment the animal would never do this, being occupied with “mastering space: solving problems of life in and under trees, mastering what tools he can, mastering social relations in the jockeying for power and status” (32). But in captivity, he senses “the futility of all his efforts and all his actions” (ibid.) and resorts to wasting his energy in masturbation. Of course, this is a commentary on current-year human sexuality:

The onanism of modern society is connected with its supposed “hyper-sexualization” and its infertility. It’s not really hyper-sexualization, but the devolution of the spirit to the lassitude of a diffuse and weak sexuality. Life in owned space becomes drained of energy through low-grade pointless titillation. (32)

Readers are probably already familiar with the most obvious consequences of “low-grade pointless titillation;” the most dramatic example of this is online pornography, and Gary Wilson’s Your Brain On Porn covers many of the negative effects of this. But BAP speaks of a spiritual degradation through which people forget both a more natural sexuality and “certain other instincts and desires…that the modern lords of lies [political and cultural elites] are terrified of” (87):

The sexual irritation that the many are kept under is different from the kind of unencumbered and carefree, passionate and demonic lust you found in premodern times, and that you still find in pockets of the Third World. This modern parody of lust drains all energy; that other true lust sets the heart on fire with many other wild enthusiasms […] Entire purpose of modern education is to suppress that enthusiasm […] And yes, they achieve this by promoting the tedious, exhausted sexual irritation you find among the obese, the “polyamorous,” the weirdo old tribesemen who get off on exposing themselves to women. This pervasive irritation blinds the many also to receptivity to these other desires I’m talking about. “Telepathy” is a public and mythical version of something real (87).

BAP explains that although the ruling elite do not want the people to be aware of this, once liberated from this degraded and draining form of sexuality, we have the potential for great feats of intuition. This includes an instinct which brings a “supremely” compatible couple together when “the genius of the species” intends for them to conceive a child, as well as bring friends together to accomplish other tasks (88). He also covers ancient Greek oracles, who could “know” the future through an instinct for the intentions of others. These oracles were women, and he argues that women’s minds are more naturally suited for all these types of intuition, being less cluttered with intellectual abstractions.

BAM advocates being led by the spirit rather than acting only on rational considerations. As he puts it:

What comes from the blood is best. But it’s hard to hear this call of instinct today, because you’re taught to distrust it. Abandoning yourself to instinct, once one has discipline and practice through the body, a man can pass over a chasm on a tightrope with a sure step… (119–120)

BAP harshly criticizes Asian civilization, considering it incompatible with the nature of many White people, who could not tolerate such a stifling “close-packed existence” (25). However, his advice is similar to the teachings of several related Asian traditions. Taoism uses the term “wu wei,” or “inaction,” to describe an ideal state in which one takes the appropriate action effortlessly and without desiring a particular outcome. The term was originally taken from the earlier Chinese philosophy of Confucianism. Zen Buddhism has similar teachings about acting spontaneously in harmony with a higher instinct rather than rational calculations or desires.

The text provides several interesting examples of this type of spontaneous behavior. One is the story of Hippocleides, a young nobleman from Athens who was competing for the hand in marriage of Agariste, the daughter of Cleisthenes, tyrant of another Greek city state. Hippocleides had impressed Cleisthenes with his beauty and character, and was one of only two remaining suitors. But one night at a dinner party he became intoxicated, standing on his hands on the table and kicking his legs in the air. According to BAP’s nudist version of the story, this was particularly awkward since people at the time had not yet invented underpants. Offended by the dangling dong, Cleisthenes declared, “Hippocleides, you have just danced yourself out of a marriage,” but the young man responded with “Hippocleides doesn’t care.” As BAP explains,

In this one phrase you have the whole attitude of this beautiful, reckless piratical aristocracy that colonized and conquered their known world. […] Hippocleides went there to have a good time, to display and use his powers and excellences and biological superiority […] He didn’t care about the gain or loss of a wife. […] He was as careless of his own property as of others’ –this is what Tacitus says also about the most noble men among the Germanic tribes, who lived only for the joy of war and battle (118).

BAP speaks of a similar vigorous spirit in wild animals. He criticizes the implication of the theory of evolution that survival and reproduction are the true end of life, arguing that these practical needs are petty and confining in contrast with the spirit which truly drives life:

Group of horses in broad plain, and the lead stallion is captured by a wild spirit, starts to gallop this way and that and the whole herd follows in a great rush of power and freedom […] I’ve seen many things like this myself: was at big waterfall, gathering place of many birds and other animal. […] Sun came from behind clouds and spread many small rainbows, birds would become excited, come out from crevasses in rock face and would glory in the sprays of water and the rainbows, they swoon doing acrobatics this way and that. Like when Homer says that on some Asian meadow tribes of geese, and crane and long-necked swans glory in the power of their wings above it, then land between the rivers, in Skamandrian plain, with a great clang. Is not enough just to say, what is purpose of this to survival or reproduction? Surely some pedant can make a story. But when you see this behavior, is not so alien. Maybe, in happiest moments you were free to act and feel the same: what anything to do with survival or reproduction! That kind of heavy necessity is the spirit of gravity, and this is opposite. That petty and cramped view of life…but in truth, life as it is, when free, life in abundance knows luxury, surfeit and waste…survival and reproduction are side effects of something else… (10–11)

BAP does not explicitly put it in these terms, but it is obvious that while the confinement and ugliness of the modern world drain the spirit, beauty has the opposite effect. BAP’s Twitter timeline is very uplifting in this respect, being full of fit young men and women with little or no clothing, some displaying buttocks of great power. He has a particular interest in Pietro Boselli, an Italian model and bodybuilder who writes in terms BAP might relate to of “the joy and beauty radiating from [a] healthy and strong body.”

Other tweets feature nature photography, especially of wild animals, which is intended to showcase both their physical beauty and their spirited nature. One characteristic video shows a rhinocerous attacking and repeatedly overturning a vehicle even as its owner attempts to drive away. Such an animal would never attend a rhino privilege conference or otherwise apologize for who he is.

In line with the great value he places on aesthetics, which is obvious throughout his book, BAP has an interest in music. He features classical compositions on Episode 4 of his podcast. Like the imagery on his timeline, this is both an expression of the vital spirit he values and an effective way to inspire it. Even the severely depressed who can enjoy nothing else still often respond to music.

Jaguar at Zoo de Bordeaux Pessac in France eating a piece of fish. Herbert van der Beek/Mercury Press.

One particularly appropriate image which has appeared several times on BAP’s timeline is that of a jaguar eating a piece of fish underwater. The cat’s teeth are bared, its snout contorted in a sneer, and its eyes wide open, as if in a great rage. This shows the furious intensity of spirit exhorted throughout BAP’s book. This animal would never engage in tasteful banter at a wine bar and has no concept of “gf.”

But there are other reasons why the jaguar is an ideal symbol. It is a profoundly beautiful animal; some will look with disdain upon the way in which wine aunts call their housecats “adorbs,” but admiration of cats is not necessarily so frivolous. Jaguars in particular are very muscular, with the sort of bodybuilder physique which BAP encourages. Along with great beauty this means great strength; they sometimes kill their prey by biting though the skull into the brain.

Consider the cat of the jungle. He does not wagecuck, nor has he a Patreon. But even Solomon in all his glory was not as comfy as he. BAP notes that ancient Greek aristocrats did not work, but were always engaged in either war or leisure, and the jaguar’s habits are similar. Outside of hunting, which shows the warrior spirit BAP admires, he has a great capacity for comfy sleeps, which take up most of his time. He is engaged in either furious activity or intense relaxation; he would never do anything halfheartedly. Cats in general are like this, and it is easy to see why ancient Egyptians worshipped them and associated them with royalty.

He does not wagecuck, nor has he a Patreon. But even Solomon in all his glory was not as comfy as he.

BAP has the habit of making outlandish claims; this is the main pattern in his humor. Some of these are obvious jokes, such as “Honduras is entirely fake,” but with others it is not so clear whether he is joking, telling the truth, or expressing an honest opinion. This is important for several reasons.

First of all, it requires the reader make their own judgment. People today are taught to be mindless consumers of entertainment, and for those of them that read, this habit extends to books. In the more fashionable consumption style of a Netflix binge, the audience is given everything explicitly, without the need for thought, which encourages the spirit of cattle at a feeding trough. But BAP’s style of writing encourages the reader to “fill in the gaps,” which is more wholesome in that it engages and encourages an independent spirit.

Second, it encourages shallow observers to embarrass themselves by not understanding. It is easy to imagine a mainstream journalist reading a few words of the book and trying to rationally prove on Twitter that Honduras exists. Professional victim Alex Nowrasteh has already complained that the book is too difficult to read, while denouncing people who have no such trouble as “ignorant rabble.” A recent Politico article dismisses much of it as “profane and unprintable,” characterizes the sun exposure BAP advocates as merely “tanning,” and complains that he “denigrates” four designated victim groups “and much else along the way.” A fan of BAP expresses the view that his work is “a litmus test for an agile mind;” the type of people who would see Michelangelo’s David as “just a rock” expose themselves with their contempt for it.

Third, making outlandish claims without apology is a great show of spirit. Many is the man who is terrified that someone, somewhere might misunderstand his words, and feels compelled to add </sarcasm> tags or otherwise attach a warning label to his own thoughts. This is gay, and shows the spirit of the bugman who yearns for his entire life to pass an audit and be justified in the eyes of a committee. BAP and his fans demonstrate masculine will and vitality by acting with disdain for such worries.

BAP was recently interviewed by male cultural and political commentator Jack Murphy, where he comments on his writing style. Around the one-hour mark BAP states that like Nietzsche, he intends to communicate only with common people, artists, and great thinkers. He explains that he deliberately leaves out a great deal of explanation in his writing because truly intelligent people can mentally “fill in the gaps” themselves, while common people might not, but will only read it for entertainment and will still be affected by the rhetoric. “Midwits,” as he puts it, will be baffled by it.

BAP does not consider his work a manifesto, as he is advocating first and foremost not for political but for cultural and spiritual change. As he puts it in the interview with Murphy, it is only in “spiritual warfare against this immense force of smothering evil that is suffocating life out of the world” that you will find true freedom. It is not enough to complain or argue; he advises people to engage with this struggle through inspirational art, including books (1:08). One example of this is Owen Cyclops, a Christian mystic and dissident who provided the cover artwork for the book.

For the spiritual struggle the author also advises “sun and steel,” by which he means greater exposure to the sun and weightlifting. Along with improving one’s appearance and physical health, the benefits of these things on mood and mindset are considerable. Those without sufficient sunlight often suffer from low vitamin D, a common cause of depression, and both sunlight and exercise are likely to improve testosterone levels. Lack of testosterone, along with the obvious effects on sexuality and confidence, even weakens the ability to think clearly. Those with low testosterone may be more likely to get Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

Although he uses the image of a jaguar, a solitary predator, BAP does not advocate being entirely solitary in the spiritual war. He makes references to great friendships in ancient Greece, arguing that heroic feats of the time were often accomplished through cooperation between friends, and that male friendship was highly praised in ways which are belittled as “gay” today. Modern men should disregard this gay suspicion and seek out companions of like mind who can assist in their own great tasks.

Despite mainstream insinuations that he is head of a vast “alt-right” conspiracy, for the most part, BAP has little use for the most prominent figures in the dissident right, preferring those who remain anonymous, and has tweeted that most who have identified with the obsolete term “alt-right” have little interest in him either. However, BAP has praised alleged pirate lord Lawrence of Canadia for his work covering the murders of farmers in South Africa in the context of anti-White hysteria in that country, and Lawrence has posted a picture of himself holding BAM. Presumably his brutality on the high seas was inspired by BAP’s message on the spirit of piracy:

The pirate, the true warrior—not the modern soldier in subjection to a high brass eunuch—is the only free man, and it is this freedom, the primal freedom of the Bronze Age that some must recapture before anything else can be done (125).

Dread Pirate Lawrence, inspired by BAM, threatens to slit throats of hostages if his demands are not met.

BAP uses various metaphors to explain the spirit he is exhorting with his work, including warfare, piracy, and even a monstrous lizard which devours the excess population of its own species. But BAP makes clear in the interview with Murphy that, as should already be obvious, his is not a message of violence or “gas the kikes, race war now!” Terrorism only provides a convenient excuse for the lords of lies to protect the public from the terrifying White man by cracking down even further on dissent. Although he speaks of radical change in society, he explains in a particularly hopeful passage that this begins with change in one’s own life:

And although we live in the most debased of all ages, it’s still possible, as you will see, to break this Babylon and have the eternal fire of youth surge you to the heights of power. In your own life you can break their power and ascend to a chaos of joy and destruction. And in our future I already see like faint image far on horizon of vast ocean in violet evening—I see the islands of Hyperborea, on the edge of this Leviathan, where we will be able to establish new outposts and subdue this great beast from the outside. (113)