Elliot Ackerman’s new column series, A Man Should Know, has landed at a moment of cultural confusion, and conservatives should applaud him for saying what needs to be said: masculinity itself is not the enemy. Ackerman isn’t peddling the tired progressive line that men must be castrated of their instincts; he’s offering practical, character-building advice that teaches boys how to be useful, honorable, and responsible men in a world that keeps insisting they’re the problem.
That message carries weight because Ackerman brings more than theory—he brings experience. A decorated Marine and seasoned writer who has served in dangerous places, he speaks from a life of service and sacrifice, not from a university seminar room pushing moralizing jargon about “toxic” this and “toxic” that. His background gives his claims credibility with any parent who wants real mentors for their sons rather than ideological lectures.
On Megyn Kelly’s show Ackerman made the conservative case that teaching boys to be masculine need not mean teaching them to be cruel, entitled, or lawless; it means teaching them to be accountable, useful, and loyal to their families and communities. That perspective is precisely the kind of tough-love guidance our culture is starved for, and it’s refreshing to see mainstream voices push back against the infantilizing, anti-male narratives that dominate our institutions.
The cultural consequences of ignoring boys are not theoretical. Recent polling shows young American men report alarming rates of loneliness and withdrawal, and social scientists warn that stigmatizing masculinity only feeds resentment and drives many boys toward unhealthy online echo chambers. Instead of celebrating those trends, conservatives should use this data as proof that the left’s insistence on labeling masculinity as a pathology has concrete, damaging effects on real lives.
Our schools and elites have a part to play in this collapse. Education experts have documented widening gaps and behavioral problems that leave many boys unengaged and adrift, while curricula that prioritize identity politics over character formation fail to give young men the skills and moral habits they need to thrive. If we care about a prosperous, orderly society, we must stop subsidizing pedagogy that privileges grievance over grit and start restoring programs that teach competence and responsibility.
The solution is not more therapy framed by progressive catchphrases; it’s more mentorship, more fathers in the home, more vocational training, and more institutions—churches, civic organizations, and sports teams—that form boys into men. Conservatives should promote apprenticeships, support community mentorship initiatives, restore respect for work and service, and insist that public education respect parents’ rights to raise their children according to time-tested values. These are practical, pro-family policies that work.
Ackerman’s voice is a clarion call to action for anyone tired of watching a generation of boys drift toward loneliness and purposelessness. If conservatives want to win the culture war, we must stop merely mocking the left and start building real alternatives: programs that teach skills, foster courage, and cultivate character. That is patriotism—defending the future of our country by raising better men to guard it.
