I've been reading MGTOW related things for a while now. It particularly came together for me when a coworker linked me to Milo's Sexodus (http://www.breitbart.com/london/2014/12/04/the-sexodus-part-1-the-men-giving-up-on-women-and-checking-out-of-society/). It basically confirmed everything I already knew but it had it all in one place. Essentially the picture that emerged was that there was a mandate to erase gender lines, to equate women to men, and to blame men for generations of female oppression.

I honestly think the big shift came within the last 5-6 years or so. You can check out google trends (https://www.google.ca/trends/explore?q=mgtow). That's well overlapped with the Obama presidency, but a bit on that later. What this means is that it's a phenomenon that is very hard to analyze, as it hasn't hit its steady state, and is changing right before our eyes. You have increasing number of married men posting about how divorces leave them vastly disadvantaged (if you'd like more on that, please watch http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2636456/). You have young men being taught they are rapists. You have most women naturally associate with this cult called "feminism", that automatically absolves them of any responsibility for their own lives by blaming men for any of their shortcomings. That's one side of it.

The other side is the increased deterioration of the concept of family, integrity, respect and meaningful relationships. These may be tradcon concepts, but it doesn't mean they are bad. You can certainly write them off, but I think between what we have today and it, I'd rather have people thinking more about these things. Today both men and women are taught to sleep around, focus on material things, swing from branch to branch until you've "been around enough", and eventually settle once you've had your fun. The problem with this approach is it doesn't build character, critical thinking, respect and integrity. The result is that people lose the ability to make goals and to extract meaning out of their lives. Meaning doesn't have to come in the form of being a slave to having a family and a wife, but I doubt anyone can deny that these concepts are central to the propagation of the human race, and good values and morals.

Essentially, my only conclusion now is that the people up top, in the government establishment, media and etc., do not have any interest in strong families and favorable relationships in the West. That would empower men too much and lead to too many critical thinkers. There is a mandate to disperse and confuse the genders, make them more self centered, oblivious to politics, society, etc. and let those in power continue to have free reign. It is all, and as it has always been, about control.

As for men and women, I will say this. To be in a relationship with a woman, you must think of it as being in constant war. As a man you have to avoid getting dominated, because if you lose the respect of your woman, you will be doomed. A lot of men think that women should automatically admire and respect men, but that is not so. You are waging a war, a war that during its progress will net you many benefits, but the moment you let your guard down, you will get dominated and she will see you as a useful idiot. There is a fantastic account of this in a book by a Russian guy (https://manualformen.wordpress.com/). It may not be the full book, but you can find a PDF online. It is a highly recommended read.

In my own experience, what I see is lazy men and women who have been turned against one another, and are missing out on the enjoyable parts of life. After about 5 years of online dating - I agree - it's awful. My friends are MGTOW and they don't even realize they are MGTOW after being turned off from dating and the state of things. I went MGTOW about a year ago (stopped looking and focused on hobbies and career), but by some strange luck, I got sucked into a relationship that gives me a tremendous amount of inner peace. The sex is average, the woman is pleasant looking, so I don't think it's hormones or sex drive. What I was able to find is a good close friend I can also share romantic interests with. Time will tell how meaningful it really is.

I think for MGTOWs you have two options. You can either see MGTOW as the realization that gender dynamics and dating is totally broken, and you will have to do a tremendous amount of reading and research into how to have a successful relationship with a woman and get the meaning you want out of life. The other option is easier, and I wouldn't lame you for going this route, is to dedicate your life to yourself, and enjoy the nearly unlimited things you can do with it. I guess the point I am trying to make is MGTOW is more a reflection of a need for adjustment, not that men were duped in history to be some slaves to families (that may well be possible, but that's just human social evolution). It's more about "where do we go from here" rather than "fundamentally we should have been going somewhere else the whole time".

Thanks for reading. Please check out the links, they are probably the more valuable things compared to my rambling.