The Truth About HOW To Raise BETTER MEN!

Is appointing a Minister for Men's Behaviour in Victoria, Australia the right solution to combat domestic violence, or is it a misguided attempt at government overreach? In this thought-provoking episode, we scrutinize the rationale behind this controversial position. We explore the critical issue of domestic violence against women and argue that while it's an urgent matter, the vast majority of men do not condone violent behavior and should not be implicated for the misdeeds of a few. Join us as we challenge the effectiveness of governmental intervention versus community-led initiatives, advocating for a more localized approach to fostering accountability and positive behavior.

You'll discover why empowering men at the grassroots level could be the key to meaningful change. Rather than relying on a detached ministerial role, we propose strengthening families, communities, and grassroots programs to help men—fathers, husbands, and young men—cultivate the right values and character. Good men, we argue, are essential for a healthier society that protects and uplifts women and children. Tune in for a compelling discussion on why personal responsibility and community support might offer a more sustainable solution than government oversight. Don't forget to share your thoughts and subscribe for more engaging conversations.

APG Elite
Mentoring - Management - Consulting

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hey guys, I'm just out on a drive in the truck enjoying the beautiful sunshine where I live in New South Wales in Australia, and just been thinking about some things that have been in the public conversation recently that affect men like you and I, and I was reflecting back on this fairly recent change that happened in the state of Victoria, which I actually think is not going to be just a one-off incident. I think it's actually going to turn into a little bit of a pattern, sadly. And so, because I think it's going to become a pattern, I wanted to talk about it Because, if I'm right, you and I need to have a say in this conversation as well, not just the decision makers in government. And what I'm talking about is recently, here in Australia, we had one of our state governments appoint a new position, and the position they appointed in their state government was called the Minister for Men's Behaviour. Now, if you're watching this from overseas, please don't laugh at all Australians, because we're not all that stupid. And if you are laughing because the title of that role sounds stupid, then please go ahead, because it is stupid. And that's really what I wanted to talk about this idea that our governments at the moment in the age we live in, are doing such a ridiculous overreach not doing the job well on the things that they're supposed to do, but then trying to muddy the waters by meandering into the issues that really have got nothing to do with them. Now let me give a bit of background to this. The Minister for Men's Behaviour in Victoria in Australia. As I said, I won't be surprised if this becomes a bit of a precedent across our whole country where more of these roles get appointed.

Speaker 1: 1:58

One of the motives for why this got kick-started in the first place was to try and combat the problems that are going on with domestic violence against women. So let me start there first, and then we can come back to the lunacy of such an appointment and talk about the real issues. On this subject, the first thing to say is that, of course, any man that's worth his salt, any man that is remotely a good man, not only would not condone physical violence towards women and children, but he would vehemently stand against it, as I do. I think the truth of the matter is the exceedingly large majority of men in our society are not supporters or sympathizers of domestic violence. I think that's the reality I communicate with a very wide cross-section of men, all ages, all backgrounds, all ethnicities, and amongst the village that I live among, which is literally hundreds and close to thousands of men, I don't know of a single one that's actually an advocate or a sympathiser for domestic violence. So that's the first point I want to say is that when it comes to men being violent towards women number one I think it is a very serious issue. It is something we need to address. It is something we need to try and minimise and eventually eliminate from our communities. But the fact of the matter is it's a small number of men that do that who are actually giving a bad name to the many, many men in the majority who would actually be aligned with the notion of trying to stomp it out.

Speaker 1: 3:50

Now there are women and there are people who will say that it's not satisfactory to just say it's only a few select men who do this. All men need to take responsibility. I need to speak to that. That is logical nonsense. I need to speak to that. That is logical nonsense.

Speaker 1: 4:08

You cannot ask men to bear the sins and the consequences committed by others, other men. That's not how life works. The people who are trying to prosecute that argument would not allow themselves to be subject to such a ridiculous protocol that they should pay the price for other people's errors. And we cannot ask all of men to pay the price for the sins of a few. What we've got to do is we've got to bring better consequences for those who do commit these kinds of crimes. And then we've got to do better in family life and village life, in raising our sons and our young men to take different choices, and it's not just about choices to do with women, it's to do with choices about who they want to become as young men. So with that as the backdrop that, as we know all around the world, any time one woman or one child is subject to physical violence from a man, that's enough that we've got a problem, let alone the many more than just one, and I am a supporter of standing against domestic violence.

Speaker 1: 5:20

I think I've covered that enough now, but let me move on to this idea of the appointment of a minister for men's behaviour. Let me use an old phrase what a crock, what an absolute crock that is. You do not change, change behaviours by appointing government officials to intervene and really interfere with matters that belong to family and village. Now, most people around the world would agree with me that if you want to find the fastest track to stuffing something up, you put it in the hands of government to do. Government very, very rarely solves the problems of society and very rarely are the innovators of solutions. The fact of the matter is private family, private enterprise, private individuals always do a better job of being accountable for actions and making decisions that bring true and lasting change.

Speaker 1: 6:22

So that's the first thing I want to say about this. We do not need a minister for men's behaviour. In fact, I find it offensive. It's insulting that any government would get so full of themselves and their own opinion that they actually think it's their right to take up this role. And number two, that they actually think they's their right to take up this role. And number two, that they actually think they're going to be effective anyway in this role. It will be a grand failure, but we will all be told that we need it. We will all be told that we need the big brother of government to watch our behaviours. We do not. We are responsible adults and in our village life, our community life and our family life. That's where we're going to solve this problem of domestic violence.

Speaker 1: 7:02

So that's my first point. This is not the place for government. Number two, and again I challenge any government minister to show any sign that they even understand the principle that I'm about to explain, much less have practiced it, and that is that you don't change behavior by addressing behavior. You change behavior by changing belief, because belief is the root that produces the fruit of the behaving. This is true in family life, this is true in professional sport, this is true in business, education, the art world, government. It doesn't matter what sphere of society you're looking at. If you want different outcomes, you have to address the beliefs that start the behavior in the first place. So if we want to see better behavior from some men, we have to start with changing the belief. And the way we change the belief is by releasing and empowering more good men in the family, more good men who are dads, more good men in the workplace, more good, strong men in sport, community sport, government, public service, you name it every area of our society.

Speaker 1: 8:19

We do not change this issue by having a top-down, dystopian approach where we think that government can fix our problems. It's such a bad rationale to believe in that if we lean on government, they will make our problems go away. I don't personally have an axe to grind with individual members of parliament in government. In fact, I have friendship with some quite senior parliamentary figures in our country. However, that doesn't change the fact that government as an institution is better at creating problems than they are at solving problems. The best thing that government can do to solve problems is to empower and resource the individuals at grassroots level with what they need to fix the problem and then get the hell out of the way. That is the best way for government to have a positive input on changing things in society, and so I wanted to get your take on this.

Speaker 1: 9:19

I wanted to get your view. I don't think having a minister for men's behaviour is going to do a damn thing. Actually, in fact, I think it's going to cloud the issue, confuse the issue and bring more stagnancy and more aggravation to what is a very important subject, and that is that we do better as a society to look after women and children, which is part of the role of good men. We make better men in our society by making stronger families, stronger communities, stronger village life, where we empower those at the grassroots level Fathers, husbands, young men, old men. We've got to empower them with making the right beliefs about the character they want to have and the men that they want to become. That's the way we change the behaviour, not by installing some random, detached, out-of-touch government minister who is simply going to write more policy and more legislation and throw our taxpayer dollars at it.

Speaker 1: 10:22

I want to hear your thoughts. Do you disagree? Do you agree? Do you want to pose a question? Do you want to add a comment to this whole conversation? It's just one of those things that I was thinking about recently, about the fact that, yeah, we can do better as men. I get it, but the way we go about it is not by having more government overreach in our life. We need less of that and we need more empowerment of men at a grassroots level. If you haven't subscribed to the channel, why don't you go ahead and do that? And, as I said, drop me a comment below about your opinion on this matter, and I'd love to see you in another episode real soon. Talk to you then.