This is like your boss finding shit to do when there’s nothing to do.
I feel a bit of schadenfreude for this one. I was bullied harder in Boy Scouts than I ever was at school or church. None of the leaders ever noticed or did jack shit about it. There was an expectation of physical strength and ability that I was never able to meet. The uniforms were ridiculously expensive. And the higher levels of the local org were deeply cultish under the surface and intertwined with the Mormon church in bizarre ways (this was before the Mormon church stopped being an official sponsor of scouting).
I know things have gotten better lately, and the current administration is incapable of doing good things, but if Scouting goes bankrupt I will not shed a tear.
yeah man those Mormon-only troops were another flavor for sure lol. Mormonism + nationalism + being 14 + a uniform is a helluva drug it turns out.
I was in cub/boy scouts from ages maybe 10 all the way up aging out at 18. It was mostly about being homophobic, knives, and fire aka the three pillars of young white boys in the 90’s. I couldn’t be happier at how they’ve been trying to turn things around these past 10 years.
Also, Fed involvement with the Scouts is minimal. Apparently they provide logistical support at Nat’l Jamboree (not that I ever saw) and give tours of bases and stuff (not that I ever saw). So this seems, at best, performative.
Making way for the Red Rangers. Where they teach you about how to torture anyone you don’t like.
Was scouts supposed to ge about fostering “masculine” values ever?
I never did it, but I always thought it was about learning useful skills and confidence, appreciating nature (leave the camp cleaner than you found it) and learning how to work towards your goals.
Those things are not inherently masculine. They’re for everyone.
I’d say, as far as being distinct from the Girl Scouts, that the two groups had basically identical values and goals. Boy Scouts maybe leaned a little heavier on the camping and knot tying and outdoor skills, but both were mainly focused on building good character, community service, basic life skills, etc.
Yes. And growing up in NY my experience with them was a lot less toxic than what some people here are describing, so it really was pretty much just about that.
Yeah, I’m from Jersey, and similar to you it was just a thing for boys to do. There was no homophobia, we accepted from the weird kid to the sporty kid, and eveyone in between, and sometimes there were cliques and sometimes we whittled soap. We went camping sometimes. There was fire, yeah, that seems to be ubiquitous among the boy scouts.
I stopped when I got bored. There were no scandals.
It was created as a paramilitary organization so kind of?
It was mostly about setting things on fire in my experience.
Trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.
Nope, nothing in there about masculine.
Ugh, I still remember that whole list by heart. I did and do take issue with “obedient” and “reverent.” Question authority.
so you don’t thing women should be any of those things?
This is the right take
Hegseth criticizes Scouting for being “genderless” and for promoting diversity, equity and inclusion.
Imagine thinking this is a BAD thing.
He needs to stop. Dude is always worried about young boys and how sexy military folks are.
Can’t let those girls think they’re worthy. The inside MAGA secret is that women take more jobs from white men than immigrants do, and when they’re done rounding up the immigrants, they’ll be going after women’s rights next. Say goodbye to the right to vote, ladies.
The BSA wasn’t Hitler Youth outright while I was in, but there is definitely a “God, Duty, Country” vibe that other scouting organizations around the world left behind or never adopted in the first place. Conservatives liked that, and they hated that they had been making a slow march towards more progressive and less nationalist policy that I bet only hastened after the sexual assault lawsuits bankrupted the national organization.
Hegseth is probably doing this to either pressure Scouting into regressing, or to weaken Scouting in order to spin up a Trump Youth later. There is no shortage of conservative dads unhappy with modern Scouting that would love either outcome.
Yeah, BSA was still real weird when I was in it (90’s-very early 00’s). The martial aspects, Christianity, and nationalism were sort of the assumed values. And there was a very disturbing I’ll just say Neo-confederate Mormon flavor to the top level national organization. It was built by straight white conservative men so that their sons would have a safe space, in other words.
Pistol Pete will want to turn the Scouts into the MAGA Youth.
Fuckinnn yikes. Gonna have to watch out for the shitler youth.
Yeah that’s why I never really got into the scouts - it felt culty (not that I could articulate that back then.)
It was thick with MLMs and reactionary evangelicalism. Didn’t hurt that the Mormon Church was heavily embedded in the national leadership.
Yup, there were a ton of stories about them kicking out atheists back when I was in it. Being reverent is part of the motto, and some troops took that seriously. Summer camps also had a mandatory religious service too attend. There were options, but you had to go to one of them.
God fucking damn, I am so glad, I grew up in a NY suburb, sometimes.
I know from seeing videos of other Scout troops over the years compsred to my own experiences as a Scout that it really depends on the place and the people. All my troop leaders were moms, and it was more or less just after school activities to keep you from being idle and getting up to trouble out of boredom that were also educational.
We didn’t do much of the “culty” things like pledges or whatever. We just did arts, crafts and went camping. Learned how to cook, sew, survive in the woods, first-aid, etc. 🤷♂️
Yeah same here. But I grew up on Long Island, NY, where at the time it was like 85% a blue region.
A lot of clubs feel culty, especially ones that have a behavioral component. There’s a world of difference between Scouting and a real cult (like MAGA).
Imagine thinking it’s true.
The Boy Scouts of America had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century by way of multiple sexual abuse scandals, a dwindling membership, and repeated bankruptcy.
This isn’t DEI, it’s a desperate appeal for more warm bodies in the program to shore up a dying movement.
It’s BAD in the sense that Scouting has largely become (arguably always had been) an MLM run by and for the benefit of a few connected business savvy insiders. And drawing in more grist for the mill only delays the inevitable failure of this corrupt and sclerotic institution.
It’s BAD in the sense that Scouting has largely become (arguably always had been) an MLM run by and for the benefit of a few connected business savvy insiders.
Could be worse: could be Girl Scouts.
Seriously though, if both Girl Scouts and “Scouting America” suck, is there some other alternative (short of not participating in a scouting-like organization at all)?
I have no idea if they are any better than the Scouts, but Campfire is the other big national one I’m aware of.
is there some other alternative
Plenty. But then tend to be local and they vary in content. Houston has a number of programs run through the Children’s Museum and the various universities (Rice, in particular) for aspiring engineers and nature lovers alike. The YMCA and the JCC both have youth programs for fitness and sports. Soccer is always popular.
Adventure Scouts?
How did we get here from the 90s?
Like I’m truly baffled
Propaganda
My wife and I often wonder at the difference between the world we grew up in (70s into 80s) and now. We call it “What a planet”. Marveling at how that world could possibly have changed into this one.
It’s trite, but true: unregulated capitalism is how.
The CIA’s cocaine and crack fueled 90s. Seems on par to me.
hes always drunk so, you can take his word or not.
He also just tried to remove nooses and swazticas from the military’s recognized hate symbols so this tracks. I fully expect this administration to announce some form of Shitler youth indoctrination program any day now.
That is essentially the role Kirk (formerly) and Fuentes play.
I don’t think they were into Kirk’s anti Israel stance. Im sure Erica is happy to stay within the lines
Something about the phrase boy friendly spaces sounds very odd to me. Certainly doesn’t sound like the warrior mentality ole drunk Pete is going for does it?
He should just use “safe spaces.” Much clearer and surely he’d get the full support of everyone who supports this
He really is insecure.
That’s all they really want guys… They just want a place to be boy friendly.
They want to preserve the sanctity of intimate relations between boy scouts and their scoutmasters.
They picked the right place.
Pete “I take my foot massages with tongue” Hegseth: “We got rid of all those nasty girls, boys. Come back. Come back, see how friendly we are to friendly little boys. We’re all friendly little boys, just like you.”
Support of Scouts, like it or not, is Congressionally mandated, and that includes the Pentagon for some events. The exception is national security. Yet another fight that will drag through the courts incoming.
The scouts have come a long way in the past few years. But I imagine most of the adult that make up that organization are republican voters, and you reap what you sow.
My troop was always pretty chill and inclusive (for a 90s Boy Scout troop). But yes, of course an all-male organization with ranks and uniforms and a big emphasis on faith and patriotism is going to attract more conservatives (and pedos!) than your area’s average.
Varies wildly by location
Scouts wore their badges on the wrong side. Court martial.
