Absent a deal, the American economy will dramatically change on January 1, 2013. A package of tax increases and spending cuts totaling $607,000,000,000 kick in and everyone in Washington D.C. will run around with their hair on fire. Of course, this is only if there is a world after December 21 when the Mayans may or may not have decided we will cease to exist. Betting on there will be a thing called December 22, it might be worth the modern man’s time to know just what’s at stake and why getting a deal done to prevent this calamity is no sure thing.

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This was supposed to be a referendum on the failures of President Obama. Political leaders do not survive high unemployment, financial crises, divisive policies, and soaring deficits. But Barack Obama did just that. Americans reelected a president they were not entirely sure of because they are certain about the Republican Party. For the majority of America, the party in its current form is just not a viable option. Mitt Romney will be remembered for losing this election, but his party shoulders most of the blame.

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The rugged individuality that we males hold as a cultural ideal is something we deny our presidential hopefuls. We expect our leaders to be perfect—which is another way of saying generic. We want them to come down to a genial, middle-brow median. God forbid they should show moments of melancholy or mental brilliance. But it wasn’t always this way. There was a time when a presidential candidate could suffer a couple of nervous breakdowns, write poems about madness and suicide, take the unpopular view that America was to blame for her own problems, and use complex language to describe complex ideas. The man I’m speaking of is Abraham Lincoln—who could never get elected today.

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In the midst of a closer-than-expected race for the presidency and less than one week remaining to cast our ballots, every vote matters – except those of 5.85 million Americans who are forbidden to vote due to a past felony conviction.  As our society becomes increasingly carceral, with racial minorities the overwhelming majority of victims of disenfranchisement, the political motives behind this injustice are grotesque. For many modern men, this is an invisible issue, having no direct impact on their daily lives. We cannot remain willfully ignorant of the injustices in the system.

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A broken, bloody band of soldiers reaches the top of a wooded hill. Their leader, a man in his forties with fiery eyes, looks distraught but not frantic.

Someone suggests that they flee. “Yes indeed,” the leader replies, “we must fly, but not with our feet, but with our hands.” And he falls on his sword.

The time: October 23rd, 42 B.C. The place: Philippi, Greece. The man: Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger, better known simply as Brutus.

You may remember Brutus as being the object of the famous accusation “Et tu, Brute?” in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. In that play, Shakespeare tells the story of the conspiracy against, the murder of, and the eventual avengement of the death of the title character. But the real protagonist of the play is Brutus.

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Monday, October 22, 2012 – the finale of a three-part debate series between challenger Mitt Romney and incumbent President, Barack Obama. The first act saw Mr. Romney resuscitate his campaign with a stunning upset against a disengaged opponent. In the second, the President brought a sudden halt to the momentum threatening to sweep aside his reelection hopes. Now we have the final act, a rare night when the election seems up for grabs with precious few weeks left before Americans fulfill their Democratic duty at the polls. Today we skew somewhat more devilish and conclude our debate coverage with a timeless parable. Choose wisely, men.

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The President and former Governor Mitt Romney put on the most entertaining presidential debate in recent memory last night, directly engaging each other on multiple occasions. The substance of plans and policies remained secondary to jostling to control the narrative, but the night gave us the rare spectacle of the de facto heads of the two dominant parties verbally jousting. There was much to be learned from the festivities, but the biggest concern for the modern man might be the referendum on the state of political affairs in America. Have we lost respect for the Office of the President?

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Leading up to last week’s Presidential debate, the polls were trending towards a decisive victory for President Obama in the upcoming election. Much to everyone not named ‘Romney’, the debate proved a dramatic win for the Republican candidate. With a listless President refusing to press Mitt Romney on the veracity of his unsubstantiated claims, appearing more disinterested than engaged, Romney was free to rewrite the narrative. The polls show a sharp tightening of the race, Romney’s campaign is gaining positive media momentum, and the President is scrambling to limit the damage. Brace yourselves, America; this election is now within the dreaded ‘margin of error’.

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Wednesday night will feature the first of three debates between President Obama and former Governor Mitt Romney. While recent polling shows the President maintaining slim leads in the hotly contested battleground states, a strong debate performance can alter election fortunes. More importantly, the debates offer a glimpse of the candidates under the great pressure. What should the modern man be watching for during the debates? We offer a few suggestions.

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The final act of acquiring the promotion you have long-desired is the negotiation of acceptable terms. For some, this involves the company extending an offer, a quick look at a dollar figure, and a quick, enthusiastic affirmative response. An unbecoming and self-defeating course of action, quickly accepting whatever terms the company has proposed diminishes your earning capacity while marking yourself as a weak businessperson. A person of dignity, worthy of respect and capable of leadership, will not acquiesce without efforts to secure more favorable terms.

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With a valuable skill set and established brand, you are now promotable. Unfortunately, just being qualified for the job will not suffice. Actually getting promoted is a competitive process requiring a specific set of communication skills. These skills might seem unrelated to the actual work you will be doing, but they are fundamentally related to all aspects of modern urban life.

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If you have prepared properly, you have built personal value beyond your educational background, certifications, acquired skills, and past job experience. Having augmented your abilities with a level of corporate awareness typically found only in senior executive management, you are a now a rare and unique commodity among your comparative peers. We applaud your efforts. Lest we prematurely overexert ourselves with self-congratulation, our journey has only begun and there is much work yet to do.

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Ask someone you work with if they are interested in a promotion and they are likely to say yes. Ask why and eventually they will confess they want more money. Now ask yourself if you want to be promoted. If you said no, we invite you to go peruse the many other interesting articles on the site; this is for people motivated to change the world – at least their place in it. If you said yes, ask yourself why you want to be promoted. If your answer is money, you are likely to experience great disappointment. Money is a powerful motivator when you desperately need it. If you have enough to maintain your current level of comfort, you are not desperate. Money is a means without a known end and its lack of intrinsic value distorts our perception. You cannot change the world in pursuit of money.

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If you’re living your life right and you’re a man, then chances are you’re on the go. That’s right baby, times have changed and very little business actually HAS to take place inside of those four walls of that prison you so affectionately call an office.

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