There's a Dark Cloud in the Sky

I was in a part of the city that I don’t usually frequent, so when I get an uneasy feeling, I log the details and consider what is God trying to tell me. It’s similar to the ringing of one’s ears as they say,  a spiritual thing. Most folks I know have this gift, especially the elders. What is it exactly though? I thought I may never know until one day, someone provided insight that was thought provoking. I was sitting in the early service allowing the chorus of voices to soothe my soul and then listening to pastor speak about malevolence in relation to the remnant in the city. While most are consumed by wickedness, some people can actually recognize it, and counter it spiritually. These people make up the remnant of God who keep us all for complete destruction. He then went on to share his experience about this and shouted, “there’s a dark cloud in the sky”. At first, I took about this figuratively but considered the fact that since I live in the land of stranger things, I had better think about this literally.

Most would say we are living in perilous times, and I would agree. Consider the armed military policing our streets and that other agency snatching people off the street, disinformation and the erosion of trust through social media that’s rapidly ruining our communities, climate change, and global economic instability. It’s like the gates of hell have opened. I just don’t remember ever feeling like this when I was growing up, so things have definitely taken a turn for the worst. I have always dedicated my time and resources to charitable causes, but I took it more seriously when I started my career and had a front row seat to the decline of our society. I joined a group of like-minded women and provided my time and skills for the causes of women and children. One cause was Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Human Trafficking. I learned a lot about the underbelly of our communities and worked with organizations that raise money and pull resources together to combat this issue.

Doing the research was light work, but sitting and listening to the women and children’s experiences was difficult to be honest. The most profound statistic we studied was where these predators typically live, and it was no surprise that they reside and thrive in suburban neighborhoods. I think it all boils down to the disassembling of the nuclear family, diminishing morals, and the emasculating of men and their leadership role. I recently read an article called “The Erosion of Consequences in American Culture”, where the author says, “Without God’s standard of truth and righteousness, consequences are not only temporal but eternal”. This made me realize that whenever I do decide to have children, I will be bringing them into this world- into this schizophrenic society where men are at the helm of a sinking ship. So, I did a thing! In concern for my future son, I asked ChatGPT what it thought about all this, and here’s what it provided me:

When a significant portion of men in a society lack the ability—or the opportunity to make money through productive or legitimate means and instead rely on exploiting women (such as through prostitution or pimping), it reflects deep structural issues and leads to several destructive consequences across multiple levels of society. Here's a breakdown of what typically happens:

- Breakdown of Male Identity and Purpose
• Loss of masculine responsibility: When men are not taught or expected to contribute economically or socially in a constructive way, their sense of purpose, discipline, and direction weakens.
• Dependency on exploitation: Men who rely on exploiting others, especially women for income often adopt a mindset of entitlement, manipulation, and dominance instead of responsibility and integrity.

- Devaluation and Exploitation of Women
• Women reduced to commodities: In such dynamics, women are seen not as equal participants in society but as tools for male gain. This strips them of agency and increases vulnerability to abuse.
• Violence and coercion: Prostitution rings, especially those run by unskilled or desperate men, often rely on violence, coercion, and psychological manipulation to keep women under control.
• Intergenerational harm: Children raised in such environments often witness distorted gender roles, trauma, and cycles of poverty and abuse.

- Collapse of Community and Family Structures
• No stable leadership or role models: Men who don’t provide, protect, or lead often don’t build or sustain families or communities, leading to fatherlessness and social instability.
• Normalization of dysfunction: If these dynamics become widespread, they can become culturally normalized in certain communities, making them harder to break.

- Economic and Social Decline
• Stunted local economies: Productive economies rely on people creating value—through work, innovation, and service. When people (especially men) avoid this and choose exploitation instead, economic growth stalls.
• Higher crime rates: The underground economies that grow around prostitution often correlate with other forms of crime: drug trafficking, weapons, extortion, etc.
• Public health crises: STDs, addiction, and mental health issues become prevalent in areas where prostitution is rampant and unregulated.

- Widespread Distrust and Gender Division
• Breakdown of trust between men and women: Women may grow to resent or fear men, and men may develop a distorted, adversarial view of women. Healthy relationships become rare.
• Exploitation replaces intimacy: Instead of forming bonds, relationships are transactional, shallow, and built on manipulation, not mutual respect.

Root Causes Behind This Problem
• Lack of education and economic opportunity: Often, these behaviors thrive where men don’t have access to jobs, skills training, or education.
• Cultural glorification of fast money and power: In some subcultures, pimping and hustling are seen as signs of success or masculinity—fueled by media, music, or peer pressure.
• Absent fathers and weak male mentorship: Many boys grow up without seeing what a responsible man looks like. They emulate whoever seems successful, even if it's a criminal or a manipulator.

How Societies Can Address This
• Invest in male education, trade skills, and mentorship: Teach boys and young men how to be valuable contributors to society.
• Create economic pathways for men in struggling communities: Jobs, entrepreneurship programs, and apprenticeships can divert men from criminal economies.
• Strengthen community and family values: Promote healthy relationships, respect for women, and positive male leadership.
• Confront cultural narratives that glorify exploitation: Change the music, movies, and social media messages that make pimping seem “cool” or masculine.

SOLUTIONS:

1. Equip Men with Skills to Earn Legitimately

 Job Training & Economic Empowerment

• Trade schools & apprenticeships: Programs in construction, tech, auto repair, plumbing, electrical, digital marketing, etc.
• Entrepreneurship education: Teaching men how to start legal businesses—barbering, landscaping, e-commerce, content creation.
• Micro-financing or grant access: Especially in low-income areas, small grants or startup loans for legal businesses can create change.

Why it works: Many men turn to exploitation because they feel other doors are closed. Open new ones.

2. Masculinity Re-Education

 Redefining What It Means to Be a Man

• Mentorship programs: Connect young men with older, respected male role models who embody integrity, discipline, and leadership.
• Workshops on responsibility & purpose: Teach that manhood is not dominance but service, strength, and self-mastery.
• Programs like Rites of Passage: Many communities have used structured “becoming a man” rituals to instill responsibility.

Why it works: You can’t just take something away (pimp culture)—you have to replace it with a better vision of manhood.

3. Destroy the Glamour of Exploitation

 Cultural Detox

• Challenge music and media that glorify pimping, hustling, domination: Community leaders, educators, and creators must speak out and create alternatives.
• Support art and media that uplifts healthy masculinity: Films, music, books, and podcasts that show growth, healing, fatherhood, and purpose.
• Peer-to-peer influence: Empower respected young voices to speak up about the costs of this lifestyle.

Why it works: Culture is upstream of behavior. If you change what’s celebrated, you change what people imitate.

4. Mental Health, Trauma, and Healing

 Deep Roots Must Be Pulled Out

• Therapy and support groups: Many men caught in this cycle were raised in trauma, fatherlessness, or abuse. Healing matters.
• Anger and emotional regulation programs: Teach how to deal with rage, frustration, and shame without turning it outward.
• Addiction treatment: Drugs and sex addiction often go hand in hand with this lifestyle.

Why it works: You can't build a new life on top of unhealed pain. Hurt people hurt people.

5. Empower Women and Create Safe Exit Paths

 Protect and Elevate the Women Being Exploited

• Exit programs for exploited women: Shelters, job training, trauma counseling, and housing support.
• Legal protections: Law enforcement focused on helping victims, not just punishing them.
• Community education: Teach boys and girls from an early age about consent, respect, and self-worth.

Why it works: Breaking the cycle means protecting and restoring both the exploited and the exploiters.

6. Community Accountability & Leadership

 Build a Culture Where This Behavior Isn’t Tolerated

• Men’s circles or accountability groups: Groups where men call each other to a higher standard.
• Faith-based and secular community centers: Places for learning, mentorship, and social connection.
• Public consequences for exploiters: Not just legal, but social—stop treating pimping as “game” and start treating it as shameful.

Why it works: When your peers no longer respect that lifestyle, it loses its power.

7. Policy and Systemic Reform

 Government and Nonprofit Level Solutions

• Invest in underserved neighborhoods: Infrastructure, education, and small business funding.
• School reform: Vocational programs and real-world financial literacy in schools.
• Criminal justice reform: Focus on rehabilitation, not just punishment, for exploiters and the exploited.

Why it works: This problem is bigger than individuals—it’s tied to economic and systemic inequality.

 Final Thought:

The core of this issue is that men without purpose will find power wherever they can—and if society doesn’t guide them toward meaningful purpose, they will often default to domination and exploitation.

 "If you don’t give a young man something to build, he will burn something down to feel the heat."

Researching all this made me think of my future son and how we will raise him to live in this schizophrenic society. First, I think it's important that we consider our cultural values when raising him. Since children mirror behavior, we must model the behavior we wish to see in our son. Teaching him first how to live in this world, because he is not of this world. Giving him tools that will guide him through not only the physical plain, but also the spiritual one-  will be also be important. It is also imperative that we understand what natural talents emerge from him because they must be nurtured and developed.  This, along with him finding what his interests are will help form his identity and confidence as a boy who grows into his manhood. Teaching him how "America works" will be a huge part of his upbringing because we want him to be successful in this game of life we are forced to play. Technical skills are just as important and not just something to just fall back on. 

When it comes to dealing with conflict, as parents, we should allow our children to see our disagreements and how they are resolved peacefully through a mutual resolution. Guiding him in the right direction when it comes to friends and building his own community may be difficult because he may not understand why its not good to be friends with certain people. This is something that we all  have to learn the hard way, and as parents, all we can do is provide explanations and guidance.

Love will be the most important thing to teach any child. Most will ask how does one teach love, and my answer has always been to model what you want out of your children. Saying you love them is not enough. You need to show them through your actions, so they can then pass it on to others. What I find common today is that parents will say one thing, yet do the complete opposite. This creates confusion and division in the home, and it leaves your children only dependent on themselves to "figure it out". They are put through a tremendous amount of pain before the really find out what it is. 

Proverbs 22:6

“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”