The first rule is still in effect, because there are those who are too integrated into the system, that they cannot and should not be unplugged.

I came across a news article via Google published on Aljazeera titled "Red pills and dog whistles: It is more than 'just the internet'", and the first think that I noticed is that it is authored by a woman. Which makes sense, because the concepts that are outlined here, do not need to be discussed outside these spheres of influence, or "echo chambers" as they are so kindly referred to. The reason that noticing this article is authored by a woman is to attempt to dissect any potential bias. As an individual who values pragmatism and critical thinking, any piece of information must be taken with a grain of salt and not taken as gospel without first verifying first hand whether the information being presented is objective and makes logical sense. To this end, identifying bias and successfully determining whether the author of any piece of information has a hidden agenda is paramount when receiving new information.

I won't get into the entire article, I will refute certain points that the author has presented regarding TRP, or rather her jaded and subjective view of what she considers a "battle-cry for conservative conspiracy theorists and men's rights activists (MRA) - many of whom believe the "truth" is that white men are under attack". I have ingested the information presented within TRP for many years, and I must disagree with her perspective of TRP ideology espoused here. While the majority of individuals on the subreddit may be white, over the many years, race has never really been mentioned in the numerous posts that have been made. Because at a fundamental level, it is not only white men that are under attack, it is all men that have been undermined with respect to their biological imperative and traditional gender roles. All men that have been fed lies throughout their formative years by Hollywood. It becomes painfully clear that "happily ever after" is the realm of fiction, because no man will rest on his laurels as there are always new heights, and new personal goals to achieve.

What is the purpose of TRP? To every individual that has wandered into this corner of the internet, there was some personal catalyst to it. In this essence, the purpose of TRP is personal to each individual, and ultimately, by keeping an open mind, each individual can extract what they wish from the teachings offered here. The reason I am mentioning a vague guideline to the purpose of TRP is because the author goes on to state "there is no one true definition of red-pilling, so red-pilling can be anything" and with regard to my previous statement, there is optimism in this one statement from her, but it quickly shifts to a logical fallacy. In this particular case, she cherry picks (act of pointing at individual cases or data that seem to confirm a particular position, while ignoring a significant portion of related cases or data that may contradict that position) which is a type of faulty generalization. She states that the true proud proponents of TRP are "men like Cesar Sayoc...sent [IEDs]...conspiracy theorist and radio host Alex Jones" then goes on to implicate the entire male population by stating "men who hate feminism", who doesn't at this point, even women hate the type of feminism that is being espoused because it is destructive to all involved, "who are against liberal ideas...PUAs, the manosphere...and QAnon". Just because certain radicals may openly and proudly claim to be RP (we denounce those who still do not adhere to rule #1) it does not mean that they are representative of the philosophy as a whole, and it is a common tactic to choose the most extreme examples to satisfy the agenda that is being pushed by the author.

The author goes on to state that the truth of TRP "leads [us] down a path of delusion" and "indoctrinated into this type of thinking or what it does those undergoing it". Ultimately, whatever sequence of events that led to each individual being exposed to TRP, it is a choice at that point, and to call it indoctrination or propaganda is an injustice to the entire community and the very personal goals that we are each trying to achieve. Physical, mental, spiritual, and financial goals. The author asserts that after years of this kind of thinking it leads to "misogyny, white supremacy, and anti-semitism" and an associated increase in "violence that goes with them, including shootings, bombings, and vehicular violence". Essentially, the author misunderstands and has not done her homework, or she would realize that there is an associated anger phase, however, this is fleeting because we learn to harness that anger and channel it into something productive, not destructive. In addition, she brings up an irrational and undirected hatred towards minority groups to paint any proponent or TRP philosophy as a demon that does not deserve empathy.

"When a movement does not have a definition, it does not have rules", as humans we have our own internal rules of conduct, our own moral compass, so we uphold our own rules. Plus, there's a sidebar which literally says "Official Rules", did you miss that?

In a conversation with another individual, the individual says "I am amazed that you even thought you could reach or help the 'red-pill' people...they are incalcitrant". How can you plug somebody back into the Matrix? By making a deal with the devil as in Cypher's case, and see how that turned out.

In conclusion, "The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial stance". Take what you can from your time here and the information presented to you, take it with an open but critical mind. Make physical gains by lifting and exercising, make mental gains by consistently consuming new information, make spiritual gains by deep introspection, and everything will follow.