What Young Men Can Learn from Matt Forney

Matt Forney is bald and fat.
Matt Forney is also, along with Cynical Libertarian Society, one of the peers I disagree most with.
Matt Forney also drank an open container of alcohol in my rental car in Vegas, leaving it there even after I told him not to.

That is indeed the Matt Forney I know.

Publicly, however, these traits are perhaps overshadowed by his somewhat radical stances, unpopular opinions, and often times purposed and rank agitating positions epitomized and exemplified in his essay "Big Lovin'."  This has made him a lightning rod for...well...everybody, catching flak, hate mail, scathing commentary, and death threats from both the left and right, and anybody else in between.  But whatever your reservations about Matt Forney are and no matter how detestable you may find him, what people don't see is a vitally important lesson exhibited through his behaviors that should not be obscured by his words.  And it's a lesson everybody, but especially young men, could greatly benefit from today.

I first knew of Matt Forney when he (publicly) had no presence on the web.  He was a part time rookie radio show host (and a poor one at that) and was just branching out of his New York home.  However, instead of maybe moving to New York City or perhaps down to Baltimore or maybe to Boston, Matt decided to...

hitch hike across America with a pitstop in the Bakken oilfield to find work.

I found this pretty odd and ballsy of a 23 year old kid, especially since he had never set foot in unpopulated states like Wyoming and Montana.  Sure enough he got stranded in the second worst city in Wyoming (Gillette) for three days, but still managed to make it to the Bakken oil fields to work, and move onto Seattle to complete his trip. 

It was either shortly of before this trip (I can't remember which) it became public that he wrote under the nom de plume "Ferdinand Bardamu" at the site "In Mala Fide."  This became a shock to pretty much anybody else who knew him because the writing was so good and so observant most people pegged him for a 42 year old.  This also coincided with increasingly cheap bandwidth, allowing Matt to start his first podcast (which also sucked), and his establishing his main site MattForney.com.

What followed was three years worth of consistent and persistent writing.  Not only for his own blog, but for Return of Kings and his own books.  And he didn't just focus on writing, but expanded and tested his horizons in YouTube and podcasting.  He had multiple podcasts, kept writing books and essays, and if there was a marketing angle, he worked it.  His site is continuously updated and professional looking.  He'd look for affiliate marketing plans.  He'd find ways to sell his books directly begetting him a higher percentage on his books.  He even offered his own variation of Asshole Consulting.  Anything and anyway he could work it, he would.  All while continuing to create written, audio, and video content for his audience. 

Matt further continued "The Forney Hustle" when it came election time.  I personally didn't have the time, inclination, or energy to cover the DNC and RNC conventions.  I didn't go to various protests or political gatherings to cover them.  And I certainly didn't find myself getting chased down by anti-fa protestors like Matt did.  But Matt did and all on a shoe-string budget, becoming, frankly, more of a journalist than most of us who merely editorialized from blogs.

If this wasn't enough Matt decided to go international.  First, in true Matt Forney form, it was to the Philippines to basically get laid, explore the country, and write a book about it.  But he then decided to head off to Hungary to cover the refugee crisis in Europe from a country that was determined to maintain its sovereignty.  A la Roosh, it was again a ballsy move to just up and move not knowing the languages, cultures, or social norms and just put yourself out there because "well, why not?"

Now when you combine this all together -

Matt's impressive-and-increasing-volume of work
Matt's willingness to try new things and put himself out there
Matt's relentless hustle, innovation, and trial-and-error
And his ability to endure the flak he constantly gets with a ZFG attitude

there are going to be consequences.  And those consequences are ones of galvanization, progress, and improvement.  Because while we all would like to pick on Forney simply because it's easy and his controversial positions make it so, what most people fail to see (including himself I speculate) is the drastic improvement Matt has enjoyed and the amazing potential future he has.

When I first met Matt he was horrible at podcasting.  His podcast was barely listenable.  Now he is drastically improved through sheer simple practice, able to monologue, be a participant on another show, and interview others.  He was always a good writer, but he has turned that skill into a money maker with his books and essays.  And that moron who was drinking an alcoholic beverage in my rental car in Vegas, who had an incredible lack of social graces to boot, was actually quite insightful, interesting, and pleasant to be around at a meet up I attended in October.  In short, Matt was a fat, nerdy, socially retarded, impolite, unemployed loser.  But now, after forcing himself into challenges and trials of life, he has self-galvanized into somebody most millennial boys (and especially the leftists who hate him) could only dream of becoming:

A self-employed, independent man.

He may not have the bankroll and financial success of Mike Cernovich.  He may not have the fame and notoriety of Milo.  And he may not have the looks of Laura "Cute Girl Saying Obvious Shit" Southern.  But he has put in all the hard upfront work to lay the foundations for a career and life where he answers to no one, goes where he pleases, and can live how he wants.  Whatever your disagreements and reservations you have with Matt Forney, I can certainly understand.  But he is the imperfect role model for every nerd and loser out there who wishes to stop being one.  You'd be wise to study and learn from his still-evolving career.