Or none at all.

I don't see any "choices" on the horizon that collectively we can make. So of course you're right that "neither Bronze Age nor 1950's American Christian authoritarian ideals, offer us a path to a viable future" since neither is going to happen under almost any conceivable scenario. I say "almost" because I do see widespread civilizational collapse as, well, conceivable (in his last few weeks in the White House, Biden -- or whoever calls the proverbial shots around him -- seems determined to see if he can bring it about -- more Rooskie eye-poking and all that). If that collapse were to happen and any humans survived, male groups would re-emerge as the dominant forms of social organization and with said groups would automatcially come pederastic bonds. But putting that aside, no collective choice. Nothing we can collectively do or say is going to bring about anything like the Athenian high noon, the Florentine Renaissance, or the Kyoto of the Ashikaga shoguns -- not to mention the world of Father Knows Best, Lost in Space, or Leave it to Beaver. So the only choices left to us are individual. Helping one boy at a time. Carefully forging connections with like-minded friends. When a battle appears that might be won -- saving this boy choir; shifting the thinking of that open-minded muggle (they do exist; not many) with some judicious introduction to writing like Bruce Rind's or Edmund's -- engage. Seeking out and nurturing bright young minds. The landscape is bleak and dark and we pick our way through the ruins of what was once a great culture. The only "choice" left to us lies in candle-lighting rather than darkness cursing (and we need to be damn careful how and when we light those candles.) SR SR