Harrison Butker Enters Universe 26
The speech that kicked the rats' nest
“The best-laid plans of mice and men,
Often go awry”
Robert Burns, Scottish Poet, To A Mouse
In a 1962 Maryland countryside warehouse, scientist John B. Calhoun forged a brave new world: Universe 25. There, one of history’s most chilling experiments unfolded as scientists observed the actions of a group of rodents to interpret human behavior.
Mice lived, multiplied, and decayed within a utopian environment, an enclosure teeming with food, water, nesting materials, and ample space to roam and socialize. The experiment was designed to watch paradise fill to the brim and then spill over into chaos.
The result was a steep decline marked by the debauchery of abundance, not just overpopulation but also the eroding threads of the moral fabric that once held society together. At first, the mice flourished, and population expanded rapidly. But, as numbers grew, society collapsed, with individuals turning increasingly aggressive, territorial, and antisocial.
Calhoun called this the ‘behavioral sink’—a pit where all civility was discarded, an abyss where the natural order was subverted by the gravity of excess.
Females abandoned their natural roles, displaying aggression, attacking their young and each other, with a sudden drop in reproductive interest. Unnaturally so. Birth rates plummeted and infant mortality soared.
Males, no longer protectors and with little left to compete for, withdrew. Huddled in corners, listless, as the foundation of their world dissolved. Instead of the stoic, strong figures one might expect in such trials, they receded into shadows of female oppression.
A new class emerged, the ‘beautiful mice,’ who focused solely on eating and sleeping, showing no interest in defending the territory or mating with females, occasionally engaging in homosexuality. Soon, these ‘beautiful males’ and ‘isolated females’ dominated the population. Over time, infant mortality reached 100%, and reproduction ceased. Now endangered, some resorted to cannibalism, despite the abundance of food.
This wasn’t just about mice. It was about the downfall of any society given to its own devices of excess and indulgence. In Universe 25, moral decay wasn’t a slow, creeping mold; it was a rampant, all-consuming fire. It lapped at the foundations of social order, leaving behind the charred remains of the good times. In this meticulously monitored hell, the behaviors observed were those of individuals pushed past the brink not by scarcity, but by the curse of abundance.
And it wasn’t a fluke. The experiment was replicated multiple times by Calhoun, each to the same effect. The end of something. A confined paradise, a society, a moral code, a semblance of order.
What remained in the wake of each decay is as open and raw as the wounds of our universe. Universe 26, the West of the post-abundance era. The one where Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker kicks the rats' nest with a speech at Benedictine College. As it happens when Catholics preach Catholicism.
Unlike the ‘beautiful mice,’ Butker faced the fight head-on: abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, and the endorsement of degenerate cultural values. Rubbing salt in the wounds of Universe 26’s staples of the pervasive disorder.
The rodentine response to Butker’s speech was a typical shriek from the ‘beautiful mice,’ unwelcoming of any dissent that disturbs the status quo. Liberal Catholics took exception to the religious connotations assigned to Catholicism, renewing their vows of intellectual poverty and upholding the vulgar charity of secular values.
Detractors mobilized 200,000 signatures in a change.org petition demanding that the Chiefs “dismiss Harrison Butker for discriminatory remarks.” Curiously, no petitions were found against Chiefs players arrested for drug possession that same week.
Sports writers were quick to compare Butker to Colin Kaepernick, overlooking the fact that Butker was invited to speak at a private function, whereas Kaepernick hijacked the NFL as his political platform. Moreover, if Kaepernick could pass as well as Butker can kick, he’d still have a job.
The NFL issued a statement saying that Butker's views do not align with their values. The NFL is right. They don't. He is not spinning the hamster wheel, and the ‘beautiful mice’ are terrified of that. Former Chiefs cheerleader Stefanie Hills elaborated on this in a TikTok video, where she chastised Butker for not adhering to PR compliance training and for behaving like a person rather than a soulless drone.
It is tragic when she refers only to him, but it becomes catastrophic when she applies it to herself. Stefanie fears being a housewife yet finds solace as a corporate spinster. This is the very “diabolical” exchange Butker warned of.
The poor mice were subjected to this in Universe 25, while we strive to recreate it in Universe 26. The violent reactions to Butker's speech prove the point: dissent is crushed, and homogeneity is enforced under the guise of tolerance and inclusivity.
Just as we are witnessing a real-time replication of the behavioral sink, Butker’s call to abandon the “Church of Nice” as a viable social strategy resonates with many. Like Lennie Small in ‘Of Mice and Men,’ we must avoid naively petting the ‘beautiful mice’ only to later see them crushed under the weight of ignored realities. That approach won't work. I am eager to hear more from Butker about his thoughts on solving the problems he identified. “Tell us about the rabbits, Harrison.”
The best comparison of the situation at hand I have read or heard of . We have enjoyed such great success that we now have reached societal cannibalism. It is refreshing to see more and more people take a direct stand against joining the swine that run towards the cliffs of destruction.
Excellent analogy that has unfortunately become our culture’s reality.
Years ago, I chose to be a “stay at home mom”; I was the primary breadwinner at the time and we had just bought our first home. It was a difficult decision but we prayed about it and were at peace about it even though my husband’s earnings would need to double if we were going to remayin our newly acquired house. I worked for a fortune 500 company with a company car and all the bells and whistles. I could afford a nanny, so there was no leaving my son at daycare. Nevertheless, I wanted to have as few regrets as possible in parenting and so this was what we decided would be best for our family. I didn’t care if we had to sell the house; I knew it was up to God to provide for it or not. I bore the insulting and dismissive attitudes of other women working outside of the home, who, like myself, were indoctrinated into feminism- the same philosophy that sold women the lie of “ it’s a clump of cells “. I am thankful that we chose the way we did because we all have regrets in life, but this wasn’t one of them.