For the love of god. It's a fucking beard. By the looks of the picture below your article, you shouldn't be defending beards, friend. You should be defending something that looks like a thin film of fungus across your face.

Granted, I'm only picking on you because such an article really is begging for it. There is no philosophical or sociological impact in having a beard in the context you present outside of your melodramatic rationalization of them. This is proven by a single fact: yes, a beard can look authoritative. It can also look derelict. It can gently elude that its bearer is pensive or wise. It can also suggest that you're basically some giggling buffoon who only feels at whole when they're following a trend, admitting to it, and then writing a crass dissertation as to why the beard is important to counter-non-counter-i-don't-really-know-because-i'm-rather-indecisive culture.

Listen, I simply cannot take your defense seriously if you're just going to move on to the next preposterous thing when some charismatic twit decides its cool.

My grandfather was a Jazz musician. Hush, I'm not using this as some form of credential or merit. Listen. He was one of the first active musicians in the air force. After he departed, he played around the country with some of the greatest players of his time. He always wore hats and suits. He always sported a goatee. And you know what? He still does. The man knows who he is. Always has. If you ask him for some sort of reasoning as to why he is the way he is, he'll more then likely nod and laugh at you.

I respect that man almost more than anyone on the planet, because it's rare these days, within youth or otherwise, to find someone who does something just because they fucking know who they are.