The Young Men Crisis
We need to recognize the problem
Consider these statistics:
While both men and women are suffering from an epidemic of loneliness, the decline for men (and particularly young men) has been steeper—"Fifteen percent of men today say they have no close friendships, a fivefold increase since 1990.”
This may be a leading driver as to why men commit suicide at higher rates than women
Many still live in their parent’s home (ages 18-34)—"Gen Z and millennial men in the United States are more likely to live with their parents than women in the same age group. In 2023, approximately 11 percent of women aged 25 to 34 lived in their parents' home, compared to almost 19 percent of men.”
Click that link for a more in-depth analysis of the topic, but in short, this largely American problem is threatening the very fabric of society. Not to mention the increasing number of young men who radicalize in their loneliness.
People like Elon Musk want humans to have as many babies as possible, but if we don’t pay attention to them, what’s the point? I’m still unsure how Musk can devote sufficient time to each of his 11 kids while running multiple companies.
American society has ignored young men.
Scott Galloway, a professor at NYU and social media influencer, is probably the most prominent contemporary voice of empathy toward young men. But he’s basically alone, yelling into an online void dominated by toxic masculinity.
As I argue in this article:
We need better male influencers on social media (to counter the Andrew Tates and Jordan Petersons of the world);
Young men need more government support (e.g., more public spending on education, and more activities tailored to young men like woodshop, autoshop, etc.);
We need more mentorship programs for young men (many young men today do not have natural role models, which is why mentorship and apprenticeship need to be bigger parts of American culture)
Improving the lives of young men will improve society as a whole and safeguard democracy.
When was the last time you heard of a female mass shooter?
It’s almost always a man. Isolated. Angry. Convinced the world has conspired against him.
As I argued: “When young men feel isolated and abandoned by society, it’s refreshing for them to hear that their problems are not self-induced or self-inflicted. Someone else caused them, whether the blame is cast on immigrants or the boogeyman deep state.”
In any democratic society, these messages and feelings are the early warning signs of fascism. They are messages and feelings autocrats love to tap into in an effort to convince the masses that democratic society has failed and that instead, they should trust an all-powerful state (usually dominated by one man) to rid society of its perceived ills.
Maybe even force monogamy on people, as Jordan Peterson has suggested.
It’s crucial that we first recognize the growing young men crisis. Only then can we work to solve it.
Further reading, watching, and listening
23 Rules for Manliness in 2023 (not according to Joe Rogan)
Why You Should Care How Andrew Huberman Treats Women (he’s more than a neuroscientist)
I was fortunate to have a great father, but we need more male mentors in society for young men who were not as lucky as me.
If you’re interested in hearing more about the young men crisis in America, I highly recommend this podcast with Scott Galloway (on The Rich Roll Podcast). We need more positive voices of empathy like his.
Some of the videos on what’s happening at Columbia University are terribly disturbing. It raises the question—where can we send our young men and women to school anymore? Replace Jews with any other group, and I guarantee the universities that have allowed these vile protests would be singing a different tune. It’s more evidence that The Left Has Failed the Hamas Test.
Passing Ukraine aid was critical, but even more important is stopping Putin’s war machine and enforcing sanctions so they actually work. As I argued here, that means India and China need to be incentivized to be better partners with the West. They are Putin’s biggest lifelines and if the West can remove them from the picture, Ukraine may have a chance.
More writing to come this week. Have a good week (and try to stay sane and positive!).