Loss of privilege crisis imo.
2 Likes
The male outcasts in society are in their parent’s basement though, not out at a wedding.
Also, congrats!
1 Like
Loss of status. Bout the something, but just a tad different
You’re selecting for men who get invited to weddings with an international presence.
The men the world is concerned about don’t get invited to these things.
5 Likes
I do think there’s a problem.
I’m a millennial and three of the four men I hang out with the most are unemployed. Now part of that is selection bias. I probably hang out with them a lot because they have a lot of time to hang out with me. And I’m kind of an odd duck. I keep unconventional company for an actuary.
I don’t know if I would call it a masculinity crisis, but something is going on here.
Dating apps, social media, weak social safety net, boomers tightly gripping the reins of power, climate change - I’m happy to blame any of those because I would like to see all of them change. Ultimately though, I think life is just too easy and frictionless. We consume too much and define ourselves through consumption and that leads to dissatisfaction, depression, and lack of flourishing.
I think most crises are down stream of that.
3 Likes
“Democrats” is easier to blame, due to the several facts i posted earlier.
Elitist.
What did they tell you?
My theory is that where men are really having a hard time is finding a woman to have sex with no strings attached. They see some guys that are able to do that (the 6 ft, attractive, etc. guys) . They get bitter that they can’t have that too. Because for just finding a temporary buddy, women can be much more selective. They can all go for the same small percentage of guys.
Guys who are ready to make a commitment would have an easier time, but guys buy the whole thing about avoiding marriage because women are just after their money, when really marriage is just a social contract meant to ensure that kids their caregiver don’t get abandoned. So they don’t want to make commitments. And so they stick around in their parent’s basements.
Calling BS on this one. Outer working class suburbs of Melbourne do not have -
Walking the neighborhoods of Melbourne and there are endless small businesses - cafes, bakeries, pubs, small specialty retailers. Hardly any chains. Seen exactly one MacDonalds in 3 weeks.
Outer working class suburbs of Australia do have lots of McDonalds and chain stores. For a start, you are not walking the outer suburbs (inner suburbs, yes) - you have to drive everywhere. It’s like saying you are walking the neighborhoods of Dallas.
The incidence of McDonalds in Australia is around the same as the US -
Well the selection was pretty weak. The only non Aussies were myself and Ms Gnome.
And I agree there is a serious problem. It’s just not the one Galloway writes books about, imo. It’s the economy. The Laffer curve-Low regulation - austerity budgets- the job creators- nonsense that promised a Utopia but brought a dystopia instead.
Great. I stayed in an Airbnb in Thornbury. That is not where my daughter lives. She could never afford that.
And I found Melbourne a very walkable city. Each council has its own feel with a well laid out street grid. A huge amount of infill, replacing old bungalows with obviously expensive single family houses nd some townhomes.
But the the topic is young men’s young men’s despair, so let’s be realistic about where most young men live.
The outer suburbs (effing.?) are replete with strip malls and are really car centric. Not a lot of job opportunities. That’s why young folks head to the cities. Just like every where else in the world.
I’m not so sure those are distinct and different problems. Part of the reason why a young male is isolated socially is because of cost of being social relative to his financial success. And if you layer on low success rates specifically with women, little benefit from going out.
I think we see it in the loss of male role models for boys. That, plus school is designed more towards girls maturity levels at a given age.
We talk about equality, girls have left boys in the dust in school.
1 Like
Just think of what an ideal public sex education program would look like and then imagine being told the exact opposite of that by the majority of authority figures in your geographic region.
Well, I guess this depends on who I’m telling it to, but I’m going to assume you’re educated on the topic.
OK I guess just for the sake of viewpoint alignment, when the HPV vaccine came out, local parents freaked out and were more concerned about women having sex than preventing them from getting cancer and it would not have been a controversial thing in that district to be opposed to it.
1 Like
I think school separated by gender is generally better for girls though. Or at least studies show they have some benefit from that. I’m not sure if it is for boys, but if you’re saying boys don’t do well because they are not as suited to compete academically at equivalent ages, you may be arguing it’s better for boys too.
Another thing not really helping is the ease of comparison of your life to everyone else’s. If what you see on the screen daily is something you think (possibly reasonably) that you can never get, how easy is it to put in the work?
FWIW a lot of what Galloway argues for is economic. Including free healthcare and a $25 minimum wage.
I agree. There is so much wealth in the US and my generation and younger won’t see much of it until our parents die in 20-30 years.
Anecdotally, my neighborhood is full of boomers aging in place in 4 bedroom homes with swimming pools. Super underutilized wealth.
Even if we fix all that… people everyone just wanna charge their phone and eat hot chip. (Old meme sorry)
I feel the same way about the fertility crisis. I think we should give all the money and resources in the world to young people so that they can feel like they can afford kids. Even if we did though… I haven’t woken up later than 7 AM since I had kids and I’m rich. Life used to be hard with or without kids. Now it’s easy without kids and hard with them. And in my experience, money doesn’t change that equation as much as we’d like.
1 Like
I find this statement amusing. My kids are old enough now that they aren’t much of a consideration on when I get up, but somehow, I picked 5:30 for the alarm time and its pretty rare for me to sleep even until then.
Getting up early is more often associated with wealth and success, but that doesn’t mean less sleep…it just means having the resources to for a consistent bedtime and wanting to get the most from your day. It probably also means a lot fewer alcohol related activities since those are often associated with late nights.
Well I barely drink anymore. I’m a millionaire. And I’d still like to sleep in later than 7 if I could.
I think the thing is, from sun up to sun down it’s about the kids and so I push myself to stay up later to get me time.
I think this is the flip side of our overly consumerist society.
On the one hand, the ability to find material security is in doubt. This feeling may or may not be more pronounced in younger white men, and if it exists, may or may not be justified in being more pronounced.I have a lot of trouble getting a handle on the facts, and this is not made easier because it is so personal for almost everyone.
On the other hand, there is what i think may be a side effect of all the hustling to get financial security, or the anxiety from not having it. This other side is an individualistic epicurean desire for an easy life defined by as little responsibility as possible. I wonder, too, if this desire is more prevalent in young men, and/or if it part of the problem some of them have with respect to dating. Or the problems they may be having? Again, i have trouble getting a handle on the facts.