The crisis afflicting young men and boys in America

A crisis of young men and boys in America has been building for years. It is very real, as millions of especially less educated men have seen themselves falling farther and farther behind woman and, in some of their minds, minorities, all of whom get special treatment at their expense.

Of course, not all young men believe this narrative of loss and the culprits who caused this loss. Yet, falling behind is real for millions of young men and boys, and many see the govt and culture doing little to help them recover. There is a debate, of course, over how much of this loss is economic and financial, and how much is a real or perceived loss of cultural status and privilege. Either way, some men have turned to the right wing for support. The manosphere and its macho patter has been a major source of succor for some of them. To the extent it feeds the MAGA beast, it is all our problem now - which it should have been all along!

All revanchist social and political movements have a basis in reality. MAGA's wish for a time when men can be men again - confident, independent, and necessary to women - must be addressed, even if we cannot really return to that historically gauzy time that they are told over and over was the natural way of things.

BTW, the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the MAGA organizer, will vastly inflate this whole issue. We are already drowning in disingenuousness. We can discuss how and why on Monday.

Optional Backgrounders -

The crisis –Two good but long explainers:

• More econ: What happened to men? New Yorker.
• More psychology: The “crisis of connection” that’s hit everybody hits boys turning into adolescents the hardest. Harvard.
• How movies and TV are failing young men.

Political angles:

• Must-read, by ex-GOP congressman and MAGA foe Adam Kinzinger: There IS a crisis, MAGA is just exploiting it, and here are some ideas for how to help boys/young men.
• More progressive POV: There's an inequality crisis. But there is no “crisis of masculinity” except a crisis of how we define what being “masculine” should mean.
• California: Gavin Newsome just signed a big initiative aimed at helping boys.

Other POVs/contributions -

• Via Loralee: The boy crisis is overblown. (NYT)
• Via Fred: It’s cultural more than economic. Irresponsible (or absent) adult fathers model their sons’ irresponsible future behavior. Same author, shorter.