Man Overboard
"In a de-industrialised economy, these young men are lost."
In the UK, men are three times more likely to kill themselves than women. Every week, 84 men commit suicide. Homelessness and sleeping rough is a male thing. A generation of lost men is attempting to navigate their way in a world that has changed at light speed.
Given the evidence that young men, in particular, are struggling, you’d think attempts to help them would be welcome. Not so. Those who voice concerns, even professionally, are immediately attacked.
The Guardian newspaper is leading that charge. Hardly a week goes by without an anti-men article. The language used would attract the 'racist' label if applied to any other group. Much of their venom gets heaped on clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson. Why? Well, because he uses facts and scientific arguments to destroy unfounded opinions. In their latest attack, Peterson is "the evangelist of white male resentment”.
In reality, Peterson is pointing out that the emperor has no clothes. And he does it in a way that is so articulate and compelling that the politically correct crowd cannot deal with it. Lacking any evidence for their beliefs, they fall back on ad hominem attacks. Dogged and weighed with cynicism, they wave away the facts, further underlining their lack of credibility.
If these people bothered to engage their brains and listen to what he says, they’d see the clarity of his propositions. He's no evangelist. Instead, he attempts to understand and help men overcome their challenges.
Whether we admit it or not, young men are getting left behind amid the shifting economic, social, and technological landscape. Everyone knows a young man who is struggling, either in school or afterwards. Failing to launch, having emotional issues, or having poor interactions with the opposite sex, they flounder.
I’ve seen it in working-class friends and boys from well-off backgrounds. The alienation felt by young working-class men of all colours is troubling. In a de-industrialised economy, these young men are lost. In the past, they had jobs as welders, miners, and motor-trade workers. This work defined them, connecting them to a community through shared hardships. Telemarketing and shelf-stacking jobs don’t measure up the same.
Of course, if these blokes complain, especially the white men, it’s assumed that any demands come out of their privilege. When all they want is decent employment and then left alone. To suggest otherwise is lazy and damaging to the debate.
The clever folks at the Guardian have an opportunity to contribute to this debate. But this paper chooses a polarising path like everything else in the current melee. Is navigating a balanced route too hard?
More data may help swing them. Boys are well behind girls in terms of education. This gap is stark, starts young, and is not new. For 11-year-olds, the difference is six percentage points. By age 16, that’s grown to nine percentage points in England. Its impact annually is that 30,000 fewer boys than girls are becoming apprentices; 60,000 fewer go to university every year. Fewer men are entering nearly all the professions.
Things are no better in the United States. A recent Congressional Budget Office report revealed one out of six young men are either not working or incarcerated. Add guns to the mix, and then things get messed up. Mass shootings have tripled since 2011, with the majority carried out by young men. Meanwhile, adolescent male suicide rates have increased by 50 per cent since 1994.
Similar data exists across all cultures. In Hong Kong, the suicide rate for males aged 15-24 is triple that of females. But, these statistics have no traction because of an empathy gap regarding young men's challenges. As a result, boys are opting out.
For many, virtual reality has become a haven and, in some instances, more structured and rewarding than reality. Thus, we see the emergence of terms such as hikikomori—Japanese for “pulling inward—along with the rise of movements such as Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW).
Who can blame them for wanting to opt out? The shift into alternative realities further disconnects them. Asking what’s wrong with them or why they aren’t motivated the same way young men used to be isn't the right question.
A 20,000-person survey sought to understand what is causing motivational problems in young men. The number one answer chosen was conflicting messages from media, institutions, parents, and peers about acceptable male behaviour.
No wonder. With the rise of “toxic masculinity” classes on college campuses, masculinity is almost a disease. Also, a decreasing number of positive male role models show younger men the path to acceptable manhood.
Jordon Peterson is seeking to understand and then guide these young men. He can do without the sneering, ill-informed diatribe from the Guardian and others.
June 2018
Given the evidence that young men, in particular, are struggling, you’d think attempts to help them would be welcome. Not so. Those who voice concerns, even professionally, are immediately attacked.
The Guardian newspaper is leading that charge. Hardly a week goes by without an anti-men article. The language used would attract the 'racist' label if applied to any other group. Much of their venom gets heaped on clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson. Why? Well, because he uses facts and scientific arguments to destroy unfounded opinions. In their latest attack, Peterson is "the evangelist of white male resentment”.
In reality, Peterson is pointing out that the emperor has no clothes. And he does it in a way that is so articulate and compelling that the politically correct crowd cannot deal with it. Lacking any evidence for their beliefs, they fall back on ad hominem attacks. Dogged and weighed with cynicism, they wave away the facts, further underlining their lack of credibility.
If these people bothered to engage their brains and listen to what he says, they’d see the clarity of his propositions. He's no evangelist. Instead, he attempts to understand and help men overcome their challenges.
Whether we admit it or not, young men are getting left behind amid the shifting economic, social, and technological landscape. Everyone knows a young man who is struggling, either in school or afterwards. Failing to launch, having emotional issues, or having poor interactions with the opposite sex, they flounder.
I’ve seen it in working-class friends and boys from well-off backgrounds. The alienation felt by young working-class men of all colours is troubling. In a de-industrialised economy, these young men are lost. In the past, they had jobs as welders, miners, and motor-trade workers. This work defined them, connecting them to a community through shared hardships. Telemarketing and shelf-stacking jobs don’t measure up the same.
Of course, if these blokes complain, especially the white men, it’s assumed that any demands come out of their privilege. When all they want is decent employment and then left alone. To suggest otherwise is lazy and damaging to the debate.
The clever folks at the Guardian have an opportunity to contribute to this debate. But this paper chooses a polarising path like everything else in the current melee. Is navigating a balanced route too hard?
More data may help swing them. Boys are well behind girls in terms of education. This gap is stark, starts young, and is not new. For 11-year-olds, the difference is six percentage points. By age 16, that’s grown to nine percentage points in England. Its impact annually is that 30,000 fewer boys than girls are becoming apprentices; 60,000 fewer go to university every year. Fewer men are entering nearly all the professions.
Things are no better in the United States. A recent Congressional Budget Office report revealed one out of six young men are either not working or incarcerated. Add guns to the mix, and then things get messed up. Mass shootings have tripled since 2011, with the majority carried out by young men. Meanwhile, adolescent male suicide rates have increased by 50 per cent since 1994.
Similar data exists across all cultures. In Hong Kong, the suicide rate for males aged 15-24 is triple that of females. But, these statistics have no traction because of an empathy gap regarding young men's challenges. As a result, boys are opting out.
For many, virtual reality has become a haven and, in some instances, more structured and rewarding than reality. Thus, we see the emergence of terms such as hikikomori—Japanese for “pulling inward—along with the rise of movements such as Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW).
Who can blame them for wanting to opt out? The shift into alternative realities further disconnects them. Asking what’s wrong with them or why they aren’t motivated the same way young men used to be isn't the right question.
A 20,000-person survey sought to understand what is causing motivational problems in young men. The number one answer chosen was conflicting messages from media, institutions, parents, and peers about acceptable male behaviour.
No wonder. With the rise of “toxic masculinity” classes on college campuses, masculinity is almost a disease. Also, a decreasing number of positive male role models show younger men the path to acceptable manhood.
Jordon Peterson is seeking to understand and then guide these young men. He can do without the sneering, ill-informed diatribe from the Guardian and others.
June 2018
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