As the political economist Nicolas Eberstadt recently warned, a shocking 7 million prime working-age men ( ages 25-54) are jobless. Worse still, they have absolutely no interest in finding work. In other words, enough men to populate the country of Paraguay simply refuse to work.
What do these jobless, unmotivated men do with their free time? As Eberstadt noted, these sad souls spend at least 2,000 hours each year glued to screens. The average American employee spends roughly the same amount of time working.
These men rarely interact with the outside world. Instead, they spend most of their time playing video games, watching porn, smoking weed, and popping painkillers, according to Eberstadt. What is going on? Who is to blame for the demise of American men?
The answer is a long one. For years, various institutions, including the medical establishment, the mainstream media, and the education sector, have waged war on the men of America. They have pushed to ‘redefine’ the concept of masculinity. In a recent piece for Psychology Today, Preston Ni decried the “prevalent gender expectations imposed on boys and young men.” He criticized members of society for encouraging boys and men “to embrace traditionally masculine qualities.” Why, he asked, are males expected to be “strong, tough, self-reliant, and dominant in various aspects of life.” The “pursuit of physical and sexual prowess, financial success, and the acquisition of power and status,” he added, should not “become benchmarks of male achievement, This type of social conditioning, he warned, is extremely harmful.
Is it, though? It’s a very different type of social condition that should concern us, I suggest.
There is a concerted effort to eradicate many of the attributes and behaviors commonly associated with healthy males: competitiveness, strength, courage, leadership, and assertiveness. In this post-Harvey Weinstein world, masculinity is now considered ‘toxic,’ a virus that requires a powerful vaccine.
