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Yahoo
06-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
American men are in crisis and they looking up to toxic role models to cope
The fist bump/'Whattup bro' combo greeting with optional peace sign may be old news and a little corny, but out in rural Tennessee, it's just one of many variations in man-speak I use for checking in and seeing how the other brother is doing. Sadly, the men, especially working-class men, are not alright. On health: Men comprise half the population yet account for 79% of suicides (81% in Tennessee), with the male suicide rate spiking 25% in the last decade. Men are more likely than women to use illicit drugs, and they comprise 70% of opioid deaths (71% in Tennessee) and 67% of alcohol-related deaths (70% in Tennessee). On employment: Tennessee ranks in the top 10 states for the worst wage stagnation in the U.S. Add the higher cost of living, and the sons of today cannot hope to provide their families with the housing, healthcare, and education their fathers and grandfathers did. Real wages for women have risen, something to cheer for, yet they've stagnated for men. Working-class men also now comprise a greater share of the unemployed than women, another historic first. On education: When Congress passed Title IX in 1972 to tackle gender inequality in education, men were 13% more likely to earn a bachelor's degree than women. A half-century later, women are 15% more likely to earn a bachelor's degree than men. In Tennessee, just 49.9% of 2023's male high school graduates went to college, compared to 63.6% of female graduates. And of the men who did enroll, they were much more likely to drop out than women. On relationships: Today, only 60% of 35-year-old men are or have been married. It was 90% in 1980, and a shocking one third of Tennessee men are unmarried (29% for women). Men are also losing their friendships at a rate that's difficult to comprehend. Today, 15% of men say they have no close friends, a 500% increase from 3% in 1990. To be clear, the problem isn't that women are doing better (though some poor-faith agitators would have you believe as much). A half-century of mostly upward mobility for women should be celebrated. The problem is that men are doing much, much worse. Who are men turning to for help? The recent election provides some clues. Donald Trump won men, which was expected, but he also won young men aged 18 to 29 by 55%, a stark shift from the 41% of young men who supported him in 2020. Who men are choosing for president is just the tip of the iceberg. Elon Musk, Joe Rogan, Jordan Peterson, Ben Shapiro, Matt Walsh, Andrew Tate, Nick Fuentes, Michael Knowles, Tim Pool, David Rubin, Benny Johnson, and Dana White, the list goes on. Everywhere young men turn for advice, music, news, entertainment, sports, politics, religion, and fitness, the opinion leaders who capture their attention are predominantly right-wing or right-leaning influencers who, at best, offer common sense/individualism-oriented solutions and, at worst, advocate for a return to the pre-Civil Rights era. Richard Reeves, author of the book 'Of Boys and Men' posits that boys and men are more reliant on social and familial institutions than girls and women. (Reeves frequently refers to the Boy Scouts as an example of such an institution, a fitting example, as Boy Scout membership in Tennessee has plummeted 33% since the pandemic). As healthy institutions that created a sense of belonging for men have eroded, males of all ages have either turned towards unhealthy affiliations like those mentioned earlier, or they've isolated. In doing so, they've lost their sense of purpose and ability to nurture each other and themselves. This is a warning sign. Renowned 20th-century anthropologist Margaret Mead once said, 'Every known human society has rested on the learned nurturing behavior of men … This behavior, being learned, is fragile and can disappear rather easily under social conditions that no longer teach it effectively.' If Mead were still alive, she'd observe what I've seen in rural Tennessee, that the sledgehammer of today's capitalist-driven individualism has crushed the social and cultural institutions that once gave men purpose and taught them how to care for themselves and others. Since many of today's male leaders offer nothing but pyramid schemes and patriarchy, it's up to the rest of us to fist-bump the men in our lives, check in with them, find out what they need, and offer them a seat at our table. Our collective future is not a kind one if half the population is left to drag themselves, and the world, to the brink. Ren Brabenec is a Nashville-based freelance writer and journalist. He reports on politics, local issues, environmental stories, foreign policy, and the economy. For questions, comments, or to suggest a story, email hello@ This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Men in America are feeling stressed, unhealthy and isolated | Opinion
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Opinion - Trump is the right's tool to dismantle a century of progress
At this year's Conservative Political Action Conference, the world's richest man waved a giant chainsaw over his head, gleefully celebrating his success at gutting aid to the world's poorest people, along with mass firings of scientists and medical researchers, national parks and forest service employees, workers who take care of veterans and stop big banks from ripping off consumers. At least Elon Musk is having fun. Musk has demonstrated his ability to lie like his titular boss, President Trump, about fictional fraud. He is attacking agencies that have investigated his own business empire, which was built in part on $38 billion from taxpayers. Musk told his CPAC audience that he's having a good time. I doubt Musk's enjoyment will provide much comfort to seniors who won't be able to get anyone on the phone to resolve issues with their social security. Musk wasn't the only one having a good time at CPAC. Steve Bannon praised the pardoned Jan. 6 insurrectionists in the room. Attendees cheered the confirmation of FBI Director Kash Patel and the retribution they expect him to exact on Trump's enemies. Far-right political leaders from around the world spoke in solidarity, though a French politician pulled out after Bannon threw up an alarming salute that modeled Musk's so-called 'gesture' at a January Trump rally. The conference opened with Vice President JD Vance and closed with Trump, a symbol of Trump's dominance over the MAGA movement. Although Trump has demonstrated the ability to intimidate much of the Republican Party into submission, it is important to realize that Trump is not the originator or mastermind of the movement pushing America toward fascism. Long before Trump ran for office, right-wing operatives were scheming to reverse more than a century of progressive gains and return the U.S. to a pre-Civil Rights, pre-New Deal era, when the federal government was relatively powerless to protect Americans from corporate wrongdoing. Trump is this movement's tool. That's not to say he is not a willing and eager tool. He is bitter about 'deep state' officials he blames for his legal problems. He seems to revel in flashy displays of king-like power, like signing executive orders to target his personal enemies, banning the use of words like climate or inclusion and making it impossible for transgender people to live their lives in peace. It is unquestionably alarming when Trump claims that his mission to 'save' America puts him above the law. But the threat to our country and Constitution is much broader than Trump. it wasn't Trump who came up with the executive orders he is so proud of signing. They came from the ideologues at Project 2025 and the America First Policy Institute. Project 2025's agenda was backed by more than 100 organizations from across the overlapping legal, corporate and Christian-nationalist right-wing movements. When Project 2025's cruel agenda became public, Trump dishonestly disavowed it. At the time, Project 2025 architect Russ Vought wasn't bothered by the public rejection. Vought knew it was just for show — just one more lie to enable the right-wing movement to 'take the reins of government' and forcibly re-shape the country. Now, as director of the Office of Management and Budget, Vought is aggressively carrying out his admitted desire to put federal workers 'in trauma.' The Project 2025 presidency is a kind of culmination of the massive political infrastructure built with billions of dollars over the past 50 years that moved the Republican Party to the right and enabled the ideological takeover of the Supreme Court. To make matters worse, Vance is aligned with far-right billionaires and thinkers who are openly hostile to democracy. Political operatives have built support for their reactionary vision by encouraging Americans to be distrustful of media, cynical about government and resentful of efforts to ensure shared opportunity in an increasingly diverse country. They were assisted by a new media environment in which right-wing radio and cable networks were joined by social media and online influencers who amplified these destructive messages. The good news amid this bleak reality is that resistance is rising to MAGA-supporting Republicans' harmful assault on Americans' freedom and well-being. I believe most Americans share a different vision for our future, a country where everyone has the freedom to thrive and our government supports the common good. All of us who share that vision must make our voices heard in every way we can, now and during the long struggle ahead to reclaim our country. The purposeful, community-building work required will be hard. It can also be fun. No chainsaws required. Svante Myrick is the president of People for the American Way. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
