Culture Wars

[GannonFan]

I don't like Trump a little bit, but where is he really supporting Russia? It wasn't until Trump that the US govt even started to talk about trying to really cut Russian oil sales as a real way to get Russia to the negotiating table in Ukraine. It obviously hasn't happened yet, but I'd argue we're closer to that than we were under the ineffective sanctions Biden talked about for four years. No one was saying Biden supported Russia and he was technically doing less to stop the war in Ukraine.

There are 2 sides to that argument. On the one, is what you presented that trump is the first to really talk about hitting russian oil sales. On the other is that trump has repeatedly talked tough about holding russia accountable then backed down and given putin more time/a way while repeatedly threatening to cut off aid to Ukraine, berating Zelensky and telling him he has to give up territory, even territory Ukraine hasn't lost yet. As a mediator, trump has not been anywhere close to neutral with regard to Ukraine.

I think the problem is that Trump doesn't really have an option, politically, that would work. The only way to get Russia out of Ukraine is to put NATO or US troops in Ukraine, on the ground, and push them out. And of course, this country would be in an uproar from all sides of the political spectrum if we took that step. I've asked repeatedly on this site for the people who mock Trump as Russia's puppet for a solution to the Ukraine debacle, which we all know didn't start on Trump's watch, and the crickets are in full voice. What is the solution for the Ukraine??

[UNI88]

There are 2 sides to that argument. On the one, is what you presented that trump is the first to really talk about hitting russian oil sales. On the other is that trump has repeatedly talked tough about holding russia accountable then backed down and given putin more time/a way while repeatedly threatening to cut off aid to Ukraine, berating Zelensky and telling him he has to give up territory, even territory Ukraine hasn't lost yet. As a mediator, trump has not been anywhere close to neutral with regard to Ukraine.

I think the problem is that Trump doesn't really have an option, politically, that would work. The only way to get Russia out of Ukraine is to put NATO or US troops in Ukraine, on the ground, and push them out. And of course, this country would be in an uproar from all sides of the political spectrum if we took that step. I've asked repeatedly on this site for the people who mock Trump as Russia's puppet for a solution to the Ukraine debacle, which we all know didn't start on Trump's watch, and the crickets are in full voice. What is the solution for the Ukraine??

I don't agree with you that we don't currently have great options but I have to point out that abandoning Ukraine like some want to do isn't a good solution. Some trump's supporters argue that our support is costing lives and that ending it would save lives but that argument is baloney. Ukraine is fighting for their very existence as a nation and a people, they're not going to give in to russian demands just because they lose our support. They're going to fight to the end and genocide is a possible result.

Best case:
- We continue to provide some level of support but Europe provides the bulk.
- We put the economic screws to russia to try and really get them to the negotiating table.
- Any peace deal needs to include western security assurances for Ukraine regardless of what russia thinks.

[kalm]

Dear Leader supports communism and Russia. Things have changed since I was a kid.

I don't like Trump a little bit, but where is he really supporting Russia? It wasn't until Trump that the US govt even started to talk about trying to really cut Russian oil sales as a real way to get Russia to the negotiating table in Ukraine. It obviously hasn't happened yet, but I'd argue we're closer to that than we were under the ineffective sanctions Biden talked about for four years. No one was saying Biden supported Russia and he was technically doing less to stop the war in Ukraine.

Here’s a slice of it. Heck, one of his kids admitted it years ago when no one would loan Trump money. Remember the “the Russians are crazy about golf” line?

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story ... ons-214868

[GannonFan]

I don't like Trump a little bit, but where is he really supporting Russia? It wasn't until Trump that the US govt even started to talk about trying to really cut Russian oil sales as a real way to get Russia to the negotiating table in Ukraine. It obviously hasn't happened yet, but I'd argue we're closer to that than we were under the ineffective sanctions Biden talked about for four years. No one was saying Biden supported Russia and he was technically doing less to stop the war in Ukraine.

Here’s a slice of it. Heck, one of his kids admitted it years ago when no one would loan Trump money. Remember the “the Russians are crazy about golf” line?

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story ... ons-214868

Great. Now how does that translate into actual, provable support of Russia? It should be real easy to look at Trump's actions as President and say how are they impacting and supporting Russia. I don't see it, and it should be simple. Are we still selling weapons to Ukraine? Yes. Are we pushing other NATO countries to support Ukraine? Yes. Are we finally exploring the option that Biden wouldn't touch and pressing countries not to buy Russian-sourced oil? Yes. That's 3 really big and really meaningful areas where not only are we not supporting Russia, but we're actually doing things that directly disadvantage Russia. It's like houndy's yearslong rallying cry that Trump was a Russian puppet, only, if true, to have turned out to be the worst puppet in the history of puppetry.

[kalm]

Here’s a slice of it. Heck, one of his kids admitted it years ago when no one would loan Trump money. Remember the “the Russians are crazy about golf” line?

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story ... ons-214868

Great. Now how does that translate into actual, provable support of Russia? It should be real easy to look at Trump's actions as President and say how are they impacting and supporting Russia. I don't see it, and it should be simple. Are we still selling weapons to Ukraine? Yes. Are we pushing other NATO countries to support Ukraine? Yes. Are we finally exploring the option that Biden wouldn't touch and pressing countries not to buy Russian-sourced oil? Yes. That's 3 really big and really meaningful areas where not only are we not supporting Russia, but we're actually doing things that directly disadvantage Russia. It's like houndy's yearslong rallying cry that Trump was a Russian puppet, only, if true, to have turned out to be the worst puppet in the history of puppetry.

Fair on the provable part this year. But given his history combined with his and Vance’s ambush of Zakensky vs literally rolling out the red carpet for Putin should give some pause.

Forgive me for not trusting Trump’s for for that matter, MAGA’s) motives.

[BDKJMU]

Great. Now how does that translate into actual, provable support of Russia? It should be real easy to look at Trump's actions as President and say how are they impacting and supporting Russia. I don't see it, and it should be simple. Are we still selling weapons to Ukraine? Yes. Are we pushing other NATO countries to support Ukraine? Yes. Are we finally exploring the option that Biden wouldn't touch and pressing countries not to buy Russian-sourced oil? Yes. That's 3 really big and really meaningful areas where not only are we not supporting Russia, but we're actually doing things that directly disadvantage Russia. It's like houndy's yearslong rallying cry that Trump was a Russian puppet, only, if true, to have turned out to be the worst puppet in the history of puppetry.

Fair on the provable part this year. But given his history combined with his and Vance’s ambush of Zakensky vs literally rolling out the red carpet for Putin should give some pause.

Forgive me for not trusting Trump’s for for that matter, MAGA’s) motives.

Blah blah blah. Trump has been better for Ukraine than Sleepy Joe. And it’s not even close.

[Caribbean Hen]

Fair on the provable part this year. But given his history combined with his and Vance’s ambush of Zakensky vs literally rolling out the red carpet for Putin should give some pause.

Forgive me for not trusting Trump’s for for that matter, MAGA’s) motives.

Blah blah blah. Trump has been better for Ukraine than Sleepy Joe. And it’s not even close.

Exactly

JoBozo stood by and watched it unfold

[GannonFan]

Great. Now how does that translate into actual, provable support of Russia? It should be real easy to look at Trump's actions as President and say how are they impacting and supporting Russia. I don't see it, and it should be simple. Are we still selling weapons to Ukraine? Yes. Are we pushing other NATO countries to support Ukraine? Yes. Are we finally exploring the option that Biden wouldn't touch and pressing countries not to buy Russian-sourced oil? Yes. That's 3 really big and really meaningful areas where not only are we not supporting Russia, but we're actually doing things that directly disadvantage Russia. It's like houndy's yearslong rallying cry that Trump was a Russian puppet, only, if true, to have turned out to be the worst puppet in the history of puppetry.

Fair on the provable part this year. But given his history combined with his and Vance’s ambush of Zakensky vs literally rolling out the red carpet for Putin should give some pause.

Forgive me for not trusting Trump’s for for that matter, MAGA’s) motives.

Who cares about ambushing Zelensky in the Oval Office (since them they've been on much better terms) or rolling out a red carpet for Putin? What do those singular events have to do about anything? Trump's haranguing of NATO, while clumsy and unseemly, has also caused a significant increase in military spending by NATO countries, especially spending meant to resist Russia and Russian influences. How in any rational world does that constitute support for Russia?

[kalm]

Fair on the provable part this year. But given his history combined with his and Vance’s ambush of Zakensky vs literally rolling out the red carpet for Putin should give some pause.

Forgive me for not trusting Trump’s for for that matter, MAGA’s) motives.

Who cares about ambushing Zelensky in the Oval Office (since them they've been on much better terms) or rolling out a red carpet for Putin? What do those singular events have to do about anything? Trump's haranguing of NATO, while clumsy and unseemly, has also caused a significant increase in military spending by NATO countries, especially spending meant to resist Russia and Russian influences. How in any rational world does that constitute support for Russia?

Relax.

Getting Europe more involved is good for us. By design or otherwise. I’ll grant that. But It doesn’t absolve Trump’s ties or pandering including Rudy and Manafort’s efforts in Ukraine. Or Kislyak‘s ties to Flynn of which Flynn was convicted of lying to the FBI about.

Unless you think kissing the ass of an aggressor nation is what we’re about. Or that this is all a part of some master level 3D chess without ulterior motives.

I see smoke due to Trump’s own affiliations. That makes it worthy of suspicion for me. It’s not for you. So we’ll nust have to disagree.

I like being the good guys.

[UNI88]

Fair on the provable part this year. But given his history combined with his and Vance’s ambush of Zakensky vs literally rolling out the red carpet for Putin should give some pause.

Forgive me for not trusting Trump’s for for that matter, MAGA’s) motives.

Who cares about ambushing Zelensky in the Oval Office (since them they've been on much better terms) or rolling out a red carpet for Putin? What do those singular events have to do about anything? Trump's haranguing of NATO, while clumsy and unseemly, has also caused a significant increase in military spending by NATO countries, especially spending meant to resist Russia and Russian influences. How in any rational world does that constitute support for Russia?

It matters because trump has clearly shown a propensity to hold grudges and to use the power of the presidency for retribution. Has he done anything serious against Ukraine yet? No. Does that mean there is no cause for concern? No. Add in his adoration for dictators and you can raise the level of concern slightly more. Should we be running around like chicken littles because it? No, but it does bear monitoring.

[GannonFan]

Who cares about ambushing Zelensky in the Oval Office (since them they've been on much better terms) or rolling out a red carpet for Putin? What do those singular events have to do about anything? Trump's haranguing of NATO, while clumsy and unseemly, has also caused a significant increase in military spending by NATO countries, especially spending meant to resist Russia and Russian influences. How in any rational world does that constitute support for Russia?

It matters because trump has clearly shown a propensity to hold grudges and to use the power of the presidency for retribution. Has he done anything serious against Ukraine yet? No. Does that mean there is no cause for concern? No. Add in his adoration for dictators and you can raise the level of concern slightly more. Should we be running around like chicken littles because it? No, but it does bear monitoring.

All good points, and yes, we should always be vigilantly watching. But the gist of all of this was that Trump supports Russia. I think we've all seen how that original viewpoint was incorrect.

[kalm]

Trump had nothing to do with the Russians.

[BDKJMU]

They gave their lives for a lack of free speech in the UK (and much of Western Europe) where people are arrested for tweets and social media posts speaking out about the 2nd and 3rd world hordes that have invaded the UK without a shot being fired. Compare the demographics of the UK of the 1950s to now. Night and day.

[BDKJMU]

Coming to the US soon:

[kalm]

Coming to the US soon:

Even their courts are sharia?!?

[kalm]

A must read…economically and culturally speaking. The fall of young men.

Donald Trump pulled off a stunning political comeback because of … young men. While the Democrats ignored this demographic, the far right rushed in to fill the void, flooding the manosphere with rockets, Hulk Hogan, coarseness, and crypto. The last presidential election was supposed to be a referendum on women’s rights. It wasn’t. It was a referendum on struggling young men.

Five years ago my advocacy for young men sparked a hostile response. Today society is ready to have a productive dialogue, rejecting the far right’s attempts to send non-white people and all women back to the 1950s and the left’s belief that young men don’t have problems but are the problem. This isn’t a zero-sum game. We can build on the gains women have registered over the past three decades and ensure there’s room for boys and young men in the conversation. Democrats are starting to tackle the crisis, but we can’t rely on prominent party leaders to drive the change. We can count on the tech industry, however, to keep supporting their massive valuations by connecting profits with the sequestration and enragement of young men. Men ages 20 to 30 now spend less time outside than prison inmates.

Men of my generation have a debt to these young men. Our unfair advantage must be paid forward (or backward). We need to get involved in their lives, advocate for policies to right the ship, and model a healthier vision of masculinity. All of us have a role to play in giving young men a code — a positive set of principles — to live by.

Below is an excerpt from my new book, Notes on Being a Man. This one is personal. I hope it resonates with you.

________________

Falling Farther, Faster
One of the semi-exciting perks of being an academic and “thought leader” is uncovering data, especially when it’s both obvious and hidden. Years ago, the alarming state of American boys and men overtook my attention. I track closely the emails I get. Most are from parents, particularly mothers, concerned about their sons, along these lines: “I have a daughter who lives in Chicago and works in PR and another daughter who’s at Penn.

My son lives in our basement, vapes, and plays video games.” Moms, not dads, were leading the charge. Others were either ignoring the problem or didn’t want to talk about it. Absent, too, was any sober, data-driven analysis. The gag-reflex cultural response seemed to be Wow, men are worse than we think, and that the issues they face are a function of their awfulness, and haven’t we spent the past forty years correctly focused on the struggles of other, more deserving groups?

I connected to this topic on a personal level. I thought back on where I came from, my mom’s irrational passion for my well-being, the generosity of California taxpayers who made it possible for an unremarkable kid with mediocre grades to attend college and business school, and all the obstacles, temptations, and traps that could have easily hampered my socialization — smartphones, online dating, porn, gambling, video games, remote work. I wondered why what was happening to boys and young men was in fact happening and how I could raise my sons in a world where they — and males of any age — thrive.

The data around boys and young men is overwhelming. Seldom in recent memory has there been a cohort that’s fallen farther, faster. Why? First, boys face an educational system biased against them — with brains that mature later than girls’, they almost immediately fall behind their female classmates. Many grow up without male role models, including teachers — fewer men teach K–12 than there are women working in STEM fields — with Black and Hispanic school instructors especially underrepresented.

Post–high school, the social contract that binds America — work hard, play by the rules, and you’ll be better off than your parents were — has been severed. Seventy-year-old Americans today are, on average, 72% wealthier than they were forty years ago.

People under the age of forty are 24% less wealthy. The deliberate transfer of wealth from the young to the old in the United States over the past century has led to unaffordable and indefensible costs for education and housing and skyrocketing student debt, all of which directly affect young men. It’s why twenty-five-year-olds today make less than their parents and grandparents did at the same age, while carrying debt loads unimaginable to earlier generations. Neither the minimum nor the median wage has kept pace with inflation or productivity gains, while housing costs have outpaced both. As the costs of college have soared beyond the reach of most families, many of the manufacturing jobs that didn’t require a college degree and were often a ticket to the middle class for (mostly) men have been offshored. A prohibitive real estate market is a contributing factor to why 60% of young men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four live with their parents and 1 in 5 still live with their parents at age thirty. Stuck and unable to afford greater economic opportunities in nearby cities, they find the same crush and collision of density, stimulation, humanity, creativity, eroticism, and conversation that urban areas offer on their phones instead. In Manhattan, a four-hundred-square-foot apartment costs $3,000 a month. In its stead is a seventeen-square-inch mobile studio apartment costing roughly $42 a month, served up by AT&T, T- Mobile, or Verizon.

Meanwhile, algorithmically generated content on social media contributes to—and profits from—young men’s growing social isolation, boredom, and ignorance. With the deepest-pocketed firms on the planet trying to convince young men they can have a reasonable facsimile of life on a screen, many grow up without acquiring the skills to build social capital or create wealth. The percentage of young men aged twenty to twenty-four who are neither in school nor working has tripled since 1980. Workforce participation among men has fallen below 90%, caused by a lack of well-paying jobs, wage stagnation, disabilities, a mismatch of skills and/or training, and falling demand for jobs traditionally held by prime-age men.

This is deadly. From 2005 to 2019, roughly 70,000 Americans died every year from deaths of despair — suicide, drug overdoses, alcohol poisoning — with a disproportionate number of those fatalities being unemployed white males without a college degree. Excluding deaths caused by the opioid epidemic, America’s suicide and alcohol-related mortality rate for all races is higher than it’s been in a century. It’s also a mating crisis, as women traditionally mate horizontally and up socioeconomically, whereas men mate horizontally and down. Up until the mid–twentieth century, homogamy — marriages between men and women from similar educational backgrounds — was more common than not. Today, hypogamy, where women marry men who have less education than themselves, is on the rise. When the pool of horizontal-and-up young men shrinks, there are fewer mating opportunities, less family and household formation, and not as many babies. Here’s a terrifying stat: 45% of men ages eighteen to twenty-five have never approached a woman in person. And without the guardrails of a relationship, young men behave as if they have … no guardrails.

Why are we so averse to identifying and celebrating what’s good about men and masculinity, and why does it matter? Because we won’t prosper if we convince boys and young men that they’re victims, or that they don’t have to be persistent and resilient, or that their perspective isn’t valuable. If we do, we’ll end up with a society of old people and zero economic growth. If we can’t convince young men of the honor involved and the unique contributions inherent in expressing what makes them male, we’ll lose them to niche, rabid online communities.

As my Pivot podcast cohost Kara Swisher commented once, it should matter to everyone if men aren’t thriving. Women and children can’t flourish if men aren’t doing well. Neither will our country.

https://www.profgalloway.com/notes-on-b ... AKsdCMqMaA

[BDKJMU]

…….People under the age of forty are 24% less wealthy. The deliberate transfer of wealth from the young to the old in the United States over the past century has led to unaffordable and indefensible costs for education and housing and skyrocketing student debt, all of which directly affect young men. It’s why twenty-five-year-olds today make less than their parents and grandparents did at the same age, while carrying debt loads unimaginable to earlier generations. Neither the minimum nor the median wage has kept pace with inflation or productivity gains, while housing costs have outpaced both. As the costs of college have soared beyond the reach of most families, many of the manufacturing jobs that didn’t require a college degree and were often a ticket to the middle class for (mostly) men have been offshored. A prohibitive real estate market is a contributing factor to why 60% of young men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four live with their parents and 1 in 5 still live with their parents at age thirty. Stuck and unable to afford greater economic opportunities in nearby cities, they find the same crush and collision of density, stimulation, humanity, creativity, eroticism, and conversation that urban areas offer on their phones instead. In Manhattan, a four-hundred-square-foot apartment costs $3,000 a month. In its stead is a seventeen-square-inch mobile studio apartment costing roughly $42 a month, served up by AT&T, T- Mobile, or Verizon….

….The percentage of young men aged twenty to twenty-four who are neither in school nor working has tripled since 1980. Workforce participation among men has fallen below 90%, caused by a lack of well-paying jobs, wage stagnation, disabilities, a mismatch of skills and/or training, and falling demand for jobs traditionally held by prime-age men.
https://www.profgalloway.com/notes-on-b ... AKsdCMqMaA

Of course-
Education Costs: govt keeps on increasing subsidies, and the universities keep jacking tuition, along with spending ever larger sums on Taj Mahal amenities on campus in the battle to attract more students.
Gov’t and university created problem.

There is no valid reason for people to go into high 5 figure or 6 figure debt for non STEMM.
For one, the military will pay a 6 figure amount for college. They have hundreds of MOSes which 90% of aren’t Combat Arms.

Secondly “The you have to go to college” mantra to be successful in life is complete that has been told to young men for decades is BS. Same is the ‘falling demand for jobs traditionally held by prime-age men.’ There is a shortage in the trades (traditionally dominated by men) that is just getting worse. Even low cost areas of the country those experienced & skilled in the trades can make over 100k, and well over 200k in high cost areas. And there is a shortage of truck drivers (another field traditionally dominated by men). Look no further than all the accidents caused by illegals with CDLs (thanks Newsome) that have been in the news lately.

Housing Costs:
10/11/24 article, 2021 survey. That 93,870 in 2021 is about 113k in today’s $$$. And that doesn’t even count the real estate taxes. Gov’t created problem.

According to the National Association of Home Builders, government regulations add $93,870 — or 23.8 percent — to the average cost of a home.

https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/com ... me-prices/
https://www.nahb.org/-/media/NAHB/news- ... 558881227b
And of course you have restrictions in many areas that make it more difficult and expensive, or impossible, to build new starter homes which the US needs millions more of.
US housing deficit grew to 4.7 million despite construction surge
https://investors.zillowgroup.com/inves ... fault.aspx

And letting in mlions of illegals/TPS/asylum seekers has led to rental shortages in cities where they have settled, which in turn puts increased pressure on housing costs Thanks Biden.

And having to jack interest rates in 2022 to counter runaway inflation made housing more expensive. Thanks again Biden.

..In Manhattan, a four-hundred-square-foot apartment costs $3,000 a month..

So what. For the Mandami voting 20 something Gen Zers who complain about that they can go live in one of the other non trendy/non hip neighborhoods in one of the other 4 boroughs for 1/2 that. Or don’t live in NYC.

The author briefly touched on masculinity. He left off the left’s war on masculinity. All young men heard for the better part of the last decade was donks is pushing woke trans ideology, men playing women’s sports, masculinity is toxic, and if you don‘t vote for Harris you‘re a sexist misogynist, etc.
https://www.championshipsubdivision.com ... 3#p1467453
But what about last week’s elections? Well, about 600k 20204 Trump voters in NJ and another 600k in VA didn’t show up. I suspect many were the young males that voted Trump in 2024. We’ll see what happens in 2026.

[BDKJMU]

In relation to the above post.

Bestselling sports and politics commentator Clay Travis explains how Democrats are alienating men and why Trump really won. And it all comes back to sports.

Democrats don’t have a Trump problem. They have a man problem. And Trump was just the guy to exploit it. How did he do it? When it got right down to it, Trump had balls. And the Democrats didn't.

This sharp, provocative, funny book breaks down how Trump used the woke intrusion into sports as his secret weapon to win over male voters. From Colin Kaepernick’s protests, to men competing in women’s sports, to Bud Light’s collapse and ESPN’s woke meltdown, Trump seized every opportunity to win over men as Democrats pushed them away. Even after surviving an assassination attempt, with his fist raised, Trump proved once again he was a fighter — and America’s men took notice.

Clay Travis doesn’t hold back. As the founder of the massively popular sports website Outkick, the co-host of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, and one of the most influential voices in sports and conservative media, he’s interviewed Trump more than ten times—including on Air Force One. Now, Clay's bringing the unfiltered truth about why men turned on the Democrats—and why they’re never coming back.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/balls- ... 1147394882

[Caribbean Hen]

A must read…economically and culturally speaking. The fall of young men.

Donald Trump pulled off a stunning political comeback because of … young men. While the Democrats ignored this demographic, the far right rushed in to fill the void, flooding the manosphere with rockets, Hulk Hogan, coarseness, and crypto. The last presidential election was supposed to be a referendum on women’s rights. It wasn’t. It was a referendum on struggling young men.

Five years ago my advocacy for young men sparked a hostile response. Today society is ready to have a productive dialogue, rejecting the far right’s attempts to send non-white people and all women back to the 1950s and the left’s belief that young men don’t have problems but are the problem. This isn’t a zero-sum game. We can build on the gains women have registered over the past three decades and ensure there’s room for boys and young men in the conversation. Democrats are starting to tackle the crisis, but we can’t rely on prominent party leaders to drive the change. We can count on the tech industry, however, to keep supporting their massive valuations by connecting profits with the sequestration and enragement of young men. Men ages 20 to 30 now spend less time outside than prison inmates.

Men of my generation have a debt to these young men. Our unfair advantage must be paid forward (or backward). We need to get involved in their lives, advocate for policies to right the ship, and model a healthier vision of masculinity. All of us have a role to play in giving young men a code — a positive set of principles — to live by.

Below is an excerpt from my new book, Notes on Being a Man. This one is personal. I hope it resonates with you.

________________

Falling Farther, Faster
One of the semi-exciting perks of being an academic and “thought leader” is uncovering data, especially when it’s both obvious and hidden. Years ago, the alarming state of American boys and men overtook my attention. I track closely the emails I get. Most are from parents, particularly mothers, concerned about their sons, along these lines: “I have a daughter who lives in Chicago and works in PR and another daughter who’s at Penn.

My son lives in our basement, vapes, and plays video games.” Moms, not dads, were leading the charge. Others were either ignoring the problem or didn’t want to talk about it. Absent, too, was any sober, data-driven analysis. The gag-reflex cultural response seemed to be Wow, men are worse than we think, and that the issues they face are a function of their awfulness, and haven’t we spent the past forty years correctly focused on the struggles of other, more deserving groups?

I connected to this topic on a personal level. I thought back on where I came from, my mom’s irrational passion for my well-being, the generosity of California taxpayers who made it possible for an unremarkable kid with mediocre grades to attend college and business school, and all the obstacles, temptations, and traps that could have easily hampered my socialization — smartphones, online dating, porn, gambling, video games, remote work. I wondered why what was happening to boys and young men was in fact happening and how I could raise my sons in a world where they — and males of any age — thrive.

The data around boys and young men is overwhelming. Seldom in recent memory has there been a cohort that’s fallen farther, faster. Why? First, boys face an educational system biased against them — with brains that mature later than girls’, they almost immediately fall behind their female classmates. Many grow up without male role models, including teachers — fewer men teach K–12 than there are women working in STEM fields — with Black and Hispanic school instructors especially underrepresented.

Post–high school, the social contract that binds America — work hard, play by the rules, and you’ll be better off than your parents were — has been severed. Seventy-year-old Americans today are, on average, 72% wealthier than they were forty years ago.

People under the age of forty are 24% less wealthy. The deliberate transfer of wealth from the young to the old in the United States over the past century has led to unaffordable and indefensible costs for education and housing and skyrocketing student debt, all of which directly affect young men. It’s why twenty-five-year-olds today make less than their parents and grandparents did at the same age, while carrying debt loads unimaginable to earlier generations. Neither the minimum nor the median wage has kept pace with inflation or productivity gains, while housing costs have outpaced both. As the costs of college have soared beyond the reach of most families, many of the manufacturing jobs that didn’t require a college degree and were often a ticket to the middle class for (mostly) men have been offshored. A prohibitive real estate market is a contributing factor to why 60% of young men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four live with their parents and 1 in 5 still live with their parents at age thirty. Stuck and unable to afford greater economic opportunities in nearby cities, they find the same crush and collision of density, stimulation, humanity, creativity, eroticism, and conversation that urban areas offer on their phones instead. In Manhattan, a four-hundred-square-foot apartment costs $3,000 a month. In its stead is a seventeen-square-inch mobile studio apartment costing roughly $42 a month, served up by AT&T, T- Mobile, or Verizon.

Meanwhile, algorithmically generated content on social media contributes to—and profits from—young men’s growing social isolation, boredom, and ignorance. With the deepest-pocketed firms on the planet trying to convince young men they can have a reasonable facsimile of life on a screen, many grow up without acquiring the skills to build social capital or create wealth. The percentage of young men aged twenty to twenty-four who are neither in school nor working has tripled since 1980. Workforce participation among men has fallen below 90%, caused by a lack of well-paying jobs, wage stagnation, disabilities, a mismatch of skills and/or training, and falling demand for jobs traditionally held by prime-age men.

This is deadly. From 2005 to 2019, roughly 70,000 Americans died every year from deaths of despair — suicide, drug overdoses, alcohol poisoning — with a disproportionate number of those fatalities being unemployed white males without a college degree. Excluding deaths caused by the opioid epidemic, America’s suicide and alcohol-related mortality rate for all races is higher than it’s been in a century. It’s also a mating crisis, as women traditionally mate horizontally and up socioeconomically, whereas men mate horizontally and down. Up until the mid–twentieth century, homogamy — marriages between men and women from similar educational backgrounds — was more common than not. Today, hypogamy, where women marry men who have less education than themselves, is on the rise. When the pool of horizontal-and-up young men shrinks, there are fewer mating opportunities, less family and household formation, and not as many babies. Here’s a terrifying stat: 45% of men ages eighteen to twenty-five have never approached a woman in person. And without the guardrails of a relationship, young men behave as if they have … no guardrails.

Why are we so averse to identifying and celebrating what’s good about men and masculinity, and why does it matter? Because we won’t prosper if we convince boys and young men that they’re victims, or that they don’t have to be persistent and resilient, or that their perspective isn’t valuable. If we do, we’ll end up with a society of old people and zero economic growth. If we can’t convince young men of the honor involved and the unique contributions inherent in expressing what makes them male, we’ll lose them to niche, rabid online communities.

As my Pivot podcast cohost Kara Swisher commented once, it should matter to everyone if men aren’t thriving. Women and children can’t flourish if men aren’t doing well. Neither will our country.

https://www.profgalloway.com/notes-on-b ... AKsdCMqMaA

They are all lazy entitled little spoiled bitches

The economy was horrible in 1981 but I found a way to get it done, had a alot of fun and I’m still not done

Thanks Dad kicking me out of the house!

[kalm]

…….People under the age of forty are 24% less wealthy. The deliberate transfer of wealth from the young to the old in the United States over the past century has led to unaffordable and indefensible costs for education and housing and skyrocketing student debt, all of which directly affect young men. It’s why twenty-five-year-olds today make less than their parents and grandparents did at the same age, while carrying debt loads unimaginable to earlier generations. Neither the minimum nor the median wage has kept pace with inflation or productivity gains, while housing costs have outpaced both. As the costs of college have soared beyond the reach of most families, many of the manufacturing jobs that didn’t require a college degree and were often a ticket to the middle class for (mostly) men have been offshored. A prohibitive real estate market is a contributing factor to why 60% of young men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four live with their parents and 1 in 5 still live with their parents at age thirty. Stuck and unable to afford greater economic opportunities in nearby cities, they find the same crush and collision of density, stimulation, humanity, creativity, eroticism, and conversation that urban areas offer on their phones instead. In Manhattan, a four-hundred-square-foot apartment costs $3,000 a month. In its stead is a seventeen-square-inch mobile studio apartment costing roughly $42 a month, served up by AT&T, T- Mobile, or Verizon….

….The percentage of young men aged twenty to twenty-four who are neither in school nor working has tripled since 1980. Workforce participation among men has fallen below 90%, caused by a lack of well-paying jobs, wage stagnation, disabilities, a mismatch of skills and/or training, and falling demand for jobs traditionally held by prime-age men.
https://www.profgalloway.com/notes-on-b ... AKsdCMqMaA

Of course-
Education Costs: govt keeps on increasing subsidies, and the universities keep jacking tuition, along with spending ever larger sums on Taj Mahal amenities on campus in the battle to attract more students.
Gov’t and university created problem.

There is no valid reason for people to go into high 5 figure or 6 figure debt for non STEMM.
For one, the military will pay a 6 figure amount for college. They have hundreds of MOSes which 90% of aren’t Combat Arms.

Secondly “The you have to go to college” mantra to be successful in life is complete that has been told to young men for decades is BS. Same is the ‘falling demand for jobs traditionally held by prime-age men.’ There is a shortage in the trades (traditionally dominated by men) that is just getting worse. Even low cost areas of the country those experienced & skilled in the trades can make over 100k, and well over 200k in high cost areas. And there is a shortage of truck drivers (another field traditionally dominated by men). Look no further than all the accidents caused by illegals with CDLs (thanks Newsome) that have been in the news lately.

Housing Costs:
10/11/24 article, 2021 survey. That 93,870 in 2021 is about 113k in today’s $$$. And that doesn’t even count the real estate taxes. Gov’t created problem.

According to the National Association of Home Builders, government regulations add $93,870 — or 23.8 percent — to the average cost of a home.

https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/com ... me-prices/
https://www.nahb.org/-/media/NAHB/news- ... 558881227b
And of course you have restrictions in many areas that make it more difficult and expensive, or impossible, to build new starter homes which the US needs millions more of.
US housing deficit grew to 4.7 million despite construction surge
https://investors.zillowgroup.com/inves ... fault.aspx

And letting in mlions of illegals/TPS/asylum seekers has led to rental shortages in cities where they have settled, which in turn puts increased pressure on housing costs Thanks Biden.

And having to jack interest rates in 2022 to counter runaway inflation made housing more expensive. Thanks again Biden.

..In Manhattan, a four-hundred-square-foot apartment costs $3,000 a month..

So what. For the Mandami voting 20 something Gen Zers who complain about that they can go live in one of the other non trendy/non hip neighborhoods in one of the other 4 boroughs for 1/2 that. Or don’t live in NYC.

The author briefly touched on masculinity. He left off the left’s war on masculinity. All young men heard for the better part of the last decade was donks is pushing woke trans ideology, men playing women’s sports, masculinity is toxic, and if you don‘t vote for Harris you‘re a sexist misogynist, etc.
https://www.championshipsubdivision.com ... 3#p1467453
But what about last week’s elections? Well, about 600k 20204 Trump voters in NJ and another 600k in VA didn’t show up. I suspect many were the young males that voted Trump in 2024. We’ll see what happens in 2026.

The wages are with years of experience and likely various certifications and training.

I’m calling 100% bullshit on new home construction costs.

High rent districts still require service workers. Commuting decreases take home pay.

Toxic masculinity is as old as patriarchy. Those who are offended by questioning it are insecure and driven by fear or resentful of women.

[BDKJMU]

Of course-
Education Costs: govt keeps on increasing subsidies, and the universities keep jacking tuition, along with spending ever larger sums on Taj Mahal amenities on campus in the battle to attract more students.
Gov’t and university created problem.

There is no valid reason for people to go into high 5 figure or 6 figure debt for non STEMM.
For one, the military will pay a 6 figure amount for college. They have hundreds of MOSes which 90% of aren’t Combat Arms.

Secondly “The you have to go to college” mantra to be successful in life is complete that has been told to young men for decades is BS. Same is the ‘falling demand for jobs traditionally held by prime-age men.’ There is a shortage in the trades (traditionally dominated by men) that is just getting worse. Even low cost areas of the country those experienced & skilled in the trades can make over 100k, and well over 200k in high cost areas. And there is a shortage of truck drivers (another field traditionally dominated by men). Look no further than all the accidents caused by illegals with CDLs (thanks Newsome) that have been in the news lately.

Housing Costs:
10/11/24 article, 2021 survey. That 93,870 in 2021 is about 113k in today’s $$$. And that doesn’t even count the real estate taxes. Gov’t created problem.

https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/com ... me-prices/
https://www.nahb.org/-/media/NAHB/news- ... 558881227b
And of course you have restrictions in many areas that make it more difficult and expensive, or impossible, to build new starter homes which the US needs millions more of.
US housing deficit grew to 4.7 million despite construction surge
https://investors.zillowgroup.com/inves ... fault.aspx

And letting in mlions of illegals/TPS/asylum seekers has led to rental shortages in cities where they have settled, which in turn puts increased pressure on housing costs Thanks Biden.

And having to jack interest rates in 2022 to counter runaway inflation made housing more expensive. Thanks again Biden.


So what. For the Mandami voting 20 something Gen Zers who complain about that they can go live in one of the other non trendy/non hip neighborhoods in one of the other 4 boroughs for 1/2 that. Or don’t live in NYC.

The author briefly touched on masculinity. He left off the left’s war on masculinity. All young men heard for the better part of the last decade was donks is pushing woke trans ideology, men playing women’s sports, masculinity is toxic, and if you don‘t vote for Harris you‘re a sexist misogynist, etc.
https://www.championshipsubdivision.com ... 3#p1467453
But what about last week’s elections? Well, about 600k 20204 Trump voters in NJ and another 600k in VA didn’t show up. I suspect many were the young males that voted Trump in 2024. We’ll see what happens in 2026.

The wages are with years of experience and likely various certifications and training.

I’m calling 100% bullshit on new home construction costs.

High rent districts still require service workers. Commuting decreases take home pay.

Toxic masculinity is as old as patriarchy. Those who are offended by questioning it are insecure and driven by fear or resentful of women.

Yeah Kalm is right and the National Association of Home Builders is wrong. What do they know.

[kalm]

The wages are with years of experience and likely various certifications and training.

I’m calling 100% bullshit on new home construction costs.

High rent districts still require service workers. Commuting decreases take home pay.

Toxic masculinity is as old as patriarchy. Those who are offended by questioning it are insecure and driven by fear or resentful of women.

Yeah Kalm is right and the National Association of Home Builders is wrong. What do they know.

I’m good friends with a former president of the Spokane chapter. They obviously have an axe to grind and their entire existence is based on reducing regulations and costs per unit.

So yeah…I’m right on questioning their numbers. I’m guessing ‘88 can speak to this on a deeper level. We likely will disagree on the political philosophy but he can confirm whether it makes sense to question their numbers.

[BDKJMU]

Of course-
Education Costs: govt keeps on increasing subsidies, and the universities keep jacking tuition, along with spending ever larger sums on Taj Mahal amenities on campus in the battle to attract more students.
Gov’t and university created problem.

There is no valid reason for people to go into high 5 figure or 6 figure debt for non STEMM.
For one, the military will pay a 6 figure amount for college. They have hundreds of MOSes which 90% of aren’t Combat Arms.

Secondly “The you have to go to college” mantra to be successful in life is complete that has been told to young men for decades is BS. Same is the ‘falling demand for jobs traditionally held by prime-age men.’ There is a shortage in the trades (traditionally dominated by men) that is just getting worse. Even low cost areas of the country those experienced & skilled in the trades can make over 100k, and well over 200k in high cost areas. And there is a shortage of truck drivers (another field traditionally dominated by men). Look no further than all the accidents caused by illegals with CDLs (thanks Newsome) that have been in the news lately.

Housing Costs:
10/11/24 article, 2021 survey. That 93,870 in 2021 is about 113k in today’s $$$. And that doesn’t even count the real estate taxes. Gov’t created problem.

https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/com ... me-prices/
https://www.nahb.org/-/media/NAHB/news- ... 558881227b
And of course you have restrictions in many areas that make it more difficult and expensive, or impossible, to build new starter homes which the US needs millions more of.
US housing deficit grew to 4.7 million despite construction surge
https://investors.zillowgroup.com/inves ... fault.aspx

And letting in mlions of illegals/TPS/asylum seekers has led to rental shortages in cities where they have settled, which in turn puts increased pressure on housing costs Thanks Biden.

And having to jack interest rates in 2022 to counter runaway inflation made housing more expensive. Thanks again Biden.


So what. For the Mandami voting 20 something Gen Zers who complain about that they can go live in one of the other non trendy/non hip neighborhoods in one of the other 4 boroughs for 1/2 that. Or don’t live in NYC.

The author briefly touched on masculinity. He left off the left’s war on masculinity. All young men heard for the better part of the last decade was donks is pushing woke trans ideology, men playing women’s sports, masculinity is toxic, and if you don‘t vote for Harris you‘re a sexist misogynist, etc.
https://www.championshipsubdivision.com ... 3#p1467453
But what about last week’s elections? Well, about 600k 20204 Trump voters in NJ and another 600k in VA didn’t show up. I suspect many were the young males that voted Trump in 2024. We’ll see what happens in 2026.

The wages are with years of experience and likely various certifications and training.

I’m calling 100% bullshit on new home construction costs.

High rent districts still require service workers. Commuting decreases take home pay.

Toxic masculinity is as old as patriarchy. Those who are offended by questioning it are insecure and driven by fear or resentful of women.

No. More like those who question it are lib women and a bunch of soy boy beta males libs. The men for Kamala types.

[kalm]

The wages are with years of experience and likely various certifications and training.

I’m calling 100% bullshit on new home construction costs.

High rent districts still require service workers. Commuting decreases take home pay.

Toxic masculinity is as old as patriarchy. Those who are offended by questioning it are insecure and driven by fear or resentful of women.

No. More like those who question it are lib women and a bunch of soy boy beta males libs. The men for Kamala types.

Beautiful projection right there.

[BDKJMU]

Yeah Kalm is right and the National Association of Home Builders is wrong. What do they know.

I’m good friends with a former president of the Spokane chapter. They obviously have an axe to grind and their entire existence is based on reducing regulations and costs per unit.

So yeah…I’m right on questioning their numbers. I’m guessing ‘88 can speak to this on a deeper level. We likely will disagree on the political philosophy but he can confirm whether it makes sense to question their numbers.

Which would lower housing costs for the consumer.. Newsflash, the builders aren’t paying those burdensome regulatory costs and taxes. They are passing them on to the consumer.