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[jstripes]

The raise of the alt-right in online youth culture is a difficult and interesting sociological and political issue. Most of it appears to borne out of social alienation & ignorance, leading to a warped sense of entitlement, a hatred of others, unwarranted sense of superiority and a victim complex when criticised. There is also the edgeiness factor. It's very easy to troll by saying something disgustingly racist and bigoted for reaction. It's like a perfect storm of problematic issues.

People's first reaction is to obviously attack them and ignore them because they are a bunch of racist, bigoted pieces of shit. But if the core of the issue is not examined more closely & the more they feel a push back, the larger their movement will become. I fear for the future that such a movement is gaining traction across the world. The youth is historically left leaning and thankfully for the majority that is still the case but the alt-right is growing and has no signs that it's going away anytime soon.

This type of youth has always been around, but the key difference in the past is that they were literally socially isolated. They kept to themselves, or as a small clutch of like-minded individuals bound to their geographic area. Now they all congregate online in massive echo chambers that reinforce their views to radical degrees, and allow them to spread it without limits.

 

[Nuts2U]

The internet was a mistake.

But on a serious note, I keep seeing these communities pop up and it worries me. How can we as a culture reach out to young men who might be swayed into a toxic community before it's too late?

 

[Hamster Plugin]

South Korea has mandatory military conscription, where men are sent to a two-year military service while women continue living free during that time. At a young age, men are living entirely different lives from women for two whole years.

This creates a big disconnect where liberal norms say that women and men are equals, while the conscription law says otherwise. Because feminists tend to be hesitant to deal with this issue, or sometimes even refuse to ("men got all the privilege, stop whining!"), it creates an environment where MRAs (Men's Rights Activists) become appealing.

I live in Finland where we also have a conscription law, although much shorter (6, 9 or 12 months depending on what you do, you can't choose). Criticizing it is MRAs main method of gaining popularity.

 

[Shauni]

"backlash against liberal social values"? I didn't think S Korea was that liberal generally. Culturally, it is still relatively conservative isn't it?

It is, but it's moving at a pretty fast pace. The country kind of moves at a break neck speed in general, and the social values aspect may not be moving quite as fast, but it's still moving along at a relatively quick one