ThreePiMatt
Member
Its been argued that the gradual removal of sports, physical education, etc from schools is the reason why boys struggle compared to girls at pretty much all levels of education.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
We need to talk about the online radicalisation of young, white men
- Thread starter unpopularblargh
- Start date
- Status
Its been argued that the gradual removal of sports, physical education, etc from schools is the reason why boys struggle compared to girls at pretty much all levels of education.
ugaboga232
Member
Quoting for new page since a lot of people are vaguely getting at the predisposition of young men for aggression linked with sexuality.
International Iron Man
Banned
And its felt my man. His opinion on it may differ, but don't think even for a second that the contribution to fighting these things is going unnoticed. We are all allies against this bullshit. And it will die only to our allied hands in the end. Just as many black, white and everyone in between (or whatever) fighting against this right now. Everyones help in ending this shit is appreciated, and matters.
International Iron Man
Banned
White supremacy is the problem. Much of white society in America is also arguably the problem. White people are not. It's difficult at times to remember to make that distinction, because so much of American's problems stem from the failures of white society to address bigotry and racism. But all the same, it's a distinction that has to be made. As you reminded a gaffer earlier, Black History Month is here. So let me state that I think it's an insult to civil rights and to individuals far more diplomatic than you to act like we have never been able to gain the support of a significant portion of white America, and that this support was not pivotal. It was, we have, and addressing this new wave of nationalism demands we continue to do so.
I am not going to address your insinuation that I'm an alt-righter. That you made it says more about you and how closely you follow these topics on GAF than I could hope to do in a rejoinder. I will, again, remind you that there are plenty of white people "lifting fingers" to address this very serious problem bubbling within America. Opening a discussion about the alt-right with the equivalent of "white people don't care" might make you feel good and it might vent some legitimate frustration with white America, but it's offensively inaccurate.
This time, no gif, just some photos:
Look at all those lifted fingers, IIM. This is your country.
Actually I really like that gif so here it is again:
No, this is my country.
Because I'm not white and protected by whiteness.
Also when MLK Jr died, his approval was at 28% nationwide, so if anyone is insulting the Civil Rights movement, it would be you and your whitewashing of what actually happened.
Speaking of which, what happened to our Civil Rights leaders?
Oh they were all murdered, most of them by the state and white supremacy.
These white people are nowhere to be seen when its black bodies in the street.
White and NBPOC just now getting on the train and now they want a cookie?
Pass.
Also, no one insinuated you were an alt-righter. Might be some guilt you may want to deal with in that regard.
How do we dismantle the very fabric of America? The problem is inherent. The only way would be to tear this shit down and start over. But I have no problem admitting white people ain't shit and i never have.. white supremacy is rooted in American democracy.
I don't think treating this like Americans Anonymous is going to reverse the radical aftereffects we see today. Its going to take more than just introspection when its has become ingrained in society. These are white blood cells gone rogue. We have to actually start reversing things.. But I'll continue do it.
International Iron Man
Banned
That's a white people created problem, so it sounds like yall need to discuss that and stop looking to everyone else to clean up the messes made by yall.
Shake Appeal
Member
There is no and can be no excuse for white supremacy as it has existed in this country since before its founding.
However, I genuinely think these particular kids are enabled by the Internet in a way that is strikingly new. The world has always had its creepy loser white dorks, a few of whom turn out to be more sinister, but never before have they had online communities to enable, encourage, and radicalize one another the way they do. It wasn't a specifically violent subculture back then; it was just generalized violent culture.
It also coincides with a (half-century or so) period of relative gains for the marginalized and minorities in our societies. That's made for a lot of fragile white dudes who can't disentangle feminism and civil rights and relative gains for the oppressed from their own shortcomings, because everything is a cruel zero-sum game to them.
MikeBreezy92
Member
No, this is my country.
Because I'm not white and protected by whiteness.
Also when MLK Jr died, his approval was at 28% nationwide, so if anyone is insulting the Civil Rights movement, it would be you and your whitewashing of what actually happened.
Speaking of which, what happened to our Civil Rights leaders?
Oh they were all murdered, most of them by the state and white supremacy.
These white people are nowhere to be seen when its black bodies in the street.
White and NBPOC just now getting on the train and now they want a cookie?
Pass.
Tbh dog, you're really not adding to the conversation. I get it if you were getting a lot of dissenting opinions in the thread but most people see your point and agree, those that don't can't see past your anger to see your overall point. Walk away for a bit Breh.
I do agree that a few white people here and there protesting is nice but it doesn't and hasn't felt like anything substantial, especially after the election. A lot of skepticism is based on that and past failures of white people to mobilize.
OmegaSmash
Member
https://youtu.be/Td88z08a_4c
I feel like this video explains what Toxic Masculinity is pretty easily.
I feel like this video explains what Toxic Masculinity is pretty easily.
Audioboxer
Member
It's cool bro, I'm trying to argue some of the causalities around that *science high five*.
However, getting a biological/psychological explanation is only a tiny part of this. Solutions to the evidence are what may actually help societies. Hopefully though as more realise some of the science behind emotions/actions/the brain, solutions can come that target these areas.
As a related side note, anyone in any field around the brain/human behaviour will tell you anger is a normal and healthy human emotion. It's what is done with it, and if it's occurring so often, what may be causing it. It's literally a response from your brain and body, it's not necessarily a fully manufactured state, such as "acting". As in, we do not just wake up one day and say that's me stopping being angry, I won't shout, be confrontational or feel anger again.
Heck, I'm pretty certain 99% of GAF feels anger on a daily basis posting on here lol. It's just most likely passion bumping heads with frustration if you're in debate. For those few minutes you feel that emotion, a lot of these young men manage to almost be in a state of constantly being that wired up to over 9000. Prolonged bouts of anger and aggression as you said, are often linked to sexual behaviour or a lack of it. Many of these men probably don't even know/understand that, especially if their sex education is terrible and their expectation is they should be fucking non-stop.
That's precisely why the internet is the best battlefield at the moment IMO, especially if you are in danger of being punched back by them (not all racists are tweps like Spencer, of couse, some of them are more dangerous and looking for a reason to punch back).
You can get them in trouble with employers, teachers, etc by getting them to air out their beliefs unanonymously on social media comment sections via facebook pages of anonymous confessions sites (so you don't out your identity to them that allows them to cyberbully/hack/etc). It is surprisingly easy to do most of the time because, shockingly, racists are kind of stupid and reactionary.
User Name Here
Member
I've noticed that as well. Especially if you look at the catholic church and the behavior of some of it's past and possibly present priest.
Yup.
International Iron Man
Banned
And there's a huge difference between "Fuck I'm angry, I'm going to go play football/basketball/do karate/etc" and "I'm going to join the KKK and oppress women and minorities".
Neuroscience doesn't explain everything.
ugaboga232
Member
Of course, we can't yet control our emotions or feelings or thoughts (though some of us are working on it for the good of humanity).
I think we need a national discussion on what feelings and emotions really are and how they are not controllable (before we open up the can of worms about how our thoughts aren't either).
More on topic, using this information along with the context specific cues that are causing radicalization in this specific population is probably the best way and would probably require a different but perhaps similar solution like the one certain parts of europe are using to diminish radicalization through empathetic approaches (there was an NPR about it, will try to find it later).
As a future meatbag mechanic, we are still very very much slaves of our more primitive/id type feelings and emotions (hence depression, anxiety, tribalism, etc.).
Of course, but we can see the patterns that relate neuroscience and the statistics of who commits these crimes in order to try to fix this problem. There are very very important cultural/environmental cues that the internet is a massive part of that will dominate the current approach since we don't have that many great neuroscience tools for these kind of feelings (though there are recognized disorders like ODD and conduct disorder which certain drugs like beta blockers help with).
Plus the goal of neuroscience is to literally explain everything about human behavior, we just aren't quite there yet
Anders Breivik is the big one. There was also another incident in 2015 where a Swedish young middle class man went on a killing spree with a sword in a school for immigrants. Police where completely stumped when they found out that he had no criminal background whatsoever.
The deadliest terrorist attacks in modern post-WW2 Scandinavian history have all been carried out by homegrown white radicals.
The deadliest terrorist attacks in modern post-WW2 Scandinavian history have all been carried out by homegrown white radicals.
International Iron Man
Banned
Neuroscience is the why the brain works the way it does, but unless neuroscience is saying white supremacy is in brain chemistry, we will need more than neuroscience to explain how we end up with 2 different reactions.
ugaboga232
Member
Well unless you believe in dualism or something like that, then the reason why some people take up white supremacy and why some don't is something that neuroscience can answer (along with eventually the questions psychology attempts to answer now).
MikeBreezy92
Member
I think there needs to be more of a focus on Sociology than anything else considering who we're dealing with.
Well finally starting to mobilize so hopefully soon it'll get better. There are white people out there that know better and aren't taking half measures to emulate their more aware friends. I promise. One day it won't be so half assed.
Audioboxer
Member
Celibacy should only ever be something that's attempted as a genuine choice. An order, demand or imposed restriction is not choice, no matter how anyone tries to spin it or convince themselves. This isn't to say everyone who becomes celibate due to religion then abuses. As always, scales of diversity! Some may just suffer in silence and emotionally, and never hurt or torment another person. Others unfortunately do explode outwards, either via aggression or abuse. Paedophilia in the Catholic Church has such a terrible terrible history. Men abusing children as they were easy to bully and most likely didn't give up any resistance. Of course in some Islamic circles you have men abusing women, or worse, the virgins after death nonsense. Again, all playing into sex, oppression and the mind. However, yes, so much sexual oppression has came from religion. From anti-contraception nonsense to no sex before marriage to women being described as 2nd class to rape hand-waving to abuse of minors to celibacy demands, and the list goes on and on. (of course this is a time to do a #notallreligiouspeople)
The point is there are many areas in life where you can study how sex and sexual activity can be a contributor towards horrific actions humans can carry out.
Neuroscience explains the brain and biology, it doesn't explain individual choice. So far as there is a massive difference between being an angry sad moron online who shitposts and sends mean tweets, and someone who is actually in the KKK. Yes I know the thing nowadays is to call everyone online a Nazi, but objectively speaking many of these angry men aren't Nazi's, they're abusive assholes on the internet.
I know there is a huge difference between those goalposts you set, but inbetween that huge distance there are many individuals along the way. Some can potentially be helped, and sure, some, we probably don't stand a chance. They'll either end up in prison, dead, or die still believing and acting how they've done all their life.
Well the emotions may come about due to thoughts and sometimes reflexes, but your actual response is controllable. Unless you have a genuine mental imbalance/diagnosed condition.
The battle to a healthy and productive response is having a good understanding of how your brain and body works, and then on top of that wisdom about society/what it means to fail/social etiquette/etc. Basically a melting pot of education from the biological, to the social and practical.
I mean as a University Student I feel as though there's also a lack of opportunities to socialize in the first place.
University was said to be "the best time of your life"
But the average student is just working; school, job, personal life etc.. So there is a real lack of socialization, lack of friendship. Over-emphasis on media consumption.
I mean generally speaking people in University aren't drinking, doing drugs, partying and such. That may have been true 20 years ago but today, no..
I feel like a lot of guys don't like university/college but pretty much forced to go. Also seems like many of us are being dehumanized and in the process dehumanizing others. I don't know what the solution is. But I suggest try talking to someone, anyone, go volunteer, do something. Also seek mental services on campus, there's no shame in it; I've had to go there myself
Definitely scary, because it seems like a lot of guys have lost control of themselves entirely and you can't even know whats going on.
Not entirely based on sex, but probably part of the issue.The other day I seen a dude get friend-zoned on campus and ran off crying saying that he never wants to see the girl again. This is strange behaviour, it's as if a lot of guys merely see women as tools. Still a lot of guys go through this I don't know why people seek to these avenues for their frustration. Crazy.
University was said to be "the best time of your life"
But the average student is just working; school, job, personal life etc.. So there is a real lack of socialization, lack of friendship. Over-emphasis on media consumption.
I mean generally speaking people in University aren't drinking, doing drugs, partying and such. That may have been true 20 years ago but today, no..
I feel like a lot of guys don't like university/college but pretty much forced to go. Also seems like many of us are being dehumanized and in the process dehumanizing others. I don't know what the solution is. But I suggest try talking to someone, anyone, go volunteer, do something. Also seek mental services on campus, there's no shame in it; I've had to go there myself
Definitely scary, because it seems like a lot of guys have lost control of themselves entirely and you can't even know whats going on.
Not entirely based on sex, but probably part of the issue.The other day I seen a dude get friend-zoned on campus and ran off crying saying that he never wants to see the girl again. This is strange behaviour, it's as if a lot of guys merely see women as tools. Still a lot of guys go through this I don't know why people seek to these avenues for their frustration. Crazy.
ugaboga232
Member
Well there is no real mechanism for how you can control your thoughts or really any behavior given what we know about neuroscience so I will politely disagree with that point. Whether you are diagnosed or not, you still operate by the same rules of reality which unless you wanna believe things are quantum randomness, are pretty deterministic. I do agree that there are many many factors which go into making a "choice" so focusing purely on the neuroscience is not a smart tactic. While we can't explain individual choices quite yet (in humans, mice are another story) there will be a time soon where we can begin to do things like that.
Outcast are vulnerable.
People who feel rejected by their peers become a target.
Any group can prey on someone with low self steem and a desire to be part of something.
Even Neo-nazis.
Because they don't have to embody the idea of the "aryan superman", they just need someone to embrace them and then tell them "it's not your fault, i accept you, it's the fault of those fucking [Slurs], they are to blame for your inadequacies".
And just like that, you gave that poor son of a bitch a purpose, did he really believes he's superior? Doesn't matter, what matter is he has somewhere to belong and that "it's not his fault that he's an outcast".
This is what happens when you live in a highly tribalistic society where labels are everything and tribes trump unity, outcasts become vulnerable, and now the hate groups are swooping in to add all these outcasts to their ranks.
People who feel rejected by their peers become a target.
Any group can prey on someone with low self steem and a desire to be part of something.
Even Neo-nazis.
Because they don't have to embody the idea of the "aryan superman", they just need someone to embrace them and then tell them "it's not your fault, i accept you, it's the fault of those fucking [Slurs], they are to blame for your inadequacies".
And just like that, you gave that poor son of a bitch a purpose, did he really believes he's superior? Doesn't matter, what matter is he has somewhere to belong and that "it's not his fault that he's an outcast".
This is what happens when you live in a highly tribalistic society where labels are everything and tribes trump unity, outcasts become vulnerable, and now the hate groups are swooping in to add all these outcasts to their ranks.
Forearm Star
Member
International Iron Man
Banned
Not every KKK member or racist or Nazi killed or lynched people. Some just scremed at them from the sidewalk during integration, or from passing cars, or just hurled racist epithets every day at minorities and women.
The thing is, those actions emboldened the more violent ones to do what they do and did specifically because they had the backing of the cowards that spewed hatred everywhere they looked.
So yes, they deserve all the vitriol hurled at them specifically because of the far-reaching effects their actions have.
DiipuSurotu
Banned
Audioboxer
Member
By response I more-so meant actions. Not thoughts. You are right in the "control thoughts" rebuttal. Our brains are largely just a mass of in/out information, most of it is white noise. Every so often something ridiculous, stupid, silly or even crazy will just come to the forefront. Some of the thoughts you could share at times, in text, in a post, will have people quote you and call you insane. We all have weird/random thoughts though, most of us just let them pass by.
I get all of that, as I said I meant how you respond. Acknowledging the thought is the first part, the next is usually just letting it go if its something daft. If you start criticising yourself for thought-crime you'll go down a bad path mentally. The practice of mindfulness is useful here.
This is also partly why being engaged, staying busy and productive is healthy. Sitting in your room all day, away from the world and doing the same thing over and over usually leads to an "inactive" brain, which leads to procrastinating, drudging up of painful memories and insecurities, and so forth. You mix this in with having no real friends, having no sex life and maybe being financially/job unsuccessful and you end up with so much anger and so much free time to stew on it and "radicalise". It's precisely why trolling has become such a force, it's the only release many seem to have these days... As in they perceive it as their release. Obviously in reality, healthy minds have an abundance of releases for anger/frustration, from talking to friends, going out, varied hobbies, sports, and of course, sexual release.
You can hurl shit at anyone you please. That wasn't really the argument I was discussing. It was the hows and whys, mixed with my 2 cents on long-term solutions. Or maybe I should call them preventative measures. As in trying to stop people going down paths from high school that get them to where they end up.
ugaboga232
Member
Well maybe I'm being a little too radical but I would contend you can't even control your actions though we should definitely help/encourage the disaffected or those with low self esteem to interact with others and be social. Idle brain's are the Id's play things unfortunately.
Here are some of the things we can do: http://www.npr.org/sections/paralle...azis-help-fight-the-radicalization-of-muslims
http://www.npr.org/2016/09/05/49272...works-to-prevent-radicalization-in-copenhagen
(there are more NPR articles on how we can abuse the brain's shortcomings for the good of society sometimes).
You, did, you literally did. At the very least you could say you insinuated he had alt-right qualities and in either case him defending himself in bringing it up makes no sense that you would again insinuate maybe there is some guilt there. So that's twice now.
Audioboxer
Member
I suppose if you argue the "re-wiring" of someone's brain through learning new mechanisms for coping/understanding and so forth leads to their "automated" responses changing. We're kind of splitting hairs at that point though. I think we both get each other and mainly agree.
And cheers for the links, there's a lot of fascinating "brain food" around reading when radicalisation (often religious as that is what we have most data from) is broken down, and minds freed from it. I guess you could say some of our understandings come from tackling addictions as well, such as alcohol abuse and how the brain needs help, not just the physical body.
I don't disagree with that, but I think you're discounting personal causes. I was a nerdy, sheltered, socially stunted white conservative kid and I would not be shocked if I would have ended up in the alt right were it not for some good liberal friends turning me away from that path years ago. When you're privileged but not aware of it and things don't go your way, you latch on to things that explain why that's happening. So yes, you're right, the underlying cause is white supremacy, but young men often don't come to that simply because they hate black people. That gets slowly seeded into them afterwards, though the suspicion may exist beforehand.
I did end up getting into radical politics in the end, just in the other direction.
ugaboga232
Member
Yea there is a large body of evidence over in psychology and psychiatry for treating more clinical forms of similar problems. Addiction, oppositional defiant disorder, certain personality disorders all share some characteristics and neural circuitry with the usual radicalization pathway and we can try to leverage the knowledge we have on treating those disorders to help radicalization. We already have a whole field of changing beliefs, lets not reinvent the wheel if we don't need to.
CoyoteSpitfire
Member
I hang around on some tangentially related (to this topic, not the alt-right itself) forums, where other unwanted men reside. This:
is, sadly, a very common sentiment. But, reality is a tough pill to swallow when you were born with poor genetics and the best hope you have for attracting a partner is having lots of money. The fact that masculinity is often held to be largely determined by success with women doesn't help either.
International Iron Man
Banned
False. Trying to give white people as a whole credit for the actions of one or a few is literally what Richard Spencer did in a speech, hence why it was alt-right of him. My bad that reading is hard.
Also he completely whitewashed the Civil Rights movement and vastly overestimated its popularity among white people at the time.
If you were a sheltered conservative white kid, the seeds were already planted for you to at minimum dislike minorities, considering the southern strategy and everything else that goes along with modern day conservatism. So all the alt-right does is confirm those beliefs, not plant them.
Audioboxer
Member
You ain't wrong my friend, most things around actions/thoughts are linked in one way or another. The usual disputes in the field are often around solutions and what is most effective treatment.
Also, the big question is how do you apply such knowledge country-wide? For me it has to be in state schools/education. I personally think more has to be done around sex education, and mental health (understanding and practical tools). Mental health stigma is yet another thing to add on top of sex issues/shaming. I bet you a pretty buck or two most males who have a small circle of male friends find it terribly difficult if not impossible to talk emotions with each other... It's no surprise my classes and field of study (anecdotally of course), psychology, is currently dominated by females lol.
It's true though, a wide sweeping statement, but you've usually got most preferring female doctors, female nurses, female shrinks, etc. Sometimes sheer personal choice, other times probably stigma around males being less emotional, less caring and more 'cold'. Where there is generalisations there is often nuggets of truth. I mean hey, it's not masses of angry female trolls online is it? lol
So you're exact words don't mean what they actually mean. Got it.
International Iron Man
Banned
I said what I said.
It was alt-right of him to use almost the exact same words as an alt-right leader, even if its in the opposite direction.
Jane Elliot been had the answers to both of these things.
ugaboga232
Member
Indeed, once could think of radicalization as almost reverse suicide. One big motivation for suicide is feeling like you are letting society/those around you down to such a degree that the world would be better off without you. If you flip that on its head, take a person that is probably depressed and lonely and tell them that it is society that is letting you down and giving them an outlet to dump all of their feelings on, you get radicalization. This goes hand in hand with the increase in suicides/mental health disorders. Both could be two sides of the same coin, fomented by social media, internet, and modernity in general (what we eat, how we sleep, how we live is not really optimal for how we evolved to work, so you end up with a lot of diseases of modernity so to speak like diabetes, depression, heart disease, etc.).
Tl;dr please fund the NIMH so the community can research mental health better.
Audioboxer
Member
I like that way of thinking about it. I say "like", but I really mean smart way of putting it.
URGENT:
Richard Spencer starting on a rant about the Quebec shooting RIGHT NOW on Twitter.
Please join in to condemn him.
https://twitter.com/RichardBSpencer/status/826238081477009408
Richard Spencer starting on a rant about the Quebec shooting RIGHT NOW on Twitter.
Please join in to condemn him.
https://twitter.com/RichardBSpencer/status/826238081477009408
ugaboga232
Member
I'm glad because america's tax dollars are going to me to do just that. Let's hope we can synthesize a way to deal with mental health problems and radicalization using all of our experience in psychology, psychiatry, sociology, history, etc. I do think we can learn from the anti-ISIS radicalization strategies in Europe given that both forms of radicalization seem to target similar demographics.
WiiredShawn
Member
This is what happens when white people sacrifice social solidarity in the name of capitalistic pursuit.
Many cultures have some version of the "you're not a man until you ____", which can be toxic, but many of them still have a level of social cohesion where young men know that they will have the support of their families and local community. They are still swaddled in the warmth of a reliable social fabric. But for young, white men in our current climate, I don't know if they see themselves as having a culture.
Media consumption simply tells them that white men are defined by their success, not by their socialization - whether that success be physical (conquering enemies), romantic (acquiring a love interest/sex), mental (outsmarting others) or financial (being a CEO). The other useful source of information, parents and peers, provide conflicting information - be nice to others, but play to win. Treat women with respect, but go out and sow your wild oats. Obey the law, but "boys will be boys". Try to fit in, but be yourself. Don't say hateful things to minorities, but also don't bring one of them home to us.
There may be some psychological/neurological evidence that men, more than women, look externally when trying to find the source of their problems. It's not that they're unattractive or unfunny, it's that all the women are whores who just want to date jerks. It's not that they're unqualified for the job, it's that Blacks are being given the upperhand. So amidst their conflicted messages and their raging hormones, some of them go searching for an external "threat" rather than face the knot of confusion within.
I imagine many of these men feel alone, lost, in pain, angry, bitter, insecure. They don't realize that, from birth, society has held them to an implied contract that goes something like this: "You'll be on the right side of history and the best side of the law. You'll be rich and famous and adored. You'll be treated as the most important. The only condition is that you have to care about success more than anything else - more than family, more than friends, more than lovers, more than emotions, more than art, more than equality."
Some of them can't or don't know how to uphold that contract. And instead of recognizing the contract for what it is - a bad deal - they go looking for reasons for why they're failing to succeed. Feminists, gays, minorities, whatever. Anyone who seems to pushing back against the social grain, calling their contract into question. Where they should see allies, they see enemies.
Layered on top of this cultural issue is a biological reality: Some men have more testosterone and are more aggressive. They want more sex than they can get. They want to pick fights. Their insecurities feed these impulses.
I don't really know what to do with these young men. Talking to them via the Internet probably isn't the answer; it's too easy for them to retreat. Part of this is a cultural problem about white privilege that we need to resolve as a society; part of this is a parental problem where parents need to talk to their sons more and encourage them to be more open about their feelings; part of this is a media problem where the Internet lets assholes prey on the weak under the guise of "free speech."; part of this is a medical problem in how we relate to and treat mental health issues. The solution won't come from one place.
Many cultures have some version of the "you're not a man until you ____", which can be toxic, but many of them still have a level of social cohesion where young men know that they will have the support of their families and local community. They are still swaddled in the warmth of a reliable social fabric. But for young, white men in our current climate, I don't know if they see themselves as having a culture.
Media consumption simply tells them that white men are defined by their success, not by their socialization - whether that success be physical (conquering enemies), romantic (acquiring a love interest/sex), mental (outsmarting others) or financial (being a CEO). The other useful source of information, parents and peers, provide conflicting information - be nice to others, but play to win. Treat women with respect, but go out and sow your wild oats. Obey the law, but "boys will be boys". Try to fit in, but be yourself. Don't say hateful things to minorities, but also don't bring one of them home to us.
There may be some psychological/neurological evidence that men, more than women, look externally when trying to find the source of their problems. It's not that they're unattractive or unfunny, it's that all the women are whores who just want to date jerks. It's not that they're unqualified for the job, it's that Blacks are being given the upperhand. So amidst their conflicted messages and their raging hormones, some of them go searching for an external "threat" rather than face the knot of confusion within.
I imagine many of these men feel alone, lost, in pain, angry, bitter, insecure. They don't realize that, from birth, society has held them to an implied contract that goes something like this: "You'll be on the right side of history and the best side of the law. You'll be rich and famous and adored. You'll be treated as the most important. The only condition is that you have to care about success more than anything else - more than family, more than friends, more than lovers, more than emotions, more than art, more than equality."
Some of them can't or don't know how to uphold that contract. And instead of recognizing the contract for what it is - a bad deal - they go looking for reasons for why they're failing to succeed. Feminists, gays, minorities, whatever. Anyone who seems to pushing back against the social grain, calling their contract into question. Where they should see allies, they see enemies.
Layered on top of this cultural issue is a biological reality: Some men have more testosterone and are more aggressive. They want more sex than they can get. They want to pick fights. Their insecurities feed these impulses.
I don't really know what to do with these young men. Talking to them via the Internet probably isn't the answer; it's too easy for them to retreat. Part of this is a cultural problem about white privilege that we need to resolve as a society; part of this is a parental problem where parents need to talk to their sons more and encourage them to be more open about their feelings; part of this is a media problem where the Internet lets assholes prey on the weak under the guise of "free speech."; part of this is a medical problem in how we relate to and treat mental health issues. The solution won't come from one place.
International Iron Man
Banned
"The Quebec shooter did an immoral thing that I openly advocate for." - Richard Spencer
He can get fucked.
Good luck getting people to admit to that.
Right, but they don't come to it because of that . There are other things - such as sexual frustration or (seriously) economic anxiety or whatever - that causes them to look for a scapegoat. If things were going swimmingly for them they'd be less likely to become radicalized. They'd stay diet racist, sure. But theres usually an impetus that causes then to become fascists.
As for me, I never had a personal dislike of minorities because my sister was adopted from a third world country and I grew up in a diverse location so I always had nonwhite friends. I was just totally ignorant about the things they faced though. At most I was nervous about Islam for a while in the post-9/11 period and I had the general uncomfortableness going into majority nonwhite areas that all white people have.
Has a line formed for punching Nazis yet?
- Status