It is the Manosphere, driven by influencers like Andrew Tate, Jordan Peterson, and yes, even Joe Rogan. It is a toxic brew of misogyny, incel-dom, and closed in performative bullshit.
I’ve read some of stories behind incels and the other acronyms. It’s very creepy. These guys are led to believe by people like Tate that there’s some kind of magical dust that will turn them into the man all women will lust after and be a willing sex slave for. Gross
The solution? Damned if I know. I raised my kids to be kind and respectful of others and that personal space belongs to the individual. WTF were these kids taught that they have to find solace with douche bros?
Thank you, Mr. Spice, for laying out one of the most frightening elements of our time. The deliberate efforts to recruit Gen Z’s into the rabid, R gold. This is an age group with lots of free T, muscles, but not enough real life experience to temper their thinking. The incel component seems to have been groomed as enforcers of Project 2025. Force all women of child bearing age to become home based brood mares, and let the ones too old for childbearing become “day care” providers. And how would incels “enforce” compliance? I learned how in my home town. An incel became infatuated with an attractive young woman in another FL town. When she moved here to attend college, he moved to continue stalking her. When again she rebuffed him, he went armed to a hot yoga facility she used, killed her, the director of a locally based health care company, and wounded others. Brave young men subdued him and held him until police arrived. Had he armed himself with an AR, even more innocent people would have perished. Gen Z incels? I hate that I live in a town with two colleges, a major junior college, and high schools in unprotected locations. Resource officers? Think of Uvalde, Texas.
Highly recommend Warren Farrell's book "The Boy Crisis". Warren was on Obama's taskforce to address this crisis. We may feel as if we are going backwards, but maybe we are just in the middle of the storm? https://www.amazon.ca/Boy-Crisis-Boys-Struggling-About/dp/1942952716
I think about my LTGBTQ brothers and sisters. Folks of all colors. We are all in this together and we are all in trouble. Many white folks who thought this was what they wanted will wonder when does it end, after sufficient time to clearly see what they've chosen has passed.
They'll say "but he's hurting the WRONG people" again, if Medicare is run into the ground by republican apparatchiks and Social Security becomes a glorified lottery for the monied to play with.
And what of the supreme court now? I'm not for giving up but right now all I can do is observe and consider for the time being.
A lot of the Latino men that voted for him are about to get a rude awakening. It will be especially bad for those whose spouses are undocumented. They honestly think that they’re *the good guys* and that Donald wouldn’t hurt them and their families as a result. They just want the bad migrants kicked out. smdh.
Talk about voting against one's interests. If/when the ball drops and private citizens are deputized so they too can get in on the bounties provided by "trapping illegals" no one of any Hispanic heritage wil be safe.
Of course that is an extreme example but then again we are living in an extreme example of something that ain't looking so good right now!
I am not advocating for reinstating the draft, however, we need to develop a program that gets kids interacting without their phones, after high school and before college. Whether this is a choose your own adventure with options like AmeriCorps, PeaceCore, military, apprenticeships (through unions? FWIW, Union members voted for Dems by 5+ points while we got crushed with the rest of “working class” voters), etc. Kids will be with others who share their values based on the program they’re in and it will teach them life, civic, social and hopefully some technical skills. I know this is something that would never happen under Donald - and if they tried, it would probably look something more like Starship Troopers than what I laid out, but it’s something I’ve been thinking a lot about recently and if we ever are back in a position where something like this could happen, we should push for it. Kids who are college bound could earn aid through AC, PC, military and those who chose could learn technical skills through apprenticeship and skills based training. It would be a win all around! My sister did 3 AmeriCorps programs - 1 rebuilding the Appalachian Trail in New Hampshire and 2 others as a teachers aide in Portland, OR. She loved the experiences and earned $30k toward college ($10k per stint + a small living stipend was the usual payout back in the 1990s). I am spitballing here, but breaking the misogyny cycle is going to become the *cause of our time* for the foreseeable future. And ideas based solutions are going to be needed once all the ridiculous finger pointing in the Democratic party has run its course. JFC, our leadership has once again shown themselves to be out of touch and outmatched by a grifting conman and his merry band of oligarchs. Fuck.
Sadly, I suspect the Broligarchs who will surround Trump are going to be successful in eliminating the NLRB and all the laws that protect labor and organizing.
There is NOTHING that I see that seems "settled law or policy" that is off the table to being curtailed or destroyed entirely.
This is a very bad place we are entering. And Trump (and his cronies) will have the full power of the Executive branch, and with the new "Official Acts" immunity the SCOTUS has bequeathed to Trump, there really is nothing preventing him just ignoring the judicial or legislative branch.
I’m focusing on what I can fight FOR - my values, my family, my community, my friends, my party and my country. Donald will do stuff. Some he will get away with, some will be able to be blocked by the Dems or the Courts. Biden has tried to shore up the executive branch as best as he could to prepare. He’s made it harder to simply fire the civil servants for one, so hopefully some will stick around to ensure the country doesn’t careen entirely into a ditch.
And PRO TIP! Stay off Twitter and don’t read any takes on what happened in the corporate media. There is a circular firing squad going on and it isn’t helpful to anything. Fucking stop. We don’t have enough data. People hate incumbents worldwide right now and we did A LOT better than most. So buck up and scream back the darkness with a heartfelt “fuck you! You won’t get me today, assholes!*
I left twitter permanently about 18 months ago so I am good there, and I am only playing Wordle, Connections, and Spelling Bee on the Times.
I do drop into The Atlantic, but I have avoided the doom and gloomers there.
I am beginning to pare back my reading on Substack, as there was/is far too much hopium in my feed (again, the algorithmically curated echo chamber that is almost impossible to avoid).
I get my news from all over but haven’t opened a single email from the times or WaPo. I’ve skimmed the Atlantic daily and of course Charlie Warzel. A lot of the people I was reading on substack have severely dialed back their posting or are posting through their process.
If these men were in Afghanistan, Syria, etc., we would say they have been radicalized, no?
I’ve read some of stories behind incels and the other acronyms. It’s very creepy. These guys are led to believe by people like Tate that there’s some kind of magical dust that will turn them into the man all women will lust after and be a willing sex slave for. Gross
The solution? Damned if I know. I raised my kids to be kind and respectful of others and that personal space belongs to the individual. WTF were these kids taught that they have to find solace with douche bros?
Thank you, Mr. Spice, for laying out one of the most frightening elements of our time. The deliberate efforts to recruit Gen Z’s into the rabid, R gold. This is an age group with lots of free T, muscles, but not enough real life experience to temper their thinking. The incel component seems to have been groomed as enforcers of Project 2025. Force all women of child bearing age to become home based brood mares, and let the ones too old for childbearing become “day care” providers. And how would incels “enforce” compliance? I learned how in my home town. An incel became infatuated with an attractive young woman in another FL town. When she moved here to attend college, he moved to continue stalking her. When again she rebuffed him, he went armed to a hot yoga facility she used, killed her, the director of a locally based health care company, and wounded others. Brave young men subdued him and held him until police arrived. Had he armed himself with an AR, even more innocent people would have perished. Gen Z incels? I hate that I live in a town with two colleges, a major junior college, and high schools in unprotected locations. Resource officers? Think of Uvalde, Texas.
Highly recommend Warren Farrell's book "The Boy Crisis". Warren was on Obama's taskforce to address this crisis. We may feel as if we are going backwards, but maybe we are just in the middle of the storm? https://www.amazon.ca/Boy-Crisis-Boys-Struggling-About/dp/1942952716
So well written. An excellent overview.
I think about my LTGBTQ brothers and sisters. Folks of all colors. We are all in this together and we are all in trouble. Many white folks who thought this was what they wanted will wonder when does it end, after sufficient time to clearly see what they've chosen has passed.
They'll say "but he's hurting the WRONG people" again, if Medicare is run into the ground by republican apparatchiks and Social Security becomes a glorified lottery for the monied to play with.
And what of the supreme court now? I'm not for giving up but right now all I can do is observe and consider for the time being.
A lot of the Latino men that voted for him are about to get a rude awakening. It will be especially bad for those whose spouses are undocumented. They honestly think that they’re *the good guys* and that Donald wouldn’t hurt them and their families as a result. They just want the bad migrants kicked out. smdh.
Talk about voting against one's interests. If/when the ball drops and private citizens are deputized so they too can get in on the bounties provided by "trapping illegals" no one of any Hispanic heritage wil be safe.
Of course that is an extreme example but then again we are living in an extreme example of something that ain't looking so good right now!
Yeah, they are gonna go through some things. I am not going to shed any tears though.
FAFO. We warned you.
I am not advocating for reinstating the draft, however, we need to develop a program that gets kids interacting without their phones, after high school and before college. Whether this is a choose your own adventure with options like AmeriCorps, PeaceCore, military, apprenticeships (through unions? FWIW, Union members voted for Dems by 5+ points while we got crushed with the rest of “working class” voters), etc. Kids will be with others who share their values based on the program they’re in and it will teach them life, civic, social and hopefully some technical skills. I know this is something that would never happen under Donald - and if they tried, it would probably look something more like Starship Troopers than what I laid out, but it’s something I’ve been thinking a lot about recently and if we ever are back in a position where something like this could happen, we should push for it. Kids who are college bound could earn aid through AC, PC, military and those who chose could learn technical skills through apprenticeship and skills based training. It would be a win all around! My sister did 3 AmeriCorps programs - 1 rebuilding the Appalachian Trail in New Hampshire and 2 others as a teachers aide in Portland, OR. She loved the experiences and earned $30k toward college ($10k per stint + a small living stipend was the usual payout back in the 1990s). I am spitballing here, but breaking the misogyny cycle is going to become the *cause of our time* for the foreseeable future. And ideas based solutions are going to be needed once all the ridiculous finger pointing in the Democratic party has run its course. JFC, our leadership has once again shown themselves to be out of touch and outmatched by a grifting conman and his merry band of oligarchs. Fuck.
Fuck indeed.
I couldn't agree more. 👏👏👏👏
It would have the added bonus of building union density too! When unions are strong, American workers are strong. Full stop.
I forgot the new ClimateCorps that Biden created too. Unless it winds up on President Elon’s chopping block, of course.
Sadly, I suspect the Broligarchs who will surround Trump are going to be successful in eliminating the NLRB and all the laws that protect labor and organizing.
There is NOTHING that I see that seems "settled law or policy" that is off the table to being curtailed or destroyed entirely.
This is a very bad place we are entering. And Trump (and his cronies) will have the full power of the Executive branch, and with the new "Official Acts" immunity the SCOTUS has bequeathed to Trump, there really is nothing preventing him just ignoring the judicial or legislative branch.
Deep in the darkness
I’m focusing on what I can fight FOR - my values, my family, my community, my friends, my party and my country. Donald will do stuff. Some he will get away with, some will be able to be blocked by the Dems or the Courts. Biden has tried to shore up the executive branch as best as he could to prepare. He’s made it harder to simply fire the civil servants for one, so hopefully some will stick around to ensure the country doesn’t careen entirely into a ditch.
And PRO TIP! Stay off Twitter and don’t read any takes on what happened in the corporate media. There is a circular firing squad going on and it isn’t helpful to anything. Fucking stop. We don’t have enough data. People hate incumbents worldwide right now and we did A LOT better than most. So buck up and scream back the darkness with a heartfelt “fuck you! You won’t get me today, assholes!*
I left twitter permanently about 18 months ago so I am good there, and I am only playing Wordle, Connections, and Spelling Bee on the Times.
I do drop into The Atlantic, but I have avoided the doom and gloomers there.
I am beginning to pare back my reading on Substack, as there was/is far too much hopium in my feed (again, the algorithmically curated echo chamber that is almost impossible to avoid).
I get my news from all over but haven’t opened a single email from the times or WaPo. I’ve skimmed the Atlantic daily and of course Charlie Warzel. A lot of the people I was reading on substack have severely dialed back their posting or are posting through their process.
Frightening to read as we consider another 4 years of ignoring any safe gun legislation in this country.
We appreciate the way you balance music and politics in a way that feels rather healthy and sustainable. Thanks you! Be well. One love
Not going to lie, it is becoming very difficult to navigate.