🌎 Discussion: Society and Politics

[blueharvest]

 

[squeekness]

That's not good. I thought it was just young Americans who had lost hope.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Instagram locks down teens: How the new feature will work

All teens using Instagram will automatically have strong restrictions applied, with the change expected to roll out over the next 60 days.

www.theage.com.au

 

[Lily Adler]

That's not good. I thought it was just young Americans who had lost hope.

 

[blueharvest]

Single boomers are having 'S-E-X.' They're also seeing a surge in STIs

Over the past decade, experts say cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis have seen a dramatic increase among Baby Boomers.

www.usatoday.com

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

In a First, Young Men Are More Religious Than Young Women

On a beautiful Sunday morning in early September, dozens of young men in Waco, Texas, started their day at Grace

dnyuz.com

They’re in it for the patriarchy and misogyny probably. I’ve seen some of these guys on YouTube. As young women are more educated than young men and less education also tracks to religiosity around the world.

 

[Hobgoblin]

A coworker keeps telling me to not work so hard. “Don’t love the job, because the job doesn’t love you.” She gets paid the same if she does her job or not. Granted she has a point, but it’s not in my nature to do half hearted work. Plus, when you deal with food, you deal with public health so you have to be conscientious.

Still, I’ve busted my butt in my jobs for years and I’m going nowhere. This is nothing new. Back in the day we talked about “dead end” jobs and “McJobs.” Nothing has changed. When I was about to graduate with my masters degree, the professor told the class that museums and libraries could get volunteers and interns to do the job for free.

It feels like we’re trapped no matter what we do.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Opinion | Why crypto bros love Trump​

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/09/20/trump-cryptocurrency-poll-masculinity/

In our poll, crypto owners favored Trump by 12 points over Vice President Kamala Harris, 50 percent to 38 percent. Among voters who don’t own crypto, Harris leads by 12 points, 53 percent to 41 percent.

People who have owned crypto aren’t more likely to be conservative or MAGA, or less likely to be liberal or progressive, than other voters. They’re slightly more likely to lean toward the Republican Party, but not by nearly enough to account for the huge gap in vote intentions. On the whole, they most resemble registered voters who support third parties or aren’t going to cast a ballot at all. If Trump is using his crypto appeals to make a play for this bloc of otherwise uninterested voters, it’s working.

But the real story here is about what Trump and cryptocurrency have in common and why both are so appealing to young men. Crypto is one option for men looking for a way to achieve the role they think society demands of them — to make money, to be providers, to be sophisticated about finance and technology. Despite the unlikeliness of using gains from these investments to buy a big house in a good school district, crypto seems to offer these young men a path to prosperity that the traditional routes of education, hard work and saving don’t.

The overlap among these three things — crypto ownership, views on masculinity and views on Trump — might seem like a coincidence, but our poll found strong evidence that they’re interrelated. A question on our survey asked people to rate how masculine or feminine they are on a six-point scale running from “completely masculine” to “completely feminine.” About half of men said they’re “completely masculine.” Such men support Trump over Harris by a 34-point margin. All other groups, men and women alike, favor Harris by about 20 points.

This group — men who say they’re “completely masculine” — are Trump’s core audience, but that’s not the only way masculinity is shaping voting preferences. Those men who say they’re “completely masculine” are less likely than other men to say they’ve owned crypto: They don’t need to, since, by their own standards, they’re already meeting the demands of masculinity.

But the poll also asked respondents how they think men should behave. A five-question battery asked them to agree or disagree with statements such as “A man should always be the boss” and “Men should not be too quick to tell others that they care about them.”

Higher scores on this scale mean greater support for traditional masculine roles. It’s not surprising that men who say they’re “completely masculine” are more likely to also value masculinity, but what is surprising is what happens with men who both value traditional masculinity and say they’re not themselves completely masculine. It’s these men — the men who are falling into this masculinity trap — who, according to our poll, are buying crypto and turning toward Trump.

Overall, men who say they’re not completely masculine favored Harris by 18 points in the election, but men who fall into the masculinity trap are much more likely to own crypto and more likely to favor Trump. About a quarter of men — disproportionately young, disproportionately Black and Latino — said they value traditional masculinity but aren’t completely masculine. Thirty-seven percent of them own crypto, compared with 18 percent of other men, and this group favors Trump over Harris by 19 points. These are exactly the kinds of young men whom Democrats should be able to win over but aren’t.

Just as crypto investments offer a way to meet the increasingly unrealistic demands of traditional masculinity, Trump is offering these crypto-owning men reasons why they’re falling short. It’s not their fault — it’s immigrants taking their jobs, China taking their prosperity, hiring policies that favor women. And Trump is offering solutions — a border wall, tariffs, new factories and an end to DEI policies. The fact that these proposals are unlikely to work is as irrelevant as whether these men will actually become bitcoin millionaires. Trump is offering a lifeline to men desperately searching for one.

The appeal of Trump and cryptocurrency to these young men are both symptoms of a deeper issue: The expectations of what men are supposed to do and be haven’t caught up with changing economic and social realities.

Until we fix that, young men are going to keep getting taken in by anyone or anything that offers false hope of a way forward.

Gambling and get rich quick and pyramid schemes appeal to the uneducated and desperate.

Young gamblers place sports bets while showering, wager away student loan money, addiction therapist warns

There's been a surge in young gambling addicts in the last five years, with mobile sports betting enticing fans to wager often, addiction therapists are warning.

www.cbsnews.com

Frictionless sports betting and the NFL: the twin obsessions targeting young men

A new NFL season marks the peak sports betting months. Recent studies show the strain legalized gambling is putting on financially constrained households and young men

www.theguardian.com

 

[Lily Adler]

MAGA ain't going away. They have a new group to exploit.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Touch Screens Are Over. Even Apple Is Bringing Back Buttons.​

Product designers are embracing how users actually feel after years of pushing flat and sleek​

https://www.wsj.com/tech/personal-tech/touch-screens-are-over-even-apple-is-bringing-back-buttons-86fb9ea8

Touchscreens that require drivers take their eyes off the road never should have belonged in vehicles in the first place.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

US states sue TikTok, claiming its addictive features harm youth mental health

Lawsuits allege platform’s ‘dopamine-inducing’ algorithm can lead to anxiety, depression and body dysmorphia

www.theguardian.com

 

[blueharvest]

Deaths outstrip births in UK for first time in nearly 50 years

Excluding the Covid pandemic, ONS figures show 16,300 fewer births than deaths, not seen since 1970s ‘baby bust’

www.theguardian.com

 

[Lily Adler]

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/andrew-tate-jail-investigation.html

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

TikTok executives know about app’s effect on teens, lawsuit documents allege​

Loading…

www.npr.org

 

[blueharvest]

 

[blueharvest]

Young Men Are Going in a Very Different Direction From Young Women. It Could Completely Upend Society.

Something strange is going on with Gen Z.

slate.com

 

[blueharvest]

How child care costs became the 'kitchen table issue' for parents this election season

Child care is where inflation hits the hardest for families with young children. For some, it's influencing how they will vote in the election.

www.usatoday.com

 

[blueharvest]

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Behind the Bastards Podcast - Part One: The History of American Masculinity Grifters​

October 22, 2024 • 66 mins
Robert sits down with Miles Gray to give a history of American Masculinity Grifters, and the media-created fears of a 'crisis' in masculinity. (2 Part Series)

 

[Lily Adler]

It's their punishment for abandoning their kids to work when they should be at home in the kitchen.

 

[squeekness]

It's their punishment for abandoning their kids to work when they should be at home in the kitchen.

But nobody says anything about deadbeat dads...

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Political breaking point: Over 60% say 2024 election is damaging their mental health

More than 60% of Americans in a new poll say that their mental health has either been slightly, moderately, or significantly impacted by November's election.

studyfinds.org

 

[squeekness]

Political breaking point: Over 60% say 2024 election is damaging their mental health

More than 60% of Americans in a new poll say that their mental health has either been slightly, moderately, or significantly impacted by November's election.

studyfinds.org

I know a number who have been significantly impacted, mainly because they are female or queer, and terrified of a second Trump term.

 

[blueharvest]

"They’re being called to save the country": Jackson Katz on how MAGA masculinity sells men purpose

"The global crisis in democracy is tied directly to a crisis in masculinity"

www.salon.com