Peak American fascism isn't young men, it's males age 45-64. - ThreadSky

brucewilson.bsky.social • 19 days ago

Peak American fascism isn't young men, it's males age 45-64.

Yes. A big part of why so many young men are turning to destructive, amoral, misogynistic, bigoted, selfish, self-absorbed, blame-everyone-else ideologies is because that's what their dads believe in.

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brucewilson.bsky.social•19 days ago

All this blather about what's gone wrong with young men ignores the fact that - regardless of their social skills - they're politically more progressive than their fathers.

brucewilson.bsky.social•18 days ago

And the main reason today's young American men seem especially fascistic is because of the contrast with young women, who have turned *radically* anti-fascist.

brucewilson.bsky.social•18 days ago

So what we really should be talking about is the dramatic generational rift between young women and their fascism-friendly fathers.

319e17th.bsky.social•18 days ago

It’s AM radio

brucewilson.bsky.social•18 days ago

That's a significant part of the answer, yes.

donwood.bsky.social•18 days ago

I don’t know man, I am 58 and AM radio was dead for regular folks as I became an adult. Sports talk the exception, not to discount sports talk as an entry into ideas of the right, but the average radio listener was not stumbling onto Rush, they were on FM where they were looking for…well, *Rush*.

319e17th.bsky.social•18 days ago

I was using “AM” as a catchall for talk radio.

massdisillusion.bsky.social•18 days ago

incels are a national security threat.

brucewilson.bsky.social•18 days ago

Probably - but their AR-15 empowered fathers may be a bigger threat.

massdisillusion.bsky.social•18 days ago

or getting their love and approval--Rittenhouse, etc...

pjeanne97.bsky.social•18 days ago

Nearly half still like Trump though. That seems like a lot

brucewilson.bsky.social•18 days ago

It is, but it's also less than all the other male demographics.

pjeanne97.bsky.social•18 days ago

That makes sense to me, since some presumably are influenced by the women in their cohort. Younger has generally meant more liberal than older generations.

This just seems more logical than they’re influenced by RW media to me.

brucewilson.bsky.social•18 days ago

But among males, the generation that fought in the Vietnam War is more liberal. It's the Gen X'ers and the tail end of the Baby Boomer generation who became more fascist.

callie.rebelwrath.co.uk•17 days ago

Which gen thought in the Vietnam war? Was that boomers?

pjeanne97.bsky.social•18 days ago

Did that generation of men vote for Trump? I thought he won older men. I wish I could explain Gen X guys. Huge disappointment

brucewilson.bsky.social•18 days ago

What I'd really like to see would be an identical survey done 5 years ago -> were young men, 5 years back, more liberal or more conservative?

pjeanne97.bsky.social•18 days ago

Agreed.

canuckistanidxb.bsky.social•18 days ago

I dunno. I wonder if that 45-64 age group was the most influenced by Trumps ascedent 1980s years.

But 50% approval for the young ones is pretty damn shocking.

brucewilson.bsky.social•18 days ago

It's 45%, and that's less than any other male age demographic.

canuckistanidxb.bsky.social•18 days ago

I mean 5% is pretty much splitting hairs.

Its still a phenomenal amount.

callie.rebelwrath.co.uk•17 days ago

45 yr olds would have been born in 79-80, I really doubt they had much experience of Trump beyond seeing him in home alone

65 yr olds would have, maybe

canuckistanidxb.bsky.social•17 days ago

Maybe. Trump was everywhere in the 80s and early 90s.

This was the era of "The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" show afterall.

Nevermind that I am guessing the older end of that broad group is probably associating more positively with Trumps image.

callie.rebelwrath.co.uk•17 days ago

I was born in 82, but I'm also in the UK. I can't say I remember anything about Trump other than home alone, but to be fair I don't really remember much about the 80s at all. Piper alpha. I definitely remember Nelson Mandela dying in prison 🤣
But yeah, the older part of that demographic, sure

canuckistanidxb.bsky.social•16 days ago

Maybe the best contemporary and UK based example would be Boris Johnson and how his image as mayor was managed making him out to be a somewhat aloof, slightly eccentric bicycle riding everyman mayor.

Surely ppl in London and maybe the UK knew otherwise. But outside thats how he was presented.

pjeanne97.bsky.social•18 days ago

Aren’t they the fathers of these young guys?

brucewilson.bsky.social•18 days ago

And they're also the [fascism friendly] fathers of young women who have grown up radically anti-fascist.

pjeanne97.bsky.social•18 days ago

You don’t think fathers have more influence over their sons? aren’t women in general more opposed to Trump? Or maybe girls are just smarter and know they’re more likely affected by the insanity.

brucewilson.bsky.social•18 days ago

I can't speak to whether fathers or mothers have more influence on sons - maybe fathers - but I'm pretty sure the girls are much more aware of the ongoing right-wing efforts to take away their reproductive & even citizenship rights.

donwood.bsky.social•18 days ago

I agree with this. The stakes for young men are ephemeral and based on promises of future gain, offsetting perceived current loss. The stakes for young women are potentially immediate and life-altering.
Without a military draft young men have nothing like that to think about.

pjeanne97.bsky.social•18 days ago

Agreed.

pjeanne97.bsky.social•18 days ago

Totally agree. They have much more at stake.

brucewilson.bsky.social•18 days ago

How are they supposed to feel about society -- and their dads, mostly of whom are somewhat oblivious -- when this is going on? Most adolescents rebel, sure, but give them something so absurdly unjust to rebel against...

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