the thing to keep in mind is that we’re talking about like, literal 14 year old boys here. no amount of historical, cultural, or sociological context is going to help - ThreadSky

notalawyer.bsky.social • 22 hours ago

the thing to keep in mind is that we’re talking about like, literal 14 year old boys here. no amount of historical, cultural, or sociological context is going to help

Reposted from Fibonacci Sequins

As an above average white man I have never felt attacked by this language. But I can understand why losers would.

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anineffablegrump.bsky.social•21 hours ago

Thats a fair point. I was going to reply many of the more conservative relatives i have know enough mediocre white men in the way the term applies that they see it more in a class angle and its all fine but yeah, tweens are getting this stuff flat, or in a static home setting

eileenjforrest.bsky.social•22 hours ago

then like what is because as young women you learn quick about your place in the world and how hard you have to fight for it to be different then the norm

krietzsche.bsky.social•22 hours ago

Just get Trump to tell them to Pokémon Go to the polls and we win ez

christosilvia.bsky.social•18 hours ago

Exactly 14 year old boys literally by definition are seeing all this for the first time

bananashirt.bsky.social•14 hours ago

i assume 14yo boys are calling each other far worse things than "mediocre white man"

rich-bryant.uk•22 hours ago

Given the way that standing out in any way can get the absolute shit kicked out of a 14 year old boy, mediocrity is aspirational so you probably don’t want the objects of your nascent affections sneering at it.

not-andrew-24.bsky.social•21 hours ago

as a teenage boy in the mid 2010s a lot of that rhetoric was a huge turnoff and why I couldnt feel comfortable self identifying as a liberal. Its a blind spot that nobody wants to recognize.

as a teenager you want to "become man", and its easy to see that rhetoric as an obstacle to your agency...

not-andrew-24.bsky.social•21 hours ago

why am i being singled out as an enemy for existing? this is how lefty rhetoric makes average white teen boys feel.

it hits different now that im in my 20s, have a career path and a life. i see their perspective now and i dont really disagree with it. I just wished the left was more careful.

not-andrew-24.bsky.social•21 hours ago

the "mediocre white men" remarks ultimately dont target some random kid in a farm town trying to make something of himself. its targeting antimeritocratic power structures that enables a culture of keeping crusty old white dudes in control.

but how tf can a 15 year old with no life exp know that

not-andrew-24.bsky.social•21 hours ago

like i know exactly what they mean now. i know who the enemy is. and those mediocre white men seek to subjugate other white men. especially rural white men like me. they dont want me to have economic mobility as much as they dont want women and minorities not to have it either.

drdietcoke.bsky.social•21 hours ago

We're fighting propaganda that thrives on the negative impulses you had as a kid, we need like resurgent pro social propaganda to fight it. You can't rationalize kids way out of being kids, but you can point them in the right direction eg the most masculine thing is to serve your countrymen

drdietcoke.bsky.social•21 hours ago

There's clearly room for it too. We have paragons of masculinity donald trump, elon musk, and jd vance leading this shit. Obviously the tate bros are physically masculine, but generally these people suck ass and ws should build our propaganda around their weird and non chivalrous behavior

markcharnockwrites.bsky.social•19 hours ago

Put “rich” in front of mediocre - ta da, problem solved.

Look it, I tested in as a charity case to a rich kids high school. Were my so called betters any better than the kids in public school? Of course not. The only skill advantage was the ease of knowing they belonged in such a place.

therake.bsky.social•22 hours ago

a lot of 14 year old boys paying attention to House Representatives you think?

slowandhorrible.bsky.social•22 hours ago

IDK maybe Mandatory Mantasy (like Mandatory Metallica) the minute they get caught with minecraftk hentai ???? All I know is women will be expected to be a primary driver/supporter of whatever these boys need

farmermcgregor.bsky.social•22 hours ago

I'm not really sure what we're supposed to do, then. They aren't special, and it's necessary that they learn that.

rich-bryant.uk•22 hours ago

Well there’s the trap. You’re not special but mediocre men are bad. So therefore you’re bad.

Might as well be really bad then.

mrcleanmagicreach.bsky.social•22 hours ago

Obviously we just hold mass screenings of Fight Club. I'm confident they'll take the correct lessons from that.

swanhole.bsky.social•20 hours ago

Double feature with Starship Troopers.

notalawyer.bsky.social•22 hours ago

i think focusing on managing discourse is a fool’s errand even if the discourse is counterproductive. you need avenues for these guys to engage with lefty thought.

farmermcgregor.bsky.social•22 hours ago

Andy and Tarik will save us with YOYO.

jubbeks.bsky.social•21 hours ago

bring back shop classes to teach them the satisfaction of working for and achieving something that isnt a playstation trophy, and make sure every single shop teacher in the country is an oldschool union dude who will tell them that bosses deserve to be dragged behind a truck

ladyjadyn.bsky.social•19 hours ago

Like every single solution to this shit is "parent your boy" and it's still somehow everyone else's problem.

lenoxus.bsky.social•9 hours ago

Right-wingers love to foreground "parental responsibility" for a reason, though. Sooo many parents are shitty right-wingers! That's why it takes a village!

ladyjadyn.bsky.social•19 hours ago

Tired of being told we as a society have to address these boys when they have to think for the first time in their life.

lizbarr.bsky.social•22 hours ago

I think it can depend on the space you're in personally as well. When I'm in a good place, Black people talking about the failings of white women is just a useful thing to learn. If I'm emotionally low or otherwise not feeling great, I have a strong reaction (and it's time to touch grass).

hellodalgal.bsky.social•20 hours ago

Many capable grown men are incredibly fragile and immature emotionally. They look to women for soothing and support…As the popular lyrics go, “all day every day, therapist, mother, maid.” ANY criticism, however constructive, is often seen as an attack. This liability is easily manipulated.

estrusflask.bsky.social•21 hours ago

Plenty of demographics other than white males aged 14-35 have been insulted and demonized and most of them don't turn to fascism.

It's not because of the rhetoric of mediocre white men or talking about how rape is bad. It's because the fascist answer is easier than the real one about systemic flaws

fryz123.bsky.social•21 hours ago

I teach 15-16 year old's and they have a hard time with rhetoric both identifying it and it's effects, that's the best context I can give you for how susceptible to stuff like this young people are.

clarealice.bsky.social•19 hours ago

You also just do need mediocre people in your political movement if you want to win, just a necessary feature of majoritarian political movements that they cannot be made up entirely of people who are above average at X for any X

clarealice.bsky.social•19 hours ago

Everyone needs to accept that we cannot give up on winning people over just because they suck

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