What’s Wrong With Young Men

Following President Trump’s victory last month, much has been made of demographic voting patterns and the shift to the right in US politics. And while Trump performed better with almost all demographic groups in 2024 compared to both 2020 and 2016, one of the most significant was young men.

Men, particularly those under 45 years old, turned out heavily for Trump. This year, 53% of men under 45 voted for Trump, compared to 45% four years ago. The difference becomes even more striking when broken down by race: Trump increased his Latino-male votes by 10 points and more than doubled the votes he received from black men compared to 2020. In a society that loves to drive division by any demographic metric possible, young men were united in a way never seen before.

In typical fashion, many in the left-wing media responded with hysterics. The only reason Trump could have won so convincingly is the deeply ingrained misogyny in American society, the losers hyperventilated. Some even tried to blame racism, despite Trump winning more black and Latino voters than any Republican in history.

Totalitarian governments and other malevolent actors have encouraged the decline of young men

It is no secret that Trump specifically targeted young-male voters as part of his campaign. His appearances on Joe Rogan and other male-centric podcasts was a deliberate tactic to reach a group of voters that haven’t felt motivated to turn out to vote in decades. And why would they when even recognising young men as a unique voter group deserving of a targeted campaign is considered an assault against the heavily feminised society we now live in?

Left-wing commentator after commentator couldn’t wait to get in front of a camera and tell the world how awful it was that Trump was even targeting young men as a voter group. These divisive hacks “blamed” Trump’s win on young men, as though someone appealing to them is an inherently evil thing.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time we have seen this reactionary response towards anyone uniting and motivating young men. Throughout his public career, Dr Jordan Peterson has received intense backlash over many things, but none more than the simple fact that his audience is predominantly young men. As though someone providing meaning to a group that has been routinely and openly denigrated and insulted is a bad thing.

Men of my generation and younger have been lost, confused and devoid of purpose for their entire adult lives. Boys are taught to hate themselves merely for being boys from the moment they enter the school system, if not earlier. They are raised in a world that tells them they are unneeded and unwanted. Then they graduate to a world that openly avoids hiring them and tears down any institution or tradition that has driven men of generations past.

Decades of government policy have made it more and more difficult for men to provide for their families. Masculine strength is denigrated as “toxic” and to be avoided. The spirit of adventure that drove many great men throughout history has been hamstrung by bureaucracy and regulation that focuses on the feminine impulses of safety and well-being. Patriarchy, rather than being a force for the protection and flourishing of humanity, has been rewritten as a force for evil.

The government has become an overprotective mother. Coddling young men to ensure their natural propensity for leadership and adventure is confined to what highly processed food can be delivered to them by someone else and which overpriced, characterless inner-suburban apartment they should live in with three of their friends at 30 years of age. Institutions like the Catholic Church, that have inculcated tradition for millennia, particularly traditional gender norms, have been attacked by arrogant and soulless societies from outside and gutted by social justice modernists from within. Even gyms and fitness culture have been associated with right-wing extremism.

It is no secret that Trump specifically targeted young-male voters as part of his campaign.

But what is motivating this war on young men? Throughout human history men have been motivated, whether by their Creator or evolution, to protect: themselves, their family and community. 

Now, many young men have withdrawn from society,  from the workforce, from academia, from tradition, from religion, from family life, even from dating and romance. And in their place evil has flourished. While it is impossible to determine whether tyranny returned or men withdrew first, as Western governments have become more brazenly tyrannical, young men have been first in their firing line.

Totalitarian governments and other malevolent actors have encouraged the decline of young men because it serves their interests to remove the protectors of the communities they seek to subjugate. Only a few generations ago, teenage boys lied about their age for the opportunity to protect their communities from threats afar. In modern times, there would be relatively few young men willing to stand against threats even closer to home.

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The purpose of this piece is not to provide more fodder to a victim mentality among young men. While we can, rightly in some cases, point fingers at past generations for recklessly tearing down tradition, women for defying mutually beneficial gender roles, or institutions for so readily failing us, at the end of the day we have no one to blame but ourselves. We have allowed these insidious ideologies to fester and grow within the societies we have been endowed to protect.

Instead of falling further into weakness and despair, viewing ourselves as victims of our own culture, it is time we looked inwards and took responsibility for our role in our own downfall. It is time to invoke the strength and stoicism of the great men of history. It is time for the return of the great man. It is time men became protectors again. While one election will not suffice, hopefully Trump’s success is a sign that young men can unite and return stronger than ever.

The post What’s Wrong With Young Men appeared first on Liberty Itch.