Fake Picture by Google Gemini Image Creator
Statistics coming out of recent political activity at different levels of government reveal an unsettling tendency in younger male voters towards right-wing parties. It isn’t surprising.
The myth they are believing is that their lack of success in our society iscaused by liberal policies. Not completely. The problems of young, white males are caused by expectations. Their advantageous place in society is being challenged by equality. Times are tough, and anything that erodes the edge of being male (and Caucasian) is a threat. Especially if you’re poorly educated and of low social-economic status.
The Military
It’s all part and parcel of the problems in the Armed Forces, yet another bastion of young male dominance threatened by creeping egalitarianism. In the news this week: more Nazi salutes by military personnel. A small group even went so far as to plan taking over government property and stockpiling weapons. Again, not surprising.
Segregation: Always a Problem
Keeping people apart from other people leads to “us vs them” feelings. Segregated schools have always been trouble. In the past century, uni-sex schools of the upper class in Europe produced similar results to the lack of schooling for girls in developing countries. Anyone out of the loop is seen as less: less able, less important, less deserving; ultimately, less human. In this century, the segregation is caused by echo chambers in social media.
And young men, with the pressure on them to be productive members of society and the expectation that they will receive preferential treatment, find right wing ideas appealing.
There isn’t room in society for so many young men. Workers age 20-24 without high school diplomas have the highest unemployment rates. The cynical could be forgiven for suggesting that we need a war every generation or so to even things out. I hasten to reassure you, that would be counterproductive, because wars induce authoritarian thinking.
The Bottom Line
There is no short-term solution. Long term, we need to increase the education levels, decrease the isolation, pay a living wage at the bottom end of the socioeconomic scale…that’s right. Do all those left-wing things that the conservatives have been decrying for decades.
The Real Bottom Line
The only way to affect these people is to create a society that works better than the “good old days,” they cling to, and it’s pretty difficult to compete with a dream, even when it’s false. We’re in a “one step ahead, two steps back” situation right now, but we just have to keep on slugging away at it. The pendulum will swing.
P. S. The Fake Picture.
It’s amazingly easy to get a picture like this for free. I just asked Google Gemini for “Canadian soldier doing Nazi salute.” It’s not very good, actually. The maple leaf isn’t the one from our flag. Probably better that way. Maybe Facebook will let me publish it. 🙂